Jack the Giant Killer (1962)

***Medieval fairy tale with a noble hero, a beautiful princess, an evil wizard & spooky cronies*** A wholesome farm-youth-turned-knight in medieval England (Kerwin Mathews) is enlisted to guard a princess (Judi Meredith) from the schemes of a wicked sorcerer (Torin Thatcher). “Jack the Giant Killer” (1962) is similar to “The Magic Sword,” which was released a couple of months earlier. Some people like to compare it to “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958) because the hero and villain were also in that earlier movie, not to mention both films use stop-motion animation. But Jim Danforth’s work here is no serious rival to Ray Harryhausen, although it’s serviceable. Kerwin makes for a great noble protagonist while Judi is winsome as the royal maiden and hot as the bewitched version of herself. Of course Thatcher just oozes ee-vil. One of the most impressive “effects” is the wizard’s gaggle of witch-ghouls. They’re very well done and effectively scary in a cartoonish way. I would’ve eaten this up as a kid. Yet there’s certainly enough here for adults to enjoy (or for the kid-in-adults to enjoy). If you like this movie and would like to see a more realistic, adult-oriented version of similar fairy tale events, check out the classy “First Knight” (1995). See my review for details. The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes and was shot at Santa Catalina Island, California, as well as Samuel Goldwyn Studios in West Hollywood. While these locations are adequate for the purposes of the movie, they don’t look anything like Britain, although they could pass for the Mediterranean. GRADE: A-