Eegah! (1962)

How bad is it? It's on nearly every list of worst films.
Should you see it? Yes.

The first time I saw this, it was the credits that most struck me; they're painted and then filmed, rather than added in post-production, which was a very clever way to save money. Unfortunately, if that's the most memorable thing, it's not much of a movie.

Richard Kiel (best known as "Jaws" in James Bond films) plays the title character, a caveman living outside Palm Springs, California. There's no explanation for how that can be. He sees a girl and falls in love. She gives him a shave. People search for the girl. The girl's boyfriend sings two songs at two pool parties.

While most cheap films are made and then the makers search for a distributor, Arch Hall Sr. decided to start a distribution company and then made films to have product to distribute. His first films were profitable and then he decided to make his son (Arch, Jr.) a star, despite his odd looks, lack of acting talent, lack of singing talent and lack of interest. Here, Arch proves he can't sing or write songs, though his father thought he was making an Elvis movie... with a caveman. The quality of the film-making is not terrible (it rarely is in a Hall pic), but the story is ludicrous and the acting awful (excepting Kiel). Hall Sr. briefly appears in the film and Ray Dennis Steckler, director of several films on this blog, is the guy thrown into the pool. Steckler's wife is also in attendance at the pool.