The Valley Of Gwangi 4

Unique in all respects. One of the few sci-fi Westerns you can count on one hand, and done with caring bravado. James Fransiscus plays Tuck, a smooth-talking hustler who's out to romance the find of the century out from under luscious Gila Golan. Has veteran Harryhausen character actor Laurence Naismith as the loopy professor who finds a tiny ancestor of the modern-day horse, which leads to a lost valley of even-niftier monsters, chief of which is Gwangi, Ray's most satisfying lizard. Mean, slick, and mobile, Gwangi rips through a town that was going to make it a star attraction, eating an elephant and destroying the basilica it traps itself in. Wild pterodactyl segments, switching from puppetry to animation with credible ease, and the stegosaur/Gwangi fight is way cool. I have such fond memories of this movie, I mist up whenever it's mentioned. Thanks, Ray.