Arts & Entertainment
Moviegoers Welcome Back ‘The Milpitas Monster’
In honor of the film's 35th anniversary, the home-grown cult classic movie returned to the Serra Theatres to delight local audiences.
After an absence of more than three decades, “The Milpitas Monster” returned to town Saturday.
Almost 100 people, including many cast and crew members, gathered at the Serra Theatres to honor the film on the 35th anniversary of its red carpet premiere which was at the same theater on May 21, 1976.
Filmed entirely in Milpitas by Samuel Ayer High School students and community members in the mid-1970s, the film went on to achieve cult status with fans worldwide. Saturday’s screening was the rarely seen original two-hour version that included narration by actor Tennessee Ernie Ford.
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Notable Milpitas citizens who attended the anniversary screening were Robert Burrill, the film’s producer and director, and Joe House, the city’s mayor at the time the movie was made. House appears as himself in the movie. Also on hand was Scott Parker, who starred as the clawed and winged 50-foot monster. Parker was a student at Samuel Ayer High School.
The anniversary gala also included a preview screening of portions of a documentary that Burrill is producing on the making of the movie. Titled “The Mightiest Documentary of Them All: The Making of The Milpitas Monster Movie,” Burrill hopes to have the project completed by the end of 2012.
