FROM HELL IT CAME (1957)
Opening crawl: In Haiti, a corpse walks, as a Zombi! In primitive India, the dead return as animals! On certain Pacific Atolls, a warrior treacherously murdered, my turn into a tree! Or so it is said by the Shamans… Our story occurs on a savage island where a Prince is killed unjustly. The victim was buried upright in a hollow tree trunk. The legend says that “the tree walked to avenge its wrongs!”
On a South Seas island, Prince Kimo (Gregg Palmer) is purposefully accused of murdering the tribal chief in order to get him out of the way for Maranka to be crowned the new chief (Baynes Barron) with his conniving witch doctor Tano ( Robert Swan) controlling everything. Before Kimo is executed he vows revenge on those who have wronged him, including his treacherous wife Naomi (Tani Marsh) The Mad Doctor of Market Street 1942.
Kimo comes back as a tree monster Tabanga, the ancient spirit of vengeance who wreaks havoc on the island. Meanwhile, a group of American scientists Tod Andrews as Dr. William Arnold and Tina Carver (Hell on Frisco Bay 1955, The Man Who Turned to Stone 1957), as Dr. Terry Mason who are not trusted by the tribe, are busy setting up their scientific research lab. They are studying the effects of atomic fallout and radiation and get caught up in the mayhem!
First, the Tabanga shows up at the sight of Kimo’s grave as a little stump in the dirt. Then as it begins to push out of the ground, the scientists dig him up and bring him back to the laboratory, where they discover the tree monster has a heartbeat!
The standout besides the great Tabanga himself is the always feisty presence of Linda Watkins as Mrs. Mae Kilgore.
Dr. Arnold:“Maybe we ought to ship it back to the States. It would make a great scarecrow.”
