We’ve all heard of El Chupacabra or Bigfoot right? Well, this is the story of Gargalese: The Tickle Monster. Yes, a monster that tickles you till you literally die form laughter. The plot goes further than that, you see, Gargalese is an alien that crashes on Earth and nearly escapes from a gun-toting Reynolds. Gargalese then takes the form of a Tickle Bear after attacking a prostitute and this is where things begin to get out of hand as Gargalese tries to find a way back home. It’s a lovable little shot that I saw while at the Women in Horror 2 film festival.
There are several things that I like about this movie and the first thing that I really enjoyed was the fact that the whole movie played out like one of those origin stories of how a mythological monster came to be. The title alone sounds like a story you would find in a book about myths and folklore.
The highlight of the film was of course the special effects that were created by Acme Design and Bill Wieger. Everything from the adorable little teddy bear-looking alien, to the mechanical worm alien to the Tickle Monster itself was all brilliantly hand crafted and practical. There is no CGI whatsoever. The design of the Tickle Monster was great because of one thing and that’s the giant pair of lips that come out of the armhole of the monster. They look like the lips featured on the poster for The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I also liked how the monster attacks you. The lips seduce you to a point and then the giant claws shoot out from the armholes and start to tickle you until you die and it’s the funniest thing you’ll see. But, what if you are not ticklish? What happens then? You just have to watch the movie and see.
Overall, it was a fun movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. Everything from the comic book colored lighting, the progression of the alien, to the characters was great. It was a fun movie that didn’t take itself too seriously and that’s what I admired most about it. If you want to sit back and watch a good, campy but very entertaining movie… give this one a watch!
https://www.gargalese.com/
how bad can tickling be do you think?