PINOY SCI-FI #3: TUKO SA MADRE KAKAW (1959)

Considered the first of the popular ‘atomic mutation gone wild’ genre, Tuko sa Madre Kakaw caught the fancy and imagination of Pinoy viewers at the time it was shown in the late 50s. Shown in 1959, the same year, another movie, Anak ng Bulkan (about a monster bird in a rampage of destruction) was released.

Character actor Vic Diaz played the role of a mad biologist who plotted to conquer the world and destroy mankind by formulating a serum or formula that could increase the size of animals a hundred times. He tested it on a ‘tuko’ or gecko which turned into a giant menacing reptile.

Diaz reminded me of another bald-headed actor, Albert Dekker, the lead star in Dr. Cylcops (1940). Dekker, like Diaz also essayed the role of a mad scientist. Dekker, this time, shrinked human beings to a tiny size or a fraction of their normal size.

Tuko sa Madre Kakaw was based on the novel by Clodualdo del Mundo and serialized in Hiwaga Komiks. It starred Willie Sotelo, Nita Javier, Hector Reyes, Luz Valdez, Oscar Obligacion and Vic Diaz and directed by Richard Abelardo.

More on Pinoy Sci-fi movies

Tuko sa Madre Kakaw (1959)- Stars Willie Sotelo, Nita Javier, Hector Reyes, Luz Valdez, Oscar Obligacion and Vic Diaz/ Directed by Richard Abelardo



Dr. Cyclops (1940)- Stars Albert Dekker, Janice Logan, Thomas Coley, Victor Kilian, Charles Halton/ Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack