SciFi Classics: 50 Movie Pack [12 Discs]
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Rating:
NR-
Language:
Eng Studio:
Digital 1 StopUPC:
826831070056Year of Release:
2004Item Number:
VMG007005Release Date:
08/19/2008Genre:
Action –
Action Thriller –
Adult –
Adventure –
Adventure Drama –
Alien Film –
Animal Picture –
Comedy –
Costume Adventure –
Creature Film –
Creature Film –
Cult Classics –
Fantasy –
Fantasy Adventure –
Foreign Films –
Glamorized Spy Film –
Glamorized Spy Film –
Horror –
Jungle Film –
Mystery –
Mythological Fantasy –
Natural Horror –
Sci-Fi Action –
Sci-Fi Action –
Sci-Fi Adventure –
Sci-Fi Disaster Film –
Sci-Fi Horror –
Sci-Fi Horror –
Science Fiction –
Sea Adventure –
Sex Comedy –
Sexploitation –
Space Adventure –
Space Adventure –
Spy Film –
Sword-and-Sandal –
Thriller
Format:
DVD
MOVIE DESCRIPTION:
This is a lot of sci-fi to bite off in one gulp (and not all of it is actually sci-fi), but the prospect of 50 movies in one budget-priced 12-CD package that's smaller than a cigar box isn't easy to pass up. Needless to say, quality control is not a long-suit with a package like this -- the 12 discs were all present, but there were additional copies of two of the discs (which leads one to suspect that somewhere out there is a copy missing those two discs) Also, some of the annotation on the thin individual sleeves is comically wrong, most notably the 1961 horror-sci-fi chiller The Atomic Brain being listed with Bradford Dillman as its star -- in point of fact, one of its producers was Dean Dillman. That said, the presentations of the movies are not bad or, at least, not terrible; they're about on par with what Alpha Video delivers at five- to eight-dollars a title. The prints are intact and clean, the '60s vintage color movies are washed out to varying degrees (Hercules and the Captive Women, which is actually sort of Greco-Roman sci-fi, is not much more pale than it looked on local TV in 1964 or on Mystery Science Theatre 3000 in the '90s; Battle of the Worlds looks bleached quite a bit and tinted toward green in some shots but just fine in other places). The framing is off on some of the older films such as Unknown World, that were certainly shot 1.33:1, indicating that at some point in mastering their images were blown up slightly -- the latter is also one of the relative handful of films here in which the sound is a bit muddy and the image whited out, as though too much light was being pumped through it; and even on recent movies such as The Astral Factor (sort of Scanners meets Manhunter done way too early), with Robert Foxworth and Stefanie Powers, has minor blemishes in its source print. Some of the movies are just bad, such as Galaxy Invader, and others have a camp value that makes them enjoyable on that level, and several few are interesting and entertaining; others, such as Planet Outlaws, are recut episodes of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. Each disc opens with the same simple menu offering the films and a chapter selection for each (and every movie gets four chapters). ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
DVD FEATURES:
- Number of Discs: 12
- Screen: Pan and Scan
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (Alternate Wide Screen)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Cast:
Alan Steel - Maciste/Hercules
Allan Nixon - Engor
Allan Nixon - "Doc" Tucker
Al Eben - Kroegert
Carol Lindsay - Hula Dancer
Chris - Pin Martin - Pepe
Carol Varga - Larina
Frank Ashmore
Alex Dreier
Dennis Dengate - Kama
Jeanne Sorel - Tana
Cesare Danova - Mario
George Barrows - George
Angelo Rossitto
James Donnelly - Guard
Frank Forsyth - Blake
Michael Hawkins - Williams
Jack Lambert - Doctor in Office
Robin Parkinson - Maitland
Katy Wild - Girl in Street
Kenneth Kendall - TV Commentator
Adrianna AlbenDirector:
Jerry Warren, Edward F. Finney, Phil Tucker, Roger Corman, Edgar G. Ulmer, Joseph Mascelli, Anton Giulio Majano, Fritz Bottger, John Sebastian, Derek Thomas, Robert Morris, Curt Siodmak, Noriyaki Yuasa, Nicholas Webster, Tom Graeff, Hollingsworth Morse, Giacomo Gentilomo, Vittorio Cottafavi, Domenico Paolella, Pietro Francisci, David Howard, Armand Schaefer, Herbert Tevos, Ron Ormond, Antonio Margheriti, B.J. Davis, W. Lee Wilder, Sam Newfield, Alvaro Mancori, Lewis Mann, Riccardo Freda, Kurt Maetzig, Larry Buchanan, John Florea, Don Dohler, Anthony M. Dawson, Terrell O. Morse, Richard Jefferies, Joy N. Houck, Jr., James L. Wolcott, Gregg G. Tallas, Freddie Francis, Koji Shima, William Marshall, Ford I. Beebe, Saul A. Goodkind, Vittorio Sala, Arch Hall Sr., Nicholas Merriwether, Alfonso BresciaProducer:
Jerry Warren, Edward F. Finney, Phil Tucker, Alan Winston, Ludwig H. Gerber, Lester D. Guthrie, Dean Dillman, Jr., Jack Pollexfen, Gaston Hakim, Roger Corman, George Edwards, Dick Randall, Jack Broder, Hidemasa Nagata, Yonejiro Saito, Joseph E. Levine, Paul L. Jacobson, Arnold Leeds, Tom Graeff, Luigi Mondello, Achille Piazzi, Bruno Vailati, Nat Levine, G. William Perkins, Melvin Gale, Hugo Grimaldi, W. Lee Wilder, Sigmund Neufeld, Luigi Carpentieri, Ermanno Donati, Jewton P. Jacobs, Paul Schreibman, Edmund Goldman, Larry Buchanan, Earle Lyon, Thomas Sagone, Irving A. Block, Jack R. Rabin, Donald Langdon, Nico Mastorakis, Sam X. Abarbanel, Albert J. Cohen, Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky, Fred Gebhardt, Arch Hall Sr., Nicholas MerriwetherScreenwriter:
John W. Sterner, Roger Merton, Wyott Ordung, Robert J. Hill, Victor Stoloff, Dr. Jack Lewis, Dean Dillman, Jr., Vi Russell, Sue Swiggens, Gino de Santis, Alberto Bevilacqua, Sue Dwiggins, Leo Gordon, John Sebastian, Curt Siodmak, Fumi Takahashi, Yonejiro Saito, Richard Kraft, Paul L. Jacobson, Glenville Mareth, Tom GraeffTeleplay By:
Warren WilsonScreenwriter:
Arpad de Riso, Nino Scolaro, Sandro Continenza, Vittorio Cottafavi, Duccio TessariScreen Story:
Archibald Zounds Jr.Screenwriter:
Ennio de Concini, Pietro Francisci, Apollonious Rhodios, Gaoi FrattiniScreen Story:
Colbert ClarkScreenwriter:
David HowardScreen Story:
Al Martin, John RathmellScreenwriter:
Barney A. Sarecky, Armand Schaefer, Wyndham Gittens, Herbert Tevos, Vassily Petrov, Bill Raynor, Myles Wilder, Raymond Schrock, O. Biancoli, Piero Pierotti, Kurt Maetzig, J. Barckhausen, J. Fathke, Wolfgang Kohlhaase, G. Reisch, G. Rucker, A. Stenbock-FermorBook Author:
Stanislaw LemScreenwriter:
Guenther Ruecker, Larry Buchanan, Harold Vaughn Taylor, Arthur C. Pierce, Millard Kaufman, Donald Langdon, Nico Mastorakis, Richard Jefferies, Sam X. Abarbanel, Gregg G. Tallas, Milton SubotskyBook Author:
Joseph MillardScreenwriter:
Fred de Gortner, Fred Gebhardt, William TelaakScreen Story:
Arch Hall Sr.Screenwriter:
Bob WehlingCinematographer:
Mel Fisher, Victor Fisher, Robert Pittack, John H. Greenhalgh, Jr., Floyd D.Crosby, Meredith Nicholson, Georg Krause, Harry Neumann, Vilis Lapenieks, Charles Van Enger, Akira Kitazaki, Julian C. Townsend, Nobuo Munekawa, David Quaid, Tom Graeff, Guy Roe, Oberdan Trojani, Carlo Carlini, Mario Bava, William Nobles, Alvin Wyckoff, Karl Struss, Gilbert Warrenton, Marcello Masciocchi, William H. Clothier, Riccardo Pallottini, Joachim Hasler, Robert Alcott, Alan Stensvold, Raffaele Masciocchi, Henry Freulich, Allen G. Siegler, Aris Stavrou, Lionel Lindon, Norman Warwick, Elwood J. Nicholson, Kazafumi Fujii, Yuzo KanekoComposer (Music Score):
Josef ZimanichMusical Direction/Supervision:
Josef Zimanich, Lee ZahlerComposer (Music Score):
Elmer Bernstein, Ronald Stein, Darrell Calker, Karl Bette, Willy Mattes, Fred Katz, Raoul KraushaarSongwriter:
Wes FarrellComposer (Music Score):
Milton DeluggSongwriter:
Milton Delugg, Roy AlfredMusical Direction/Supervision:
Tom GraeffComposer (Music Score):
Carlo Franci, Armando Trovajoli, Gordon Zahler, Gino Marinuzzi, Jr., Enzo MasettiSongwriter:
Parrish MitchellComposer (Music Score):
Hoyt CurtinMusical Direction/Supervision:
Gordon ZahlerComposer (Music Score):
David Knopfler, Manuel Compinsky, William LavaMusical Direction/Supervision:
Leo Erdody, Manuel CompinskyComposer (Music Score):
Richard Hieronymous, Alan Oldfield, Ernest Gold, Jerry Moseley, James Stevens, Hayes PagelSongwriter:
Arch Hall, Jr.Composer (Music Score):
Henri Price, Kenjiro HiroseEditor:
James Sweeney, Harold McKenzie, John Link, Bruce Schoengarth, Merrill White, Frank Sullivan, Jack Ruggiero, Carlos Lodato, Francis D. Lyon, Ross-Gaffney, Tatsuji Nakashizu, William Henry, Tom Graeff, Hugo Grimaldi, Maurizio Lucidi, Mario Serandrei, Earl Turner, Hugh Wynn, Ray H. Lockert, William Faris, George Gale, Holbrook Todd, Jodie Copelan, Ornella Micheli, Lena Neumann, Bud S. Isaacs, George Serallon, Terrell O. Morse, Robert Leighton, James Graham, Peter Musgrave, Donald Wolfe, Don SchneiderProduction Designer:
Ernst Fegte, Jack Bohrer, Jane Huizenga, Alfred Hirschmeier, Bill ConstableArt Director:
Marvin Harbert, James Reimer, Daniel Haller, Hank Aldrich, Maurice Gordon, Amedeo Mellone, Franco Lolli, Edward C. Jewell, F. Paul Sylos, Andrea Crisanti, Robert Dracup, Jerome Pycha, Jr., Don Mingaye, Scott Slimon, Robert KinoshitaCo-producer:
Brian Trenchard-SmithAssociate Producer:
Edward J. LevenExecutive Producer:
Al Zimbalist, John Miller, Robert L. Madden, Roger Corman, Joy N. Houck, Jr., J. Frances White, Jr., Fred Jordan, John D. SchofieldSet Designer:
Louise Caldwell, Luciano Spadoni, Joseph KishCostume Designer:
Jack Masters, Elmer Ellsworth, Ramse Mostoller, Vittorio Rossi, Marla CraigMakeup:
Stanley Campbell, Jack Pierce, George Fiala, Harry Thomas, Kiva Hoffman, Rudolph Liszt, Bunty Phillips, David NewellSpecial Effects:
David Commons, Jack R. Rabin, Roger George, Kazafumi Fujii, Yonesaburo Tsukiji, Tom Graeff, Ugo Amadoro, Caeser Peace, Howard A. Anderson, Alex C. Weldon, Lee Zavitz, Serse Urbisaglia, Vera Kunstmann, Jan Olejniczak, Helmut Grewald, Irving A. Block, Yannis Samiotis, Bowie Films, Studio Film Service, Yuzo KanekoConsultant/advisor:
Brian Trenchard-SmithCamera Operator:
Jack McCoskeyChoreography:
Peter Van Der Sloot, Bella LewitskyProduction Manager:
Clarence Eurist, H. Duane WeaverShort Story Author:
Angelo Sangermano, Sherman LoweSupervising Editor:
Donn W. HayesShort Story Author:
Myles WilderTechnical Director:
David D. MartinShort Story Author:
Eddy H. GivenProduction Director:
Jane Huizenga
REVIEWS:
- Already high camp when it premiered in March of 1950, Prehistoric Women is even more so today. An absolutely ludicrous film that makes Hal Roach's One Million B.C. (1940) and its remake look like cinema verite, this little blunder may be enjoyed by anyone who likes to watch scantily clad starlets run about grunting. That the girls are Max Factored to the nth degree only adds to the general fun. Fire, after all, is supposed to be discovered during the course of the plot, but here they are in full war paint and wearing the latest in Hollywood coiffures. The grunting is occasionally interrupted by an equally ludicrous stream of consciousness by a gentleman calling himself David Vaile, but this running commentary strikes a modern viewer as chauvinistic rather than the humorous soliloquy that was obviously intended. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- A plane crash strands eight showgirls and their manager Gary (Alex D'Arcy of The Prisoner of Zenda, 1937) on a seemingly deserted tropical island. Despite their discovery of a corpse hanging in an oversized spider's web, the ladies blithely busy themselves with bouts of sunbathing and skinny-dipping, while Gary traverses the island. His exploration earns him a bite from an enormous spider, which transforms into a slavering creature with a newfound appetite for dancers. While the primary purpose of this German-made oddity is to show scantily clad women imperiled by a decidedly male beast, it's also attractively photographed, and several scenes (most notably, Gary's first post-bite attack, and his final flight through a swamp) deliver a frisson not usually found in nudie-cutie/monster movie hybrids (e.g., House on Bare Mountain, 1962). Pacemaker Pictures distributed the film in the United States, first as an adults-only feature under the title It's Hot in Paradise, and later, in a slightly "cooler" print under the Spider Island moniker, which played as part of a double bill with 1959's The Fiendish Ghouls (aka Mania). Image Entertainment and Something Weird Video's DVD is the uncut Paradise version, and includes a trio of spider-themed stripper/cheesecake shorts, as well as an eye-popping gallery of exploitation poster art. ~ Paul Gaita, Rovi
- A synopsis of The Incredible Petrified World may suggest a hilariously inept yet entertaining 1950s sci-fi romp. Nothing, sadly, could be further from the truth. The main reason for Jerry Warren's lack of appeal even to "Bad Movie" lovers of today may be due to a direction, or lack thereof, that may very well cure insomnia. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens here, hence, it has been often suggested, the word "petrified" in the title. Yes, Warren does insert grainy stock footage of a fight between a shark and an octopus but only viewers totally unfamiliar with 1950s sci-fi adventures will have missed this particular piece of "spectacle." The cast members, including the always game John Carradine and such stellar B-Movie perennials as Phyllis Coates and Robert Clarke, do what they can with the material but are soundly defeated by Jerry Warren's heavy-handed and downright amateurish approach to moviemaking. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Attack Of The Monsters is one of the lesser Gamera entries. It's obvious the filmmakers had a smaller budget with this entry because it recycles scenes from other films in this series and features some atypically shoddy rear-projection effects. The kid-friendly focus of the film is taken a bit too far, making the film sickly-sweet at times, and it doesn't help that young star Christopher Murphy is a terrible actor. That said, completists may still want to check Attack Of The Monsters (known in Japan as Gamera Vs. Guiron) for a few reasons. The first is villain Guiron, who has a unique design - his head and nose are shaped like a giant knife blade. Guiron is probably also the most violent of Gamera foes: a startling scene has him using his razor-sharp noggin to chop up a rival monster he has just killed! The film's plot also has some surprising fairytale-like elements, with the two humanoid aliens that drive the plot kind of acting like the witch from "Hansel And Gretel" towards our kid heroes (right down to wanting to use them as a food source). Ultimately, the mix of saccharine kid-movie elements and often surrealistic monster movie shocks will not be to everyone's taste but monster movies might find Attack Of The Monsters to be an amusingly campy entry in the Gamera series. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi
- Considering the strange and terrible fate of the lead actress -- Susan Cabot apparently lived her own nightmare and was eventually killed by her increasingly browbeaten son -- The Wasp Woman takes on an added poignancy that obviously wasn't intended by the film's cheapskate producer-director, Roger Corman. Here is yet another creature flick hampered by a ludicrous monster costume -- nothing more than a Halloween mask, really -- not quite as bad as it could have been but not very good either. Cabot herself does well enough as the youth-obsessed heroine/villainess and the film does attempt to address both the increasing paranoia regarding aging and science run amok. But the cheesy special effects (if you can call a rubber mask and a couple of claws "special effects") and lack of any kind of budget betray the good intentions. Typical of Corman, the supporting roles are well cast (including the stunning Lynn Cartwright as a Brooklyn-accented secretary) and an attempt to turn modern office life into a sort of Grand Guignol melodrama works at least part of the way. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Even diehard fans of low-budget master Edgar G. Ulmer have to confess that The Amazing Transparent Man is a rotten picture. Shot in 11 days concurrently with another picture, Transparent is clearly not a film that Ulmer had any great personal connection to, and there's practically nothing here to recommend it. Those who truly wish to study every Ulmer film for his trademarks will find a few superficial ones here (such as his fondness for repeating motifs in architecture, demonstrated here in the rows of identical teller windows in the bank) -- but the reward for searching these out is pitiful indeed. Ulmer's direction is singularly unimaginative, due partially to budget and time constraints but also largely due to the horrible script, which boasts cringe-inducing dialogue, plot points that make no sense and characterizations that are strictly grade Z. The special effects are tacky in the extreme, with obvious wires in at least one scene. About the only things that survive this mess are Darrell Calker's score, which is not great but more than adequate, and Marguerite Chapman's performance. The actress can't really make sense of the mess she's asked to play, but she exudes a sexiness and assurance that go a long way under the circumstances. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- For those who can never get enough Technicolor Japanese man-in-a-monster-suit movies, there is Destroy All Planets. While offering up everything one expects from a massive zero-budget monster battle film, Destroy All Planets also delivers unintentionally brilliant quirky moments like the hypnotized army, Japanese men with glowing eyeballs, and a fiendishly fake-looking squid alien who wishes to attack Earth for its supply of nitrogen. Obviously made for children, this 1969 classic centers on star monster Gamera's love for small children. This love is so important that Destroy All Planets spends 20 minutes showing clips from past Gamera films where he defends his little buddies. Director Noriyaki Yuasa and his special-effects crew seem to share this love, as the special effects appear to be made with models resembling items from a child's toy box. For those out there ready to watch a chubby Japanese boy in short shorts ride into space on the back of a flying lizard creature, Destroy All Planets is the film for you. ~ Jason Gibner, Rovi
- Hercules Unchained wasn't greeted with much more respect by the critics than was Steve Reeves' previous film, Hercules. In point of fact, both movies were better than reviewers acknowledged at the time -- a fact borne out by their spectacular success at the box office -- and had the effect of establishing a new film genre, the sword-and-sandal epic. It the wake of both movies, producers and directors in Italy began recruiting professional bodybuilders and commissioning scripts that put them into loincloths, battling hundreds (or, in more impoverished circumstances, dozens) of extras dressed as soldiers in some corner of the ancient world. The fact is, though, that few of the movies that followed could match the qualities that made Hercules Unchained so beguiling. Steve Reeves never cut a more commanding presence, and his only better film may have been The Trojan Horse, in which he had to do more acting and fewer feats of strength. The plot drew from the legends surrounding the royal house of Thebes, which are most familiar to modern audiences through the Theban plays of Sophocles. That story line, involving Oedipus the King of Thebes and his two sons, Polynices and Eteocles, opened up opportunities onscreen of which director Pietro Francisci and cinematographer Mario Bava took full advantage -- the scene in which Hercules meets Oedipus at the gates of Hades is a stunner (rumor had it for decades that Bava directed this scene himself), and the eventual battle between the two armies, with Hercules attacking both to stop the fighting and save the kingdom, is a spectacular action scene. Additionally, Sylvia Lopez's portrayal of the Lydian queen Omphale is memorable for its sensuality and passion -- alas, this proved to be her last role; Lopez died later that same year of leukemia. The film as a whole is filled with just enough of the strange, disconnected, episodic nature of the Greek myths, and a good measure of their brutality, so that it served as an introduction for millions of baby-boomer children to the original source material, fostering an interest in mythology that quickly manifested itself in popular culture not only in dozens of rival sword-and-sandal films but in creations such as Stan Lee's Mighty Thor comic book and The Mighty Hercules cartoon show. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- In Mesa of Lost Women, viewers get two bad films for the price of one. First, there's the footage shot by Herbert Tevos for a film that was to be called Tarantula. That name was scrapped when the result was so poor that the film was deemed to be unreleasable. When a shortage of product for movie houses developed, the Tevos footage was taken over by Ron Ormond, who filled out the film with silent-era child star Jackie Coogan, some spider-babes, and a few dwarfs. Unfortunately, even the energetic presence of Angelo Rossitto didn't help enough. This is one of those films that's fun to read about and tedious to watch. The story is more incoherent than non-linear, the characters are woodenly constructed, and the overall film is a dull, tepid mess. Several people with notable credentials worked on Mesa of Lost Women, including cinematographer Karl Struss, who won a richly deserved Oscar for his work on F.W. Murnau's silent-era classic Sunrise. Composer Hoyt Curtin would later go on to write the television theme songs for The Flintstones and The Jetsons. Bit player Dinky Dean Riesner (credited here as "Dean Reisner") had, like Coogan, worked as a child actor with Charles Chaplin. Later he would become a successful screenwriter, working on such Clint Eastwood classics as Dirty Harry. Unlike the auteur efforts of Ed Wood, the spliced together parts of Mesa of Lost Women lack the single-visioned sincerity of such "so bad they're good" efforts as Plan 9 From Outer Space. Incidentally, the copyright date on the film is 1952, though there are indications that the film didn't receive much distribution until 1956, following the success of Universal's Tarantula. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi
- Joy N. Houck Jr.'s sci-fi conspiracy film Mind Warp will baffle anyone with patience enough to wade through its entire running time. Cheap, haphazardly edited, and stuffed full of pseudo-scientific doubletalk, the viewer will be hard pressed to figure out exactly what the white-coated technicians need four volunteers for in the first place. Something about overpopulation? Or the environment? No matter, because these plans go awry thanks to Senator Stuart Lancaster, who unfortunately delivers most of his lines with his back to the audience. The government wants a mind-reading machine tested instead, and everyone involved with the experiment becomes a guinea pig. From there, Houck gives us war flashbacks, suicide by hanging, and various cheap optical effects to suggest nightmares or seizures. It's all a confusing mess that leads nowhere with an abrupt, vaguely paranoid conclusion that will satisfy no one. At least the low-budget props are amusing -- the lab appears to be set up in someone's rec room, and an integral component of the "Brain Machine" is a lawn chair with an extension cord attached to its side. If the prospect of seeing James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazzard) in a regionally produced exploitation film sounds amusing, dig up The Killer Shrews instead. For Gerald McRaney (Major Dad, Simon and Simon) fans, check out Night of Bloody Horror, also directed by Houck. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
- Nobody expects a movie with a title like Hercules Against the Moon Men to be good, but it's not out of the question to hope it will at least be fun. Unfortunately, Moon Men is much too dull to be fun. Oh, you can laugh for a while at the silliness of its plot or the lack of discernible acting skill among most of its cast. You can while away a bit of time wondering whether its phoniness or the flimsiness of its sets that is more amusing. You can even try to decide whether the "alien" costumes might possibly have found their way onto a half-remembered Lost in Space episode. But soon the simply dullness of Moon Men will overtake the little fun you've managed to build up. Even the bad acting doesn't create the giggles it should -- aside from Delia D'Alberti's evil queen, most of the acting is simply flat rather than amusing. As the titular hero (which, in Italy, was actually a different character by the name of Machiste rather than the retitled-for-America Hercules -- so much for depth of character), Sergio Ciani (a.k.a. Alan Steel) ambles his way through the film expressing much more dramatic depth by flexing his arm muscles than by any muscles on his face. The direction is lifeless, the script is ridiculous, and there's a sandstorm sequence that seems to last an eternity. Diehard fans of this action film subgenre are really the only audience for this entry. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- One of the most intriguing of the Italian-made sword-and-sandal adventure films, Hercules and the Captive Women (as it is known in the United States) is well worth a look from anyone with even the slightest interest in the genre. The acting may be a little rough going (and difficult to take seriously once one has watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of this title), but the shooting and the effects are quite good, and they are put into the service of a genuinely fascinating plot. Where many of the movies in this genre throw together a few names, places, and story lines out of various myths and shake them up into a vaguely coherent plot, Hercules and the Captive Women has a script -- written by director Vittorio Cottafavi -- that actually betrays some thought, care, and inventiveness with its subject matter, as well as some knowledge of such source material as Hesiod's Theogeny. Queen Antinea has stumbled upon what we might call a meteor, but which the High Priest of the island identifies as a remnant of the gore that spilled from the god Uranus' wounds when he was castrated by his son Kronos; as a remnant of the body of a living god, it has the power to destroy and transmute all earthly matter, including human flesh, which is precisely how the queen uses it. While this may not sound impressive to modern viewers, it's an eerie example of a kind of ancient Greek version of science fiction that is perfectly suited to its subject. Additionally, the various plot developments and characterizations fit together in the manner of the Greek myths and legends, with all of the seeming jumps in logic and motivation that we perceive today. The movie's craftsmanship might not be on a par with Ray Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts, but Hercules and the Captive Women is many cuts above the typical Italian muscle-man film. The major difficulty in seeing it on home video is its apparent public domain status -- meaning it is widely bootlegged -- and the fact that it was shot as a widescreen movie and ought to be mastered that way, fully letterboxed rather than cropped at its sides. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Phantom from Space is not the worst film ever made, but it's an amazingly dull one -- and one thing that a science fiction movie should never be, even when it's bad, is dull. The whole genre is built on an innate sense of wonder, and there isn't at least a glimmer of that, then something is seriously wrong. The thing is, Phantom could have been an enjoyable little flick -- never great, mind you, but possibly good and certainly the kind of silly fluff that you look forward to seeing on an impossibly rainy Saturday afternoon. The idea of an invisible alien who is wreaking havoc and causing death has a lot of possibilities, but none of them are exploited either by director W. Lee Wilder or his screenwriters. Aside from the absence of joy and life, Phantom suffers from its meager budget. The special effects are almost non-existent, and thus rather than see so much of what transpires, we are told about it -- adding to the dullness. The characters are dull, the dialogue is dull, the direction is dull, the actors are dull -- I think you can probably see a pattern here. Phantom ends up being a film that's really only for sci-fi completists. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Phil Tucker's Robot Monster has a reputation as an unmitigated cinematic mess, a train-wreck of a movie that was so severely maligned in its own time that it supposedly sent its director into confinement for a time in a hospital. And in the main, that reputation is deserved -- the dreadful acting, the continuity problems, and the amateurish editing and special effects do, to a large degree, speak for themselves. And yet this reviewer, across the decades, has found a basis for looking at Robot Monster in a slightly more favorable light -- an angle of approach that makes it, if nowhere near good, then at least not quite the incomprehensible mess that it is usually dismissed as being; and a way of looking at the movie that even gives it a certain internal consistency, a "logic" (though that is an extreme term to use with this script) that works and explains a great deal about a few of its seeming "flaws." Essential in appreciating what director/producer Phil Tucker was trying to do with Robot Monster -- and trying to do with a total budget of $16,000 and four days of shooting time -- is to keep in mind that the main body of the movie consists of an eight-year-old boy's nightmare. Indeed, Robot Monster is the most impoverished member a small group of fantasy movies (which also includes The Wizard of Oz, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Curse of the Cat People, The Boy With Green Hair, Invaders From Mars and Godzilla's Revenge) that deal with childhood dreams, fantasies, and nightmares. It lacks some finesse, any polish, and even some basic competency in its execution, but it does -- in its editing, pacing, and structure -- capture the irrational, uncontrolled nature of dreams and nightmares better than any of those more respected movies (with the possible exception of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, which is a glorious and unique film). Indeed, Robot Monster closely parallels aspects of the plot of William Cameron Menzies' Invaders From Mars, and those parallels are sufficient to raise suspicions about the precise origins of Tucker's movie -- Invaders From Mars was released just a few weeks before Robot Monster; both movies promised 3-D that wasn't delivered; both are about boy heroes battling aliens from outer space, both include parents and surrogate parents for the boy, and both feature young girls who are killed by the aliens. One does wonder if the producers, having gotten wind of Menzies' film either in pre-production or through previews, rushed their movie into production and into theaters. Both films are very disquieting in their depiction of dreams, though -- surprisingly -- the budgetarily emaciated Robot Monster comes closer to the mark. The way that the action unfolds, suddenly and with huge leaps in logic and thought, are seen the way a child sees the world. The threadbare sets, which are missing what we know to be vital pieces, also resemble the settings of dreams. The serious yet cavalier manner in which the marriage of Roy (George Nader) and Alice (Claudia Barrett) is depicted mixes the boy's love of his older sister and respect for the young scientist with his abhorrence of what would have been called "gooey love stuff" in movies. The whole notion of a brave young boy facing down a space invader hangs together beautifully once one accepts the setting as a dream (or nightmare). And if one can get that far, then Robot Monster actually begins to take on the characteristics of a somewhat enchanting film, for all of its mistakes and holes. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- The idea of a giant, fire-breathing flying turtle might sound silly - and even fans of the Japanese monster-movie genre tend to consider it so - but viewers might be surprised by how serious and occasionally intense the original version of the first entry in the Gamera series is. Gammera The Invincible, as it was known to American viewers, was watered down with new scenes featuring English-speaking actors and laughable dubbing for the Japanese parts. As such, it's a bit of a misfire. However, the original, unedited Japanese version plays like a fairly effective riff on the first Godzilla film, using moody black-and-white photography and presenting a scenario in which the world is terrorized by the mysterious giant monster of the title. The script is mostly standard stuff for the genre but spices things up a bit by having scientists be the heroes instead of villains or kooks. The actors mostly blend into the background but Eiji Funakoshi does solid work as the film's scientist hero and Yoshiro Uchida stands out for playing one of the most annoying and insane kiddie characters in monster movie history. However, the real attraction is the monster-suit carnage and director Noriaki Yuasa handles it well, delivering the many setpieces with enthusiasm and using the black-and-white photography to bring a spooky edge to the scenes of distruction. Some the effects really show their age (particularly the scenes with model planes on strings) but the majority of the effects showcases play nicely, boasting a gee-whiz sense of comic book excitement that will appeal to the viewer's inner kid. All in all, Gammera The Invincible is a solidly-crafted, engaging monster mash - just make sure you see the original Japanese version. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi
- The premise of Bride of the Gorilla is so goofy that one approaches it expecting a campy laugh-fest -- and why not? It's hard to pinpoint why exactly, but a man turning into a wolf is by nature an intriguing and interesting idea, while a man turning into a gorilla is by nature simply nutty. That's not to say that the latter idea absolutely cannot be the basis for a good horror flick, but it is to say that the idea requires a lot more work just to be acceptable, let alone good. Gorilla doesn't do the work, but what's much more damaging is that it doesn't even have fun with its silly premise. Indeed, Gorilla takes itself awfully seriously, with the result that it comes across as dull, dull, dull. Yes, viewers may find themselves chuckling a little during the first fifteen minutes or so of ponderous dialogue, leaden acting and sluggish direction, as well as the budget-conscious sets and flat photography. But the humor peters out rather quickly, and boredom sets in. Tom Conway manages to keep our interest most of the film, and Lon Chaney, Jr.'s quirkiness has some appeal. But aside from appreciating that he's in much better shape than he was as Perry Mason, there's little to recommend in Raymond Burr's performance. Barbara Payton, meanwhile, is a sheer delight to look at, but as an actress, she doesn't impress as much. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- The very title Killers from Space is so low-brow trashy that one can be excused for assuming that the film that accompanies it is a sci-fi hoot. Indeed, the plot -- aliens possess body of dead scientist and use him as their pawn to conquer the world -- also holds a great deal of "camp" promise. And when one discovers that the aliens look like nothing so much as overweight men dressed in jumpsuits and wearing ping pong balls for eyes, it seems inconceivable that Killers isn't a laugh riot from start to finish. Unfortunately, somehow director W. Lee Wilder manages to take all the fun out of what should be a crazy misfire of a movie, making a film that is so tedious and dull that all the fun drains out of it within the first 15 minutes. Clearly, Wilder was attempting to treat this material with seriousness, which is not a crime. But his work here is so lacking in any skill, so lacking in any sense of pacing or structure or ability to build suspense, that he makes Killers a chore to sit through. True devotees of 1950s sci-fi may want to watch Killers in order to see links between it and better films such as Invaders from Mars or The Day the Earth Stood Still, but others should just give it a miss. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- When a manned space voyage to Venus goes awry, a second spacecraft is sent to the planet's misty surface to locate any survivors. There, the crew encounters strange animals, including dinosaurs and a sort of man-lizard, as well as mysterious sirens. This imaginative and highly visual film is actually a Soviet-made production titled Planeta Bur, which was purchased by Roger Corman and American International Pictures and refashioned into a more simplistic science fiction-adventure for American audiences. Former experimental filmmaker and Kenneth Anger associate Curtis Harrington (using the nom du cinema John Harrington) was pressed into directing new footage featuring Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue, which was incorporated into the film for Hollywood name value (such as it was at the time). The end result gives enticing glimpses of Russian director Pavel Klushantsev's original vision and some impressive special effects (most notably, the air car and the crew's mechanical helpmate Robot John), which are unfortunately dampened by the newer, more awkward-looking scenes. Ever the penny-pincher, Corman recycled the Russian footage for a second, less coherent feature, 1966's Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, which featured scenes with Mamie Van Doren shot by then-novice director Peter Bogdanovich. Sinister Cinema offers a subtitled print of Planeta Bur, while Something Weird Video's spotless print of Prehistoric Planet includes an odd and haunting underwater scene not featured in other versions. ~ Paul Gaita, Rovi
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