“The supreme excitement of our time! Challenging the unearthly furies of an outlaw planet!” Big-budget space opera finally came to movie screens, in Technicolor and widescreen, in this irresistible kid magnet of a sci-fi extravaganza. Viewers are split on its worth, as the screenplay caroms between mind-expanding visions and puerile dialogue. But it’s the first show to capture the thrills on those pulp sci-fi pocketbook covers, and its visual poetry plays out like an intergalactic fairy tale.
This Island Earth
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1955 / Color / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 9, 2019 / 29.99
Starring: Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, Russell Johnson, Douglas Spencer, Robert Nichols.
Cinematography: Clifford Stine
Film Editor: Virgil Vogel
Special Effects: David S. Horsley, Clifford Stine, Cleo E. Baker
Original Music: Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein
Written by Franklin Coen, Edward G. O’Callaghan from a story by Raymond F. Jones
Produced...
This Island Earth
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1955 / Color / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 9, 2019 / 29.99
Starring: Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, Russell Johnson, Douglas Spencer, Robert Nichols.
Cinematography: Clifford Stine
Film Editor: Virgil Vogel
Special Effects: David S. Horsley, Clifford Stine, Cleo E. Baker
Original Music: Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein
Written by Franklin Coen, Edward G. O’Callaghan from a story by Raymond F. Jones
Produced...
- 7/16/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Behind A Barrier Of Antarctic Ice…A Paradise Of Hidden Terrors!” Universal-International laid out a pretty penny to film this elaborate spin on The Lost World, modernized to take in discoveries at the South Pole. It’s a showcase for fancy B&W opticals and traveling mattes … but the featured monster stars are a big letdown — a pathetic rubber costume for a T-Rex and a clunky mechanical water dragon. And the leading lady screams as she pretends to be entangled in a man woman-eating plant!
The Land Unknown
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 78 min. / Street Date , 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jock Mahoney, Shawn Smith, William Reynolds, Henry Brandon, Douglas Kennedy, Phil Harvey, Shirley Patterson.
Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter
Film Editor: Fred MacDowell
Visual Effects: Orien Ernest, Jack Kevan, Fred Knoth, Roswell A. Hoffman, Clifford Stine
Original Music: Henry Mancini, Heinz Roemheld, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein
Written by László Görög,...
The Land Unknown
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 78 min. / Street Date , 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jock Mahoney, Shawn Smith, William Reynolds, Henry Brandon, Douglas Kennedy, Phil Harvey, Shirley Patterson.
Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter
Film Editor: Fred MacDowell
Visual Effects: Orien Ernest, Jack Kevan, Fred Knoth, Roswell A. Hoffman, Clifford Stine
Original Music: Henry Mancini, Heinz Roemheld, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein
Written by László Görög,...
- 4/23/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A plug for commercial exterminators everywhere, William Alland’s titanic hairy spider provided plenty of chills for 1950s drive-ins, delivering exactly the naïve monster thrills teenagers craved. John Agar and Mara Corday do what they can with the clunker script and Jack Arnold’s direction, while Leo G. Carroll saves face by retreating below a rubber mask that makes him look like Droopy Dog. But for fans that like their monsters as big as the Great Outdoors, Clifford Stine and David Horsley’s startling special effects provide a spider-verse of sensational, surreal insect fear.
Tarantula
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1955 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date April, 2019 / 29,99
Starring: John Agar, Mara Corday, Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva, Ross Elliott, Edwin Rand, Raymond Bailey, Hank Patterson.
Cinematography: George Robinson
Special Optical Effects and Cinematography: Clifford Stine, David S. Horsley
Original Music: Herman Stein, Henry Mancini
Written by Jack Arnold, Robert M. Fresco,...
Tarantula
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1955 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date April, 2019 / 29,99
Starring: John Agar, Mara Corday, Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva, Ross Elliott, Edwin Rand, Raymond Bailey, Hank Patterson.
Cinematography: George Robinson
Special Optical Effects and Cinematography: Clifford Stine, David S. Horsley
Original Music: Herman Stein, Henry Mancini
Written by Jack Arnold, Robert M. Fresco,...
- 4/16/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s controversy in the Black Lagoon! Universal releases a much-desired box of all three Gill Man epics — but goes cheap on the encoding and hands us a 3-D rendering of Revenge of the Creature at half-resolution. When is a Blu-ray not a Blu-ray? When it’s not even full HD. And all that after commissioning a state-of-the-art 4k 3-D video remaster!
Creature From the Black Lagoon: Complete Legacy Collection
Creature from the Black Lagoon (3-D + 2-D), Revenge of the Creature (3-D) + 2-D, The Creature Walks Among Us (2-D)
Blu-ray
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
1954-1956 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 79, 82, 78 min. / Street Date August 28, 2018 / 39.98
Starring: Julie Adams, Lori Nelson, Leigh Snowden, Nestor Paiva, Richard Carlson, Jeff Morrow, John Agar, Rex Reason, Richard Denning, John Bromfield, Jeff Morrow, Greg Palmer…
and as the Gill Man: Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman, Don Megowan, others.
Cinematography: William E. Snyder; Charles S. Welbourne; Maury Gertsman
Film...
Creature From the Black Lagoon: Complete Legacy Collection
Creature from the Black Lagoon (3-D + 2-D), Revenge of the Creature (3-D) + 2-D, The Creature Walks Among Us (2-D)
Blu-ray
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
1954-1956 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 79, 82, 78 min. / Street Date August 28, 2018 / 39.98
Starring: Julie Adams, Lori Nelson, Leigh Snowden, Nestor Paiva, Richard Carlson, Jeff Morrow, John Agar, Rex Reason, Richard Denning, John Bromfield, Jeff Morrow, Greg Palmer…
and as the Gill Man: Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman, Don Megowan, others.
Cinematography: William E. Snyder; Charles S. Welbourne; Maury Gertsman
Film...
- 9/1/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Darren Allison
Before inheriting the title "Master of Disaster", a perfectly justified honour for his reputation of creating some of the greatest disaster movies of the 1970s, Irwin Allen was also the man responsible for some of the classic TV shows to emerge in the 1960’s. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants have all survived the test of time and become immortalised among the best in terms of cultural importance. However, above all others, Lost in Space (1965-1968) is arguably the series that endured. Very loosely inspired by Johan David Wyss's classic 1812 adventure novel “Swiss Family Robinson”, the premise for the show was fairly uncomplicated and followed the adventures of the Robinson family, a crew of space colonists who encounter a number of strange and otherworldly situations after their ship is sabotaged and thrown off its original course. A great...
Before inheriting the title "Master of Disaster", a perfectly justified honour for his reputation of creating some of the greatest disaster movies of the 1970s, Irwin Allen was also the man responsible for some of the classic TV shows to emerge in the 1960’s. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants have all survived the test of time and become immortalised among the best in terms of cultural importance. However, above all others, Lost in Space (1965-1968) is arguably the series that endured. Very loosely inspired by Johan David Wyss's classic 1812 adventure novel “Swiss Family Robinson”, the premise for the show was fairly uncomplicated and followed the adventures of the Robinson family, a crew of space colonists who encounter a number of strange and otherworldly situations after their ship is sabotaged and thrown off its original course. A great...
- 12/18/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Are you 3-D capable? This classic-era Sci-fi is one of the better '50s films ever designed for 3-D, and the restoration on this much-coveted new release is excellent. Meteors explode in your face! A rockslide in your lap! Bizarre superimpositions! Ray gun blasts! And don't forget Ray Bradbury's feel-good sense of wonder speeches, from wide-eyed Richard Carlson. It Came from Outer Space 3-D 3-D Blu-ray Universal Home Video 1953 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 82 min. / Street Date October 4, 2016 / at present a Best Buy exclusive Starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, Russell Johnson, Kathleen Hughes Cinematography Clifford Stine Art Direction Robert Boyle Makeup and Special effects Jack Kevan, Bud Westmore, David S. Horsley, Milicent Patrick. Film Editor Paul Weatherwax Original Music Irving Gertz, Henry Mancini, Herman Stein Written by Harry Essex from a story by Ray Bradbury Produced by William Alland Directed by Jack Arnold
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 10/8/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Universal has just launched a new website, appropriately titled – Universal Monster Legacy.
The site features a detailed catalog of the studio’s groundbreaking, defining and immortal horror content from 1923 (with Lon Chaney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame) through 1956 (with the final Gill-Man film, The Creature Walks Among Us).
The focus is on the Universal (or can we call it Comcast-Uni now?) stable of classic monsters that include Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and so on. Largely excluded are the studio’s non-monster horror outings of the same period, but the emphasis on the monster films is not only welcome but explicitly intentional, so it’s hard to call foul.
Each featured film has a page including a synopsis, as well as art, photo and video galleries.
But best of all, the site features several cues of...
The site features a detailed catalog of the studio’s groundbreaking, defining and immortal horror content from 1923 (with Lon Chaney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame) through 1956 (with the final Gill-Man film, The Creature Walks Among Us).
The focus is on the Universal (or can we call it Comcast-Uni now?) stable of classic monsters that include Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and so on. Largely excluded are the studio’s non-monster horror outings of the same period, but the emphasis on the monster films is not only welcome but explicitly intentional, so it’s hard to call foul.
Each featured film has a page including a synopsis, as well as art, photo and video galleries.
But best of all, the site features several cues of...
- 12/4/2009
- by Jesse
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
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