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 big, it buzzes, and it screams like a banshee. So why is the Mantis monster so ho-hum? Universal-International tries to squeak out another boffo big bug epic, but 1957 screens were already crowded with grasshoppers and scorpions — and the screenplay is derivative — and somebody allowed producer William Alland to throw in every stock shot that wasn’t nailed down.
The Deadly Mantis
Blu-ray
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date March 19, 2019 / 27.99
Starring: Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Donald Randolph, Pat Conway, Florenz Ames, Paul Smith, Harry Tyler.
Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter, Clifford Stine
Film Editor: Chester Schaeffer
Original Music: Irving Gertz, William Lava, Henry Mancini
Written by Martin Berkeley, William Alland
Produced by William Alland
Directed by Nathan Juran
I grew up partly in the Mojave Desert. Our red ants were aggressive (and they stung!), our grasshoppers big and strong, and our scorpions were as scary as the...
The Deadly Mantis
Blu-ray
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date March 19, 2019 / 27.99
Starring: Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Donald Randolph, Pat Conway, Florenz Ames, Paul Smith, Harry Tyler.
Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter, Clifford Stine
Film Editor: Chester Schaeffer
Original Music: Irving Gertz, William Lava, Henry Mancini
Written by Martin Berkeley, William Alland
Produced by William Alland
Directed by Nathan Juran
I grew up partly in the Mojave Desert. Our red ants were aggressive (and they stung!), our grasshoppers big and strong, and our scorpions were as scary as the...
- 3/16/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
For his follow-up to the box-office success My Name is Julia Ross, Joseph H. Lewis turned to the French countryside for So Dark the Night, a title which has lapsed into obscurity (like many of Lewis’ title from the 1940s). More in the vein of a psychological thriller than a noir, the script from Martin Berkeley (of the Vincent Price thriller Shock) and Dwight Babcock plays with genre convention before toppling precariously into pulp. Although its narrative twist is unexpected and the film is beautifully photographed, both its breakneck speed (the running time is only seventy minutes) and faulty psychologizing makes this a rather antiquated if entertaining exercise.…...
- 2/26/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
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
This noir hits with the force of a blast furnace -- Cy Endfield's wrenching tale of social neglect and injustice will tie your stomach in knots. Sound like fun? An unemployed man turns to crime and reaps a whirlwind of disproportionate retribution. It's surely the most powerful of all filmic accusations thrown at the American status quo. Try and Get Me! Blu-ray Olive Films 1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 92 min. / Street Date April 19, 2016 / The Sound of Fury / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95 Starring Frank Lovejoy, Kathleen Ryan, Richard Carlson, Lloyd Bridges, Katherine Locke, Adele Jergens, Art Smith, Renzo Cesana, Irene Vernon, Cliff Clark, Donald Smelick, Joe E. Ross. Cinematography Guy Roe Production Design Perry Ferguson Film Editor George Amy Original Music Hugo Friedhofer Written by Jo Pagano from his novel The Condemned Produced by Robert Stillman Directed by Cyril Endfield
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Socially conscious 'issue' movies are not all made equal.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Socially conscious 'issue' movies are not all made equal.
- 4/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Shock
Written by Eugene Ling, Martin Berkeley
Directed by Alfred L. Werker
U.S.A., 1946
Young wife Janet Stewart (Anabel Shaw) arrives at a hotel where she is to meet with her war hero husband, Lt. Paul Stewart (Frank Latimore). Janet already had to live through months during which news of Paul’s death could have arrived at any moment. Compounding matters further was when she received such news, although it was only later proven thankfully inaccurate. Her fragile emotional and psychological state is thrown into a savage tailspin once again upon hearing an argument in another room. Janet goes to her balcony (where there is a view of the room where the heated tête-à-tête is transpiring). A man (Vincent Price), in a fit of fury and revulsion, hits his wife over the head with a candle holster, killing her in the process. Janet immediately goes into a state of shock,...
Written by Eugene Ling, Martin Berkeley
Directed by Alfred L. Werker
U.S.A., 1946
Young wife Janet Stewart (Anabel Shaw) arrives at a hotel where she is to meet with her war hero husband, Lt. Paul Stewart (Frank Latimore). Janet already had to live through months during which news of Paul’s death could have arrived at any moment. Compounding matters further was when she received such news, although it was only later proven thankfully inaccurate. Her fragile emotional and psychological state is thrown into a savage tailspin once again upon hearing an argument in another room. Janet goes to her balcony (where there is a view of the room where the heated tête-à-tête is transpiring). A man (Vincent Price), in a fit of fury and revulsion, hits his wife over the head with a candle holster, killing her in the process. Janet immediately goes into a state of shock,...
- 5/15/2015
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
By Fred Burdsall
What makes you a fan?
Whatever your interests, there’s always something specific that gets your attention and won’t let go.
For me, it was movies—horror movies—and the scarier the better. I liked that nervous feeling we all get when something makes us uncomfortable. I liked sitting there and wondering if this is the one that finally makes me turn my head away. To me, it’s the greatest feeling in the world and I owe it all to four specific films.
My mother loves watching horror movies, so it was early on in life I got introduced to Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Soon after I discovered the joys of Corman, Price and Poe, but in the midst of all that there were two that grabbed me like no other.
Tarantula had its spider and Them gave us ants,...
What makes you a fan?
Whatever your interests, there’s always something specific that gets your attention and won’t let go.
For me, it was movies—horror movies—and the scarier the better. I liked that nervous feeling we all get when something makes us uncomfortable. I liked sitting there and wondering if this is the one that finally makes me turn my head away. To me, it’s the greatest feeling in the world and I owe it all to four specific films.
My mother loves watching horror movies, so it was early on in life I got introduced to Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Soon after I discovered the joys of Corman, Price and Poe, but in the midst of all that there were two that grabbed me like no other.
Tarantula had its spider and Them gave us ants,...
- 2/1/2010
- by Movies Unlimited
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
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