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BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE (1959)
+ Bonus Film SKI TROOP ATTACK (1960)
Label: Film Masters
Region Code: Region-Free
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: Beast from Haunted Cave: 65 Minutes 27 Seconds (Theatrical), 71 Minutes 56 Seconds (Extended TV Version); Ski Troop Attack: 73 Minutes 43 Second (Ski Troop Attack)
Audio: English DTS HD MA 2.0, Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: B&W 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) (Theatrical), 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1) (TV Version)
Director: Monte Hellman
Cast: Michael Forest, Sheila Noonan, Frank Wolff, Richard Sinatra, Wally Campo, Linné Ahlstrand, Kay Jennings
The Gene and Roger Corman produced and Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop) directed Beast from Haunted Cave (1959), which was written by regular Corman collaborator Charles B. Griffith (A Bucket of Blood). It starts off as a heist film, set in the snowy ski resort area of Deadwood, South Dakota where criminals Alex Ward (Frank Wolf, The Great Silence), his alcoholic gal Gypsy (Sheila Noonan, Ski Troop Attack), and triggermen Marty (Richard Sinatra, Ski Troop Attack) and Byron (Wally Campo, Master of the World) are masquerading as ski tourists as they set out to steal gold bars from the local mine depository. Marty is directed to plant a bomb in a mine to act as a diversion to distract from their bank heist, but for some odd reason when he goes to the mine to set the bomb he takes along a horny local barmaid named Natalie (Linné Ahlstrand, Living Venus), which seems like a bad idea - loose lips sinks ships you know, but it doesn't really matter because she's killed by the titular beast that's living in the mine.
Marty escapes and reports back to Alex, relaying the frightful tale of the beast and an egg he saw in the cave, but everyone thinks he's cracked a bit under the pressure. Regardless, the explosion goes off as planned and they pull of the heist retrieving the gold bars from the mine depository the next day without a hitch. Afterward they head off into the mountains with the help of an unwitting ski instructor named Gil (Michael Forest, King Kong Lives) who they've contracted to take them to a remote cabin further up the mountain. The plan is to wait for a plane that is scheduled to pick them up and knock off Gil, as well as anyone on the team who might prove detrimental to Alex's plan, before escaping to Canada with their loot. However, a snowstorm threatens to derail the plane extraction and Gypsy's flirtations with the strapping ski instructor are really pushing Alex's buttons, and tensions start to rise, with Gypsy spilling the beans to Gil and planning to run off with him.
Also it seems that the explosion in the gold mine pushed the blood-sucking, spider-like creature that Marty saw earlier out of it's cave, and it seems to have followed the group to the cabin, taking up residence in a nearby cave. It first kills Gil's cabin-housekeeper Small Dove (Kay Jennings) before setting it's sights on everyone else, leading up to a somewhat hasty but well-executed final showdown in a cave where titular beast webs it's victims to the cave wall and drinks their blood!
Also it seems that the explosion in the gold mine pushed the blood-sucking, spider-like creature that Marty saw earlier out of it's cave, and it seems to have followed the group to the cabin, taking up residence in a nearby cave. It first kills Gil's cabin-housekeeper Small Dove (Kay Jennings) before setting it's sights on everyone else, leading up to a somewhat hasty but well-executed final showdown in a cave where titular beast webs it's victims to the cave wall and drinks their blood!
What started out as a pretty solid low-budget heist film turns into a creepy monster attack flick that works quite nicely. While the creature is only barely seen early on the final few minutes of the flick show a bit more once were in the cave systems, but even then its only glimpsed briefly. When I saw this as a kid on TV I thought the heist stuff was a bit of a bore, but I found the creature to be absolutely terrifying, those shots of victims webbed to the wall helpless to stop the creature from draining them of their blood really got to me. Watching it now It's still pretty creepy and well done, though I still wanted more of the creature, but I actually appreciate the heist stuff and the solid cast quite a bit more this time around. Hellman does a lot with very little here, and at just over an hour it breezes by. The disc showcases both the original theatrical and the longer TV cut with scenes shot three years after filming wrapped, that doesn't really add much except padded running time, I say stick with the theatrical version.
The second half of this double-bill is the Roger Corman directed Ski Troop Attack (1960), a low-budget World War II drama that used the same location and much of the same cast and crew from Beast from Haunted Cave after filming wrapped on that film, with the mountain of South Dakota capably standing in for mountainous Germany, with five American ski patrol soldiers on a secret reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines. Advised not to engage the enemy and to complete their mission, but tensions rise when team leader Lieutenant Factor (Michael Forest) and Sargent Potter (Frank Wolff) rub each other the wrong way after Potter order an attack on a German patrol. Along the way they encounter a larger German battalion and devise a plan to blow-up the railroad. It was nice to see Sheila Noonan pop-up, appearing as a woman who cabin the American soldiers commandeer as their temporary base of operations. This was a solid watch as well, while not really my cup of tea Corman directs the Hell out of it and the stock footage used is well incorporated to add some bigger production value tot he war drama-thriller.
The second half of this double-bill is the Roger Corman directed Ski Troop Attack (1960), a low-budget World War II drama that used the same location and much of the same cast and crew from Beast from Haunted Cave after filming wrapped on that film, with the mountain of South Dakota capably standing in for mountainous Germany, with five American ski patrol soldiers on a secret reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines. Advised not to engage the enemy and to complete their mission, but tensions rise when team leader Lieutenant Factor (Michael Forest) and Sargent Potter (Frank Wolff) rub each other the wrong way after Potter order an attack on a German patrol. Along the way they encounter a larger German battalion and devise a plan to blow-up the railroad. It was nice to see Sheila Noonan pop-up, appearing as a woman who cabin the American soldiers commandeer as their temporary base of operations. This was a solid watch as well, while not really my cup of tea Corman directs the Hell out of it and the stock footage used is well incorporated to add some bigger production value tot he war drama-thriller.
Audio/Video: Beast from Haunted Cave arrives in region-free Blu-ray from Film Masters in B&W 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1) for the theatrical version as well as a full frame 1.33:1 for the Extended TV Version which runs longer and has a few additional scenes not present in the theatrical, which do a look a bit softer than the theatrical footage but still pretty terrific. The widescreen version is a crop down of the 1.33:1 and loses information on the top and bottom of the screen, but looks quite comfortable and does not feel overly squeezed. The source is in excellent shape, grain is well-managed, contrast, depth and clarity are very pleasing if modest, and black levels are solid, We also get a second disc containing the bonus film Ski Troop Attack in 1080p HD fullscreen (1.33:1), looking similarly quite good.
Audio on both come by way of uncompressed English DTS HD MA 2.0, or Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles. These are clean presentations, a bit flat which I would expect from a pair of low-budget flicks of this era, it sounds of it's vintage, but dialogue and the scores from Alexander Laszlo (Night of the Blood Beast) on Beast from Haunted Cave and Fred Katz (A Bucket of Blood) come through fine.
Extras include an Audio Commentary for Beast From Haunted Cave by author and film historian Tom Weaver and filmmaker Larry Blamire; an Audio Commentary for Ski Troop Attack by author C. Courtney Joyner and filmmaker Howard S. Berger, a new 16-min Ballyhoo Motion Pictures produced doc Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story: Part One; a 4-min Gallery of rare stills from camera negatives taken during the filming of Beast From Haunted Cave, courtesy of Tom Weaver, plus a 2-min Original, 35mm-restored theatrical trailer for Beast From Haunted Cave, a 2-min Recut Beast from Haunted Cave trailer from restored film elements, plus a cool Easter Egg with the original beast - which can be found on the main menu by scrolling to the right and clicking on the image of the beast.
The 2-disc Blu-ray release arrives in a dual-hubbed keepcase with a single sided sleeve of artwork. Inside there's a 24-page illustrated booklet containing 'Bantering with the Beast: Chris Robinson on Building - and being - the Haunted Cave Creature as told by Tom Weaver', which is an essay with interview segments pertaining to the a-side of this double-feature, and 'Corman Goes to War' essay by C. Courtney Joyner that digs into Corman's war flick.
Special Features:
- Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story: Part One, a Ballyhoo Motion Pictures documentary (16:22)
- Full-color booklet with essays by authors C. Courtney Joyner and Tom Weaver with the man behind the beast
- Chris Robinson
- Audio Commentary for Beast From Haunted Cave by author and film historian Tom Weaver and filmmaker Larry Blamire
- Audio Commentary for Ski Troop Attack by author C. Courtney Joyner and filmmaker Howard S. Berger
- Gallery of rare stills from camera negatives taken during the filming of Beast From Haunted Cave, courtesy of Tom Weaver (4:22).
- Original, 35mm-restored theatrical trailer for Beast From Haunted Cave (1:38)
- Audio Commentary for Ski Troop Attack by author C. Courtney Joyner and filmmaker Howard S. Berger
- Gallery of rare stills from camera negatives taken during the filming of Beast From Haunted Cave, courtesy of Tom Weaver (4:22).
- Original, 35mm-restored theatrical trailer for Beast From Haunted Cave (1:38)
- New, recut Beast from Haunted Cave trailer from restored film elements (1:38)
- Easter Egg alert! Hidden on the disc is a special interview with the original beast.
This is a another terrific restoration by Film Masters for a solid Roger Corman b-movie double-bill, this heist/creature feature flick has certainly never looked better and I love having both cuts on disc; as well as the Corman WWII curiosity Ski Troop Attack which features the same cast and locations, enhanced by some solid extras that deep-dive into both films.
Screenshots from the Film Master Blu-ray:
Top: Film Master Blu-ray (1.85:1)
Bottom: Film Masters Blu-ray (1.37:1)
