COLD WAR CREATURES:
FOUR FILMS FROM SAM KATZMAN (1955-1957)
Label: Arrow Video
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 293 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 1.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Black & White 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) / (1.85:1)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 293 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 1.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Black & White 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) / (1.85:1)
Directors: Edward L. Cahn, Fred F. Sears
With Arrow offering up premium box sets worshipping delicious drive-in trash from regional filmmakers like Bill Rebane and William Grefé it was only a matter of time till they got to the sci-fi and horror films of producer Sam Katzman who pumped out hundreds of low-budget b-movies over the course of his storied forty year career, but his most notorious and cherished films are this quartet of z-grade terrors made for Columbia during the atomic-age era. This fantastic set collects Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), The Werewolf (1956), Zombies of Mora Tau (1947), and the legendary The Giant Claw (1957)!
If you grew up in the 70's and 80's like me and watched the monster-movie matiness on TV channels like WPIX you probably saw these cheese-tastic terror films, and love them or not, you probable have not forgotten about them. In Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) a fallen mob boss recruits an ex-Nazi scientist to reanimate his dead thugs to have his revenge on those who double-crossed him. It's a fun mad scientist romp starring Richard Denning (Creature from the Black Lagoon) with cool super strong zombies mixed with a crime thriller. The flick even inspired a kick-ass song with the same name by rocker Roky Erickson. In The Werewolf (1956) an auto-accident survivor with amnesia (Steve Ritch, City of Fear) is experimented upon to create a vaccine for nuclear fall-out, but with the unfortunate side effect of turn into a werewolf! A fun atom-age spin on the lycanthropic tale that takes it in a new direction, and Ritch is a sympathetic character and the vintage time-lapse dissolve transformations are fun, plus the werewolf looks fantastic in my opinion. In Zombies of More Tau (1957), directed by Edward L. Cahn (It! The Terror from Beyond Space), a group of treasure hunters in search of sunken ship full of diamonds must face-off against the pesky swimming-undead who are cursed to guard the treasure. The flick stars Gregg Palmer (From Hell It Came) and Morris Ankrum (Earth vs. The Flying Saucers), and while this one is kind of a snoozer but I love the "underwater" shot scenes, which are shot on a smoke-filled stage with the very dry actors moving in slow-motion, and the cherry on top is scene of the scuba divers blowing soap bubbles to emulate escaping oxygen bubbles! The showstopper here is The Giant Claw (1957), wherein an enormous super-sonic bird from outer-space terrorizes the world. The puppeteered terror bird actually looks mighty impressive when you get beyond how goody it looks. This one stars Mara Corday (Tarantula!) and Jeff Morrow (This Island Earth) one is filled with a lot of stock footage but if you're a fan of creature-terrors like Tarantula! (1956) and The Deadly Mantis (1957) and can stomach a much cheaper produced derivative this is a fun one.
If you grew up in the 70's and 80's like me and watched the monster-movie matiness on TV channels like WPIX you probably saw these cheese-tastic terror films, and love them or not, you probable have not forgotten about them. In Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) a fallen mob boss recruits an ex-Nazi scientist to reanimate his dead thugs to have his revenge on those who double-crossed him. It's a fun mad scientist romp starring Richard Denning (Creature from the Black Lagoon) with cool super strong zombies mixed with a crime thriller. The flick even inspired a kick-ass song with the same name by rocker Roky Erickson. In The Werewolf (1956) an auto-accident survivor with amnesia (Steve Ritch, City of Fear) is experimented upon to create a vaccine for nuclear fall-out, but with the unfortunate side effect of turn into a werewolf! A fun atom-age spin on the lycanthropic tale that takes it in a new direction, and Ritch is a sympathetic character and the vintage time-lapse dissolve transformations are fun, plus the werewolf looks fantastic in my opinion. In Zombies of More Tau (1957), directed by Edward L. Cahn (It! The Terror from Beyond Space), a group of treasure hunters in search of sunken ship full of diamonds must face-off against the pesky swimming-undead who are cursed to guard the treasure. The flick stars Gregg Palmer (From Hell It Came) and Morris Ankrum (Earth vs. The Flying Saucers), and while this one is kind of a snoozer but I love the "underwater" shot scenes, which are shot on a smoke-filled stage with the very dry actors moving in slow-motion, and the cherry on top is scene of the scuba divers blowing soap bubbles to emulate escaping oxygen bubbles! The showstopper here is The Giant Claw (1957), wherein an enormous super-sonic bird from outer-space terrorizes the world. The puppeteered terror bird actually looks mighty impressive when you get beyond how goody it looks. This one stars Mara Corday (Tarantula!) and Jeff Morrow (This Island Earth) one is filled with a lot of stock footage but if you're a fan of creature-terrors like Tarantula! (1956) and The Deadly Mantis (1957) and can stomach a much cheaper produced derivative this is a fun one.
Audio/Video: It doesn't looks like Arrow created new HD masters for these but the black and white looks solid in 1080p HD with good looking grayscale and contrast that easily bests the 2007 4-disc DVD set from Sony Pictures. Grain can be a bit funky at times but the increased resolution keeps things appropriately sharp and well contrasted. The uncompressed 1.0 mono audio also sounds quite nice, it's vintage and flat sounding, but it's clean and well preserved.
The extras are delightful, each film gets a new introduction by UK film critic Kim Newman which are all over ten minutes each. Creature with the Atom Brain gets a new commentary from Russell Dyball, and a new 73-minute Sam Katzman: Before and Beyond the Cold War Creatures illustrated presentation on the life, career and films of Sam Katzman by historian and critic Stephen R, plus we get a condensed Super 8mm version of the film, plus a Theatrical Trailer and Image Gallery.
The Werewolf gets a new audio commentary by critic Lee Gambin, the Beyond Window Dressing visual essay by historian and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, a condensed Super 8mm version of the film, a Theatrical Trailer
and Image Gallery.
The Zombies of Mora Tau features a brand-new audio commentary by critic Kat Ellinger, visual essay
Atomic Terror: Genre in Transformationby critic Josh Hurtado, Theatrical Trailer and Image Gallery.
The Giant Claw also gets an audio commentary by critics Emma Westwood and Cerise Howard, plus visual essay Family Endangered! by critic Mike White, a condensed Super 8mm version, Theatrical Trailer and Image Gallery.
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all 4 films
- Original uncompressed mono audio for all films
-Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Fully illustrated 60-page collector’s book featuring extensive new writing by Laura Drazin Boyes, Neil Mitchell, Barry Forshaw, Jon Towlson and Jackson Cooper
- 80-page collector’s art book featuring reproduction stills and artwork from each film and new writing by historian and critic Stephen R. Bissette
- 2 double-sided posters featuring newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
- Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork for each film by Matt Griffin
- Brand-new introduction by historian and critic Kim Newman
- Brand-new audio commentary by critic Russell Dyball
- Sam Katzman: Before and Beyond the Cold War Creatures, a brand-new feature-length illustrated presentation on the life, career and films of Sam Katzman by historian and critic Stephen R. Bissette
- Condensed Super 8mm version of Creature with the Atom Brain, produced for home cinema viewing
- Theatrical Trailer
- Image Gallery
- Brand-new introduction by critic Kim Newman
- Brand-new audio commentary by critic Lee Gambin
- Beyond Window Dressing, a brand-new visual essay exploring the oft-overlooked role of women in the films of Sam Katzman by historian and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- Condensed Super 8mm version of The Werewolf, produced for home cinema viewing
- Theatrical Trailer
- Image Gallery
- Brand-new introduction by critic Kim Newman
- Brand-new audio commentary by critic Kat Ellinger
- Atomic Terror: Genre in Transformation, a brand-new visual essay ex
ploring the intersection of mythical horror creatures and the rational world of science in the films of Sam Katzman by critic Josh Hurtado
- Theatrical Trailer
- Image Gallery
- Brand-new introduction by critic Kim Newman
- Brand-new audio commentary by critics Emma Westwood and Cerise Howard
- Family Endangered!, a brand-new visual essay examining the theme of Cold War paranoia in Sam Katzman monster movies, by critic Mike White
- Condensed Super 8mm version of The Giant Claw, produced for home cinema viewing
- Theatrical Trailer
- Image Gallery
It's another knock-out limited edition set from Arrow Video who are killing it these days, big time. As with many of Arrow's specialty sets I don't think these cornball atomic-age b-flicks will appeal to general horror audiences, but if you're that special someone with youthful nostalgia for cheese-tastic sci-fi and monster mayhem this is gonna scratch that monster kid itch.
