Monsters And Madmen (1959)

A competent but unexceptional set

This is an odd package for Criterion, a company better known for foreign films and art house selections packaged with academic commentaries. It's a good collection of Richard and Alex Gordon features but many viewers, I suspect, will find the packet overpriced. Of the four features, two are Boris Karloff dramas and two are science fiction adventures. All are in black and white in good transfers with clear sound and subtitles.

THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (UK, 1958; aka GRIP OF THE STRANGLER) is a minor classic with Karloff playing a writer who becomes involved in the case histories of a bizarre series of murders. Karloff's performance, I thought, was strong and the plot inventive without feeling contrived.

I found CORRIDORS OF BLOOD (UK, 1958) less satisfying. The highly fictionalized account of the discovery of anesthesia in Britain seemed mechanical to me and a body-snatching subplot felt extraneous and gratuitous. There are nice performances by Karloff and Christopher Lee, however.

THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE (USA, 1959) follows a crew of frogmen, scientists, and crusty sailors in pursuit of a flying saucer that has been sinking ocean ships. If it's possible to imagine an sf production spending less on set design than on script development, this is that production, an effort, unfortunately, not good enough to be convincing nor bad enough to evoke the spirit of Ed Wood. It's amusing the first time through but that's about all.

FIRST MAN INTO SPACE (USA, 1959) is an sf adventure in the Science Creates a Monster tradition. A standard space adventure/monster movie is enlivened by some good performances, including an amusing cameo by character actor Roger Delgado.

Rather than the scholarly audio commentaries that Criterion is known for, chatty conversations between Tom Weaver and producers Richard Gordon or Alex Gordon accompany the films. I found the commentaries somewhat disappointing, since none of them talks much about these films, but they are full of anecdotes of other productions. Richard Gordon is especially fond of his work with Karloff who, even in his 70s, was unfailingly hard-working and charming. Christopher Lee was a very good actor though sometimes difficult to work with. The only really harsh words are for Tim Burton who slandered the character of Bela Lugosi in ED WOOD and for Eddie Wood himself who "couldn't direct traffic." A low point is the commentary on First Man into Space where Tom Weaver kills time by reading a list of historical events he gathered from the internet.

Collectors with a passion for 'B' sf adventure and Boris Karloff dramas will enjoy this box set, but those simply looking for a good buy on a classic set of thrilling wonder stories might look elsewhere. I would strongly recommend the Val Lewton box set that Warner brought out. It contains excellent transfers of CAT PEOPLE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and other Lewton classics, with very good commentaries (though not on all the films). Universal has also produced fine collections of DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN, THE WOLF MAN, THE INVISIBLE MAN, and THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON with their immediate sequels. Again, the transfers are very good and each set includes additional material.

On a scale of 0 to 5, my individual ratings would be (* for the films and c for the commentaries):

***/cc The Haunted Strangler
*/cc Corridors of Blood
o/c The Atomic Submarine
**/o First Man into Space

April 18, 2008

Darwyn Cooke covers

The covers and box art for this set were drawn/designed by Darwyn Cooke,
the writer/artist of DC:The New Frontier and other very cool comics.
(if you like the covers of these dvds, you should check these out:
Absolute DC: The New Frontier,
Batman: Ego and Other Tails,
Spirit,
Catwoman: Selina's Big Score )

I bought this set on faith.
Between Darwyn Cooke's art and Criterion's eclectic high quality, this just HAS TO BE cool.
'nuff said.
June 10, 2007

Pretty good set, way over-priced

While I found all four movies interesting for their nostalgia factor as well as for the b-movie schlockiness, the price was a bit too steep. The commentary and packaging were top notch, although I would have preferred a more authentic, vintage style artwork. These type movies generally delivered as much in the fun factor for their marketing concepts and over the top advertisements as for the movies themselves. For many viewers the initial interest for these movies upon their theatrical release in the late 50's - early 60's was by way of the small poorly printed drive-in ads in the local newspaper. Some of the original posters and ads are included on the disk as a slide show, but the box cover art and descriptions have been updated with anime style illustrations. Not bad artwork, just not in keeping with the times the movies were originally released. Doesn't really do justice to the movies included within.

Both Karloff movies were groundbreaking for the gore factor and are by and large well acted with decent set design and direction. The 2 sci-fi films also included a bit more gore than usual for the times, although extremely tame by today's standards and are of interest now as rare and forgotten low budget popcorn drive-in fare.

It was enjoyable to re-discover these movies all together in one package and with Criterion's attention to detail and top notch remastering it made it that much more so. But there have been other non-Criterion multi-movie genre box sets that are just as good if not better for about 30-40 dollars less. The Universal Monsters box sets are but just a few examples.

I do have to say though that, unlike many of the other reviewers, I am especially glad that Atomic Submarine was included. Of the four movies, this one piqued my interest the most. While the effects and acting hit the embarrassment scale several times throughout the proceedings, the cumulative impact was high on nostalgia, inducing recollections of late night science fiction theatre on TV.

I recommend this box set, but not at this price. All four movies in this package do a good job of illustrating that memorable movies can be made on a shoe string budget. And all four also have some historical significance in the changing way that graphic violence was being portrayed on the theatre screen. Let's hope Criterion continues bringing us rare low budget genre pictures...if only they could improve the pricepoint. April 2, 2007

Great Karloff, shabby sci-fi --

Among DVD companies, Criterion courts controversy as much as a Great White zeroes in on tasty human limbs leaning off of inflatable rafts. Their name is synonymous for the finest that the digital medium has to offer. A Criterion disc is sure to have the finest possible transfer with a plethora of extras. In countless reviews, any overly loaded disc is given the appellation of "Criterion worthy." Any film on the Criterion label has become shorthand for being the definitive version of that particular film. As such, discriminating viewers usually put off purchasing classic films until Criterion gets their mitts on a particular title.

The question remains -- with so many undisputed classics from major filmmakers in their catalog -- Douglas Sirk, Fassbinder, Pasolini, et al -- why does Criterion, from time to time, choose to produce loaded discs for exceedingly minor films of dubious merit? Excluding a few scattered fans of this title, does the world really need a definitive version of Fiend Without A Face (1956)? A dreary black-and-white low-budget shock show, Face's chief claim to fame is some stop-motion animated brains that "blow up real good" when shot by rifles? What is this film standing next to Spirits of the beehive (1973) in the Criterion catalogue?

And while Equinox (1971) has a very heavy fan base, was it really worth a double-disc treatment, with multiple versions, commentary tracks galore and all manner of ephemera for what is essentially a glorified home movie?

Criterion's MONSTERS AND MADMEN boxed set continues this series of rather interesting release choices. The set consists of two Grade-B, borderline-C science fiction films First Man Into Space (1959) and The Atomic Submarine (1959) and two worthy, if lower-case Boris Karloff vehicles, Corridors of Blood (1958/1962) and The Haunted Strangler (1958). All four have been previously available on other labels. While it can be argued that these films have some trace historical value, they seem unlikely candidates for the much vaunted "Criterion treatment."

First Man Into Space in particular is an example of science fiction at its most mundane. Hot-to-trot Air Force Pilot Dan Prescott (Bill Edwards) is dead set on becoming the titular character. Waving away the warnings of his older, more sensible brother (Marshall Thompson), he barrels his experimental craft too far into the stratosphere. His jet buckles under pressure, and pesky meteor dust gets into his cockpit. Crash landing near a farm, Dan is transformed into an encrusted, cyclopean monster, pillaging the lonely countryside for unwilling animal and human blood donors to slake his vampiric thirst. His Italian "scientist-in-a-skirt" girlfriend Marla Landi expresses concern and the scientific and military communities express polite disinterest ...

Set in the United States but filmed in England, a forlorn stretch of misty moors at one point stands in quite unconvincingly for the New Mexican desert. In an audio commentary, producer Richard Gordon tells film historian Tom Weaver (present on all four discs in this set) says the above mentioned scene brought quite a few chuckles during the film's American premiere. Viewers familiar with this title from TV afternoon broadcasts will be surprised by many dollops of blood and gore that were heretofore previously edited out. In spite of a few distaff scares, First Man Into Space is a dreary affair. It was unofficially remade as The Incredible Melting Man in 1977.

Even less remarkable is Atomic Submarine, a maritime drama set on claustrophobic sets that is jazzed up with the last-minute addition of a flying saucer and a one-eyed monster. After numerous United States submarines are sank without explanation along the North Pole, a special exploratory vessel is called into action. The submarine is commandeered by the militaristic Arthur Franz, who philosophically spars with a pacifist sailor (Brett Halsey), whose scientist father has since left the armed services to further the cause of world peace. Franz and Halsey talk up a storm about the nature of honor, war, peace, science and the military before the monster puts in an eleventh-hour appearance. Ill-fated blonde bombshell Joi Lansing appears briefly as Franz's love interest.

Along with Gordon and Weaver commentary track, a filmed interview with Brett Halsey is included on this disc's extras. Halsey recalls the excitement he had working on the picture, surrounded by many serial western stars and notable character actors, but recalls that costar Franz desperately wanted to be acting in more important projects at the time of Submarine's filming.

The two historical horrors included in the set fare much better. In The Haunted Strangler (aka The Grip of the Strangler), Karloff shines as an obsessed Victorian novelist fascinated by the "Haymarket Strangler," a fiend who strangled and slashed five chorus girls at the Judas Hole cabaret. Convinced that the wrong man was sent to the gallows, Insisting that an obscure medico by the name of Dr. Tenant was actually responsible, Karloff bribes a turnkey to disinter the grave of the hanged man to retrieve the murder weapon. Gripping the scalpel amidst the bones, Karloff is transformed into the grimacing, one-armed strangler, and the killings begin anew. The real underlying reason behind Karloff's interest in the murder case is revealed in a nifty plot twist, and the film turns into a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde variant.

Shot in Karloff's native England, Strangler is very carefully produced in spite of its relatively low budget. Made around the same time Hammer Studios was galvanizing the genre with more explicit gore and sex, Strangler has some remarkable bawdy content. Obviously based on the exploits of Jack the Ripper, Strangler substitutes dancing girls in lie of prostitutes for the madman's victims, That still doesn't prevent one lass from obviously proffering her services to a top-hatted gentleman in the film's opening execution scene, and few will wonder how the film's dancing girls are able to pry expensive jewelry from their wealthy gentlemen fans. Particularly memorable is a scene dissolving from Karloff's grimacing face to a line of girls dancing the can-can, bloomers and legs akimbo. In a further nod towards modernity, while the ostensible "monster" is vanquished at Strangler's conclusion, due to the machinations of a seemingly minor character, evil is clearly triumphant.

Extras on the Strangler disc, is a documentary entitled "King of the Monster," where Karloff's costars recall what a charming old duffer he was. To this reviewer, the most priceless extras are the radio ads. Paired with Fiend Without A Face, Karloff can scarcely hide his contempt for the co-feature by declaring "It's about weird little creatures .. Made by atomic energy ... Loathsome things that kill you by eating your brains!" Indeed.

Ending the collection on a high note is Corridors of Blood, filmed in 1958 but released in 1962. In addition to Karloff shining in a later role, we have a very young Christopher Lee as "Resurrection Joe," a Burke and Hare figure who figures into the film's heated narrative. Karloff stars as Dr. Bolton, a kindly surgeon in 1840's London who insists that there are infinitely more humane ways to treat patients than tying them down and severing their limbs with unclean kitchen knives. He begins a series of experiments to perfect a crude form of anesthesia, using himself as a guinea pig. In the process, he eventually winds up an addict, dependent on increasing amounts of opium and laudanum. He's eventually suspended from his practice, and becomes increasingly reliant on the highly criminal activities of the Seven Dials Tavern, who provide freshly murdered bodies to the medical establishment for research ....

Director Darren Aronofsky declared his Requiem for a Dream (2000) a horror film, where "addiction was the monster." Only nominally a horror film, Corridors of Blood presents us with a scenario where addiction -- and the corrupt society of 19th Century England as a whole -- is the monster. Karloff, who had played countless evil doctors, outcasts of society intent on raising the dead must have been aware of the irony inherent in his role in Corridors of Blood -- a "good doctor," highly regarded by the establishment who plunges filthy knives into squirming, screaming patients. One wonders if thoughts of his frequent costar, Bela Lugosi, who battled his own substance abuse issues were that far from Karloff's thoughts.

All four discs in the set boast superior transfers and more extras than any viewer would want or even need. In summation, while one questions some of Criterion's eccentric choices for preservation, no one can fault their flawless presentation. March 19, 2007

a very fine release

This release by the Criterion Collection contains four films.

The disc and spine numbers are differend and I will be numbering them by the spine number for this review.

The films are

First Man into Space, The Atomic Submarine, The Haunted Strangler, and Corridors of Blood.

"First Man into Space" is about a Navy test pilot who desires to be the first man into space and leaves the atmosphere during a flight only to become a monseter.

The special features are Audio commentary by producer Richard Gordon and writer Tom Weaver, interviews with director Robert Day and actress Marla Landi photo galleries of production photos, and theatrical trailers and radio spots.

"The Atomic Submarine" is about a submarine that investigates some disapperarences in the Arctic only to encounter an alien spaceship.

The special features are: Audio commentary with Alex Gordon and Tom Weaver, a gallery of production photos, an interview with actor Brett Halsey, and the theatrical trailers and radio spots.

"The Haunted Strangler" is about a writer (Boris Karloff) who believes a man was wrongly convicted and hanged for multiple murders but begins to lose his mind.

The special features are Audio commentary by Richard Gordon, Tom Weaver, and Alex Gordon, interviews with Robert Day, Jan Read, Jean Kent, and Vera Day, theatrical trailers and radio spots, a gallery of production photos and deleted scenes.

"Corridors of Blood" is about surgeon (Boris Karloff) who theorizes that patients can have painless surgery. He begins to experiment with different substances such as nitrous oxide and opium to see if they numb pain but beocmes addicted to them.

The special features are deleted and extended scenes cut by the censors, Audio commentariey by Richard Gordon and Tom Weaver, interviews with Robert Day, Francis Matthews, and Yvonne Romain, theatrical trailers and radio spots, and a gallery of production photos.

Each of these films are good and "Corridors of Blood" was my favorite.

This is a fime set of films and I highly recommend it. February 24, 2007

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