By Hank Reineke
I confess to having difficulty understanding Corinth’s curious
repackaging of three monochrome 1950’s science-fiction films. Pulling together this
triad of films – all previously issued as single disc releases from the label’s
Wade Williams Collection - seems to
make sense on one level. We’ll discuss later on. But for the record this DVD of Drive-In Retro Classics: Science Fiction
Triple Feature brings together such disparate Silver Age favorites as Kurt
Neumann’s Rocketship X-M (1950),
Nathan H. Juran’s The Brain from Planet
Arous (1958) and Robert Clarke’s The
Hideous Sun Demon (1959).
Though he didn’t have anything to do with the production
of any of the films listed above, Wade Williams has served as curator of the
analog and digital legacy of many ‘50s sci-fi and horror titles. Though Williams would aspire as a filmmaker
himself, the titles appearing in the “Wade Williams Collection” are exactly
that – films in his collection. Williams
had prudently purchased the rights to a mostly moribund package of ‘50s sci-fi
movie and TV shows from estates, from studios, or from producers/others holding
ownership. The latter category would include films produced by such names as George
Pal, Jack Broder, Harry M. Popkin and Richard Rosenfeld.
This decision to sell off their interests was an
understandable (but ultimately bad) business decision on the part of the original
rights holders. But it was the early 1970s
and television stations – now the only outlet still providing a trickle of revenue
for these old films – were abandoning their creaky old black-and-white
libraries for color-TV programs. Few in
Hollywood could have anticipated the stream of monies to be afforded by the home-video
revolution only a few short years down the line.
To be fair, Williams was an enthusiast of these old
sci-fi films, not simply a speculator who got lucky. Burgeoning consumer interest in home video product
allowed opportunity for Williams to capitalize on his prudent purchases. The first of the “Wade Williams Collection” VHS
videocassettes were issued as early as the late 1970s, mostly through such
companies as Nostalgia Merchant and Starlog Video. In the 1999 Williams partnered with Image
Entertainment, the latter dressing the new DVDs in bright-color slipcovers. These sleeves partly disguised the fact the movies
contained within were black-and-white oldies. Sci-fi newbies unfamiliar with the histories of atomic age sci-fi films might
have felt shortchanged by this creative - if somewhat duplicitous – bit of
marketing.
But for those of us in the know, the Williams releases were
a Godsend. We were the aficionados of
old-school sci-fi, semi-aging folks who first caught the films during
theatrical matinees in the 50’s or through fuzzy late-night TV broadcasts in
the ‘60s. We no longer had to order
wonky prints sourced from aged television screenings peddled by bootleg vendors
advertising in the back pages of cult film magazines. When Laserdisc and DVD releases would supersede
VHS cassettes in quality of presentation, Williams’ catalog was similarly
trotted out in new formats.
It must be noted that Williams has also been, somewhat
ungraciously, a target of criticism – often painted as a proverbial villain - over
the last two decades by some collectors. As the rights holder to so many treasured classic – and not so classic –
vintage sci-fi films, the just shy of eighty Williams has been reluctant in
recent years to issue the films on Blu-ray. His reasoning for not doing, while disappointing, is sound. Answering critics of the handling of his
catalog, Williams offered to contributors on the on-line Home Theater Forum
while physical media sales
remained important, “streaming, downloading, Amazon Prime, Netflix and TCM are
the remaining outlets from classic films.”
He would also note that restorations
were expensive undertakings. Factoring
in public domain issues, the problem of outright bootlegging and copy-and-paste
YouTube piracy, there was no longer any chance to break-even - much
less garner a profit - from such an enterprise. It was a practical and understandable
real-world estimate – but a response disappointing for those who preferred to
stock their home video libraries with physical media.
Which brings us back, in a roundabout manner, to Drive-In Retro Classics: Science Fiction Triple
Feature. Taking the series’ format history
into account, the natural progression would have been to see these films
released on Blu ray; to revisit them in spruced-up remasters with a dollop of
bonus special materials tagged on. But,
alas, this isn’t the case. Instead Drive-In Retro Classics: Science Fiction
Triple Feature offers up a total of three films, running 222 minutes
collectively, all crushed on a single disc. There are no special features, no new scans from better elements, no new
bells or whistles of any sort. So buyer
beware.
OK, with all this history out of the way I offer, for the
uninitiated at least, a brief overview of the films in the Corinth set:
In The Brain from
Planet Arous, Steve Marsh (John Agar), a technician of the U.S. Atomic
Energy Commission, becomes the unwilling host of alien being named Gor. Gor is
an evil levitating cerebellum with half-moon eyes who desires rule as “Master
of the Universe.” He aspires to make all
the people of the earth his slaves. The
alternative is “death by intense radiation.” The earth is merely one stop on this quest… and he makes the most of the
visit. Through his manipulation of his hypnotized subjugate Marsh, Gor unleashes
a rash of attacks on military-bases and martial aircrafts.
Gor convinces the cowered American Generals to convene a
summit with the earth’s six other nuclear powers, demanding all nations submit
to his terms… or else. All seems lost until Vol, a second and far friendlier
levitating brain from Arous, arrives at Indian Springs to offer advice. Vol explains the only way to stop the
renegade Gor is by attacking the creature’s one weak spot, striking at the brain’s
fissure of Rolando. But can Marsh’s
girlfriend Sally (Joyce Randolph) and George the dog get this important info to
Marsh in time?
The
Hideous Sun Demon is the tour de force brainchild of
actor/writer/producer Robert Clarke. Clarke plays Dr. Gilbert McKenna, an
“obscure scientist” exposed to a type of radiation “far more dangerous than
cosmic rays.” This turns out to be an
unwelcome turn of events as such exposure has triggered a reverse evolution of
his DNA, turning him into the Hideous Sun Demon, a half-human half-reptile
biped. The movie is sort of a reversal
of werewolfism. Clarke’s transformation
is not triggered by the rising of the full moon but by exposure to the sun’s rays. When not lurching about Los Angeles and Santa
Monica at night, McKenna sulks, drinks a lot of whiskey and hangs out a dingy
nightclub where he listens to a buxom blond tickle the ivories and sing such moody
jazz numbers as “Strange Desire.” Perhaps Little Orphan Annie desires for the sun to come out tomorrow,
but its bad news for McKenna.
In Rocketship X-M,
America is readying a sleek spacecraft for blast-off. The rocket is to carry a team of scientists –
including a thirty-year old Lloyd Bridges – on a mission to the moon. Unfortunately, a combination of bad
scientific calculations and an untimely meteor shower forces the craft off course. The space travelers instead land on Mars
where, to their surprise, discover the ruins of an ancient civilization. They are received unwelcomingly, made targets
by a gaggle of rock throwing Martian Neanderthals. Though they quickly and
wisely abandon the Red Planet for a trip back home, they encounter yet another problem. Is there enough fuel left in the craft’s
supply tanks to get them home safely?
Of the three films in this set, only Rocketship X-M aspires to loftier visions and high production values. Theobold Holsopple’s production designs are
imaginative and iconic. The
special-effects work of Don Stewart, I.A. Block and Jack Rabin is of similar high-caliber,
especially when considering the era in which the film was produced.
To wrap up: the best thing I can say about this new DVD release
is that it brings these films back into print, making them more easily
available to new consumers. No more
scouring through second hand shops or paying fifty dollar “collector” prices
for the now rare original single-disc DVDs released twenty-odd years ago. But when one learns the MSRP of the Corinth
release is $29.95… well, that price seems a bit stiff. But I’m confident the MSRP will likely not be
the actual asking price when the disc hits online outlets.
I’d be remiss without at least mentioning one title, The Brain from Planet Arous, is reportedly being readied for Blu-ray release
by another home video company, one known for bring loving attention to neglected
films. This prospective Blu issue,
slated for release in summer of 2022, promises a new restoration, an audio
commentary, a booklet, and a special-features documentary as bonuses. So some may choose a wait-and-see approach
before gambling on Drive-in Retro
Classics.
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