Seeing these four films again, which were TV staples when I was growing up, makes me realize just how much I miss the drive-in theatres that they were made for. They not only provided cheap entertainment and a place to be alone with your certain someone but they also gave filmmakers the opportunity to make a wide variety of movies with limited resources. Scorsese, Coppola, and Spielberg first cut their teeth on films like these as viewers and then later as burgeoning low budget filmmakers.
Today no one cranks out films with the speed and efficiency that producer Sam Katzman did in the 50s and early 60s and that’s truly a shame. Between 1955 and 1961 Katzman’s Clover Productions turned out an astonishing 36 films for Columbia Pictures many of them directed by the two men represented here Fred F. Sears and Edward L. Cahn. Look them up on imdb for a complete listing of their films many of which are drive-in classics but too numerous to go into here.
Sears has the distinction of having the best and worst films in this set with THE WEREWOLF a surprisingly moody and moving film and THE GIANT CLAW with the worst giant monster ever. The poor actors never saw the creature until after it was added in which is why they treat it so seriously whereas the bird itself seems a deliberate parody of bad special effects.
“Fast Eddie” Cahn as he was known in the trade shoots his two films CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN and ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU with as few edits as possible in order to economize and that makes them very interesting to watch if you’re aware of this. CREATURE is the better film with a few genuine shocks and interesting technology while ZOMBIES seems a dry run for Cahn’s cult classic INVISIBLE INVADERS a few years later.
To add to the fun Sony has thrown in trailers, a 1930s Columbia comedy short, and even a Mister Magoo cartoon. All the materials are beautifully transferred and you can’t beat the price for what you get. Just like the drive-ins were in real life. Too bad they’re a thing of the past but with this set you can certainly get a feel for what it was like. Pizza slices, cotton candy, and hot dogs are not included.
The Capsule Critic 