Over the several years there have been a number of these MOVIES 4 YOU DVDs released under the MGM banner in conjunction with Timeless Media. They specialize in B movie horror and sci-fi and come primarily from the American International and United Artists back catalogue. They are designed to give the consumer a decent product at a good price. While special features are missing, the quality of the prints used is pretty remarkable and they look great on most playback equipment although these releases weren’t originally designed for flatscreen TVs.
The one major drawback is that there are no subtitles available for the hard of hearing and let’s face it, most of the purchasers of these collections aren’t exactly spring chickens having seen these movies for the first time when they were kids. Of the collections out there so far, this is one of the best. The films are…
…THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN is another low budget classic from director Edgar G. Ulmer. Shot in 1959, it is another example of Ulmer’s uncanny ability to make a visually interesting film from next to nothing. A safecracker (Douglas Kennedy) is broken out of prison to aid in stealing nuclear material to make a madman’s invisible army. It was good to see 1930s star Margurite Chapman as a tough moll who aids the bank robber turned hero. The running time is under an hour (59 minutes) and it holds together quite well until stock footage takes over at the end. Great final line though.
…REPTILICUS (1962) is the world’s only Danish giant monster movie and it’s a great way to visit the Copenhagen of the early 1960s. Part travelogue and part monster on the rampage, REPTILICUS is a testament to the willing suspension of disbelief as he entertained countless young audiences (and Danes who are proud of the film) despite the fact that the monster is a marionette. Starts off well and then gradually goes downhill although the people falling off the bridge is impressive. Love the design of the beast. This is the only color film in the set.
…THE NEANDERTHAL MAN is the oldest film in the set (1953) and the only one I had never seen before. It stars Robert Shayne (misspelled as Shane), Inspector Henderson of the 1950s SUPERMAN TV series, as a scientist experimenting with chemical regression. He turns housecats into saber tooth tigers, his mute servant into a cavewoman and himself into the title character. Full of lots of talk and erratic special effects (the tiger is terrible but the Neanderthal is not bad), I found it strangely compelling thanks to Shayne’s committed performance.
…THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE (1959/62) is a fitting final offering as it was one of the most notorious films of its era. BRAIN is one of those films that shows the underbelly of the 1950s. It is unapolgetically cheap and lurid but surprisingly well made. There’s a strip club, a beautiful body contest, and a well endowed model. It also has a mad scientist storyline as a doctor tries to find a body for his fiance whose head he saved from an auto accident. And let’s not forget that failed experiment behind the labroom door. This is the most complete version available.
ADDED BONUS: a rare clip from the foreign version that features some brief 1950s style cheesecake nudity.
The Capsule Critic 