To anyone who hung out at the drive-ins in the early 1960s or watched late night TV later in the decade, most of the titles in this 8 movie 4 disc collection will bring back fond memories. Crown International specialized in cheap fare for the drive-in crowd. Compared to them, American International was MGM but Crown International’s films were edgier. Some of it was unquestionably the low budgets they were shot under but many of the scripts were tighter and pushed the envelope further than most of their contemporaries. No production code worries for CIP. They also employed such old timers as Lew Landers (RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE) who knew how to stretch a buck.
Two of the films, TERRIFIED and especially BLOODLUST (a remake of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME) are surprisingly graphic for the time and can still raise eyebrows today. Two other movies MADMEN OF MANDORAS and THEY SAVED HITLER’S BRAIN are the same film. BRAIN is the TV version with extra footage added. THE DEVIL’S HAND (a voodoo story) and THE CREEPING TERROR (a monster film) are classic Grade Z schlock. LAND OF THE MINOTAUR with Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance is slow moving but has its moments. THE HEARSE (w/Trish Van Devere) is the one true gem of the set.
Hats off to BCI Entertainment for making this series available. This is only one set out of four DRIVE-IN CULT CLASSICS DVDs and the only one devoted to horror films (the others are classic 70s sexploitation flicks like THE BABYSITTER and THE TEACHER). The quality of the prints is outstanding considering how rare some of these titles are and with a selling price around $10, you can’t go wrong if you enjoy this type of movie. Long live Crown International!
The Capsule Critic 