Camp Classics From WB (1 Viewer)

[Stephen_J_H]

Neither did Ed Wood Jr. Granted, we're talking about some of the more respected directors when referring to some of this "camp" fare, but what was "serious" 50 or so years ago does not always translate the same way to a modern audience.

 

[JeffMc]

True camp is exactly product that was intended to be taken seriously, but because of passage of time, ineptness, or whatever other reason, is now seen as bad or humorous. Any director intending to 'create' camp usually falls flat on their face.

 

[Roger Rollins]

It was independently made and released through Paramount. I don't know when WB bought it, but I'd venture to guess it was Seven Arts that bought it, and WB inherited it when Seven Arts bought WB.

 

[Simon Howson]

Some more great releases from Warner, including some titles completely out of left field.

I'm most pleased by the Historical Epics set, I just wish it was 6 films rather than 3.

 

[Jay E]

Someone on another forum mentioned that Tom Weaver recorded a commentary for Frankenstein 1970, so that may be coming later this year.

 

[CineKarine]

The DVD artwork for these is already up on DVDEmpire....

 

[Simon Howson]

The details for Land of the Phaoroahs says the aspect ratio is 2.40:1, I think it should be 2.55:1, because it was released before 1956. Hopefully that is just a mistake.

 

[Joe Caps]

Art for these is on DVD Empire - butno mention of any extras (trailers?) or whether the stereo sound on Prodigal and land of the pharoahs is 2.0 or the original 4.0

 

[CraigAllen]

Is Colossus of Rhodes the early Sergio Leone film? If it is, I'm definitely getting it. Never seen any of Sergio's pre-western films

 

[Charles Ellis]

Has anyone ever explained the discrepancy in Joan Collins' voice in Land of the Pharoahs? In most of her scenes she's talking in her natural voice, but in others her voice sounds waaaaay deep and bassy- you'd think that either Susan Hayward or Joan Crawford had dubbed her voice in for Ms. Collins. Still, the ending is a classic all by itself. For anyone who ever hissed at 'Alexis' on Dynasty, this movie is a must!

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

I suspect that the involvement of either Arthur Hailey or Hall Bartlett had something to do with the rights transfer. Hailey had a longtime relationship with WB; they made both the film and TV series of HOTEL. Bartlett seemed to be a longtime Paramount guy, making JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL for them, but perhaps when he passed on his estate got ZERO HOUR back and sold it to WB.

 

[R-T-C Tim]

I'd go for a 50 disc set! There are tonnes of European 'Sword and Sandal' pepla out there, just dying for a good quality DVD release...

 

[Mario Gauci]

Cult Camp Classics: Volume 1 - Sci Fi Thrillers (Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1958), Giant Behemoth and Queen of Outer Space)
Cult Camp Classics: Volume 2 - Women in Peril (The Big Cube, Caged and Trog)
Cult Camp Classics: Volume 3 - Terrorized Travelers (Hot Rods to Hell, Skyjacked and Zero Hour)
Cult Camp Classics: Volume 4 - Historical Epics (Colossus of Rhodes, The Prodigal and Land of the Pharoahs)

Strictly speaking, I would buy only two of these films outright - CAGED (1950) and LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955) - which, along with THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961), are the only ones I've watched from this bunch. However I do have THE PRODIGAL (1955) and SKYJACKED (1972) on VHS and I might give them a spin before dismissing them, as it were.

Even so, given that I'm interested in seeing most of them and they won't be available for rental here unless I alert my pal at the local DVD rental store, I'll probably be forced to grab a few of them anyway and perhaps sell off the unwanted titles to him.

The Sci-Fi set is fairly alluring for including two all-time worst films contenders in ATTACK OF THE 50-FOOT WOMAN (1958) and QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (1958); the same goes for the "Women In Peril" set which contains TROG (1970) but it also has THE BIG CUBE (1969) which I have little or no interest in.

The other two sets are fairly decent, actually, but I have to point out that the version included in the Historical Epics set of Sergio Leone's THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES is the cut U.S. print which lasts for 128 minutes rather than the full-length 142 minute Italian-language original. The former, then, will be dubbed in English but the latter is, thankfully, available on R2 DVD in Italy.

 

[Simon Howson]

Any idea what the quality is like for the R2 version? My guess is the Warner version will be very good quality.

The way Warner have priced these, if you want two films in one of the boxes, then it is just cheaper buying the box because the third film is free.

Personally I'll get the Historical Epics box, and the individual releases of Queen from Outer Space and Skyjacked.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I've never seen QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE, but ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN, aside from having a funny title, is highly entertaining and I wouldn't consider it even close to "all time worst" for that very reason.

I'll be buying the Volume 1 set and then I'll be picking up TROG and SKYJACKED separately.

 

[Mario Gauci]

Strangely enough, I can't seem to locate any online reviews for the R2 edition of THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961) but I've watched the film on TV and, even if at 142 minutes it's a longish affair, I recall it being quite good for its genre.

As for those two titles in the Sci-Fi set, I haven't watched either of them myself but their "worst films" epithets is how I recall them being labelled from the little reading material I have found on them in the past in one of my father's film periodicals. Still, the fact that they are being released as a set and now that Tom Weaver has revealed that each of the Sci-Fi titles is going to have an Audio Commentary, I'm all for picking this set up!

 

[JPCinema]

I have the 142 minutes verson of "Rhodes" that also contains additinal deleted scenes. The quality is excellent. The only downside is that although it is in Italian, there are no English subtitles.

 

[Bill Huelbig]

Warner just made my year. 50 FOOT WOMAN and QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE are two of the most entertaining sci-fi movies you'd ever want to see. And CAGED is a real classic, not a camp classic - well, maybe both. My favorite line of dialogue from TROG: when Joan says, "Feed him some FISH now." Thanks Warner!

 

[Jeff_HR]

I would have liked WB to release "The Crowded Sky" rather than "Zero Hour!" The only sure buy out of the bunch is "Skyjacked" since I've owned it on Laserdisc for years. Other titles I may blind buy out of curiosity.

 

[Michael Elliott]

According to a post at CHFB, it looks like Warner will be releasing another set (of 5 films) at Halloween time and it should include FRANKENSTEIN 1970.