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BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) BLURAY! (1 Viewer)

JeffT.

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This coming January 28th, 2014 the redoubtable Shout! Factory has scheduled for release a 1950s SF doublebill of THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) and THE NEANDERTHAL MAN (1953) BLURAY EDITION 2 disc set.

Provided is a weblink to the Shout! Factory online retail merchandise webpage for more information (which doesn't really provide much in specifics pertaining to extras):

http://www.shoutfactory.com/node/218844

The elusive THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) filmed in CinemaScope and Deluxe Colour is a dream-come-true for many! It is somewhat of a 1950s precursor to Ray Harryhausen's THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969) which should come as no surprise as both were conceived from the dinosaur-obsessed imagination of Willis H. O'Brien.



Well, the New Year is certainly getting off to a fabulous start!

Jeff T.

:D
 

ahollis

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In the Blu-ray thread there is a pre-order link for this through Amazon that will benefit HTF. Looking forward to this double feature.
 

Randy Korstick

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Good news for those who want this. I had it on Laserdisc and after waiting years to see it was dissapointed. Its very tame almost like a Disney movie from the time. Effects are the star of course but Valleyy of Gwangi is far superior.
 

JeffT.

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Both THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) and THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969) are effective in their own respective rights. Leonard Maltin tends to rate these films the same and this assessment is pretty much accurate.

For myself THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) made a much stronger impression (or impact) with its "mystery" aspect approach as to just what the marauding menace really is. THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969) is fundamentally a pale rehash of (the superior) THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953) with elements of 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957) thrown in for good measure.

Frankly, the dinosaur sequences in THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969) are just not as spectacular (or as well done) as those in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1967) and I have always regarded the former as "minor" Harryhausen at best. For its time the animation in THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) was impressive enough and amply served its intended purpose.

But personal differences aside I am really looking forward to the bluray release of THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) and have nothing but praise for Shout! Factory in making this long sought after marvel available in a quality release at long last.

Jeff T.

:D
 

JeffT.

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Beyond the actual films themselves there is nothing being mentioned pertaining to any extra features. I suppose the most that can be expected are the original theatrical trailers, if available.

Also being released by Shout! Factory in the bluray medium is DIE, MONSTER, DIE! (1965) noteworthy as it is always entertaining to see Nick Adams at a time when he was doing some interesting genre work on television (THE OUTER LIMITS and VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA) and in film (GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO [1965] and FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD [1966]).

Perhaps Shout! Factory may revive in bluray an intended (and abandoned) MGM MIDNITE MOVIES prepared release of MASTER OF THE WORLD (1961) which would have featured the original theatrical pre-film, intermission and post-film musical interludes and a 20 minute oncamera interview conducted with scriptwriter Richard Matheson that was never used.



Jeff T.

:D
 

Vic Pardo

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I liked BEAST FROM HOLLOW MOUNTAIN a great deal when I originally saw it because it was a western and because, when the dinosaur finally appears, it's quite a surprise, not least because I wasn't expecting a stop-motion dinosaur. I think it compares favorably with GWANGI. I'm also a big fan of Guy Madison and Patricia Medina.

I only wish the co-feature on this Blu-ray was something better than THE NEANDERTHAL MAN, maybe another dinosaur movie or another stop-motion monster movie (THE GIANT BEHEMOTH? THE BLACK SCORPION?).
 

JeffT.

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Literally anybody who saw THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) in its original theatrical release has maintained strong, vivid and favourably enduring memories of the film. I do and I initially saw in it in black-and-white on tv!

In this discussion thread BEAST was curiously likened to a "Walt Disney"-type picture (I assume that the connotation intended is "juvenile"). If anything fits that (unsuitable) description it's certainly THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969). The simple truth is that GWANGI was a failure at the boxoffice because it just didn't resonate with the "adult" ticket buyer.

I am not against the film per se but considering just when it was made and what special effects master Ray Harryhausen had already accomplished one's expectations are naturally higher for it. Objectively take the time and compare the spectacular fiery death of the magnificent Rhedosaur in THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953) to the less impressively staged and somewhat unconvincingly handled (especially with its out-of-scale flames) demise of Gwangi in THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969). But don't bet me wrong on this. I like dinosaurs. All dinosaurs including Gwangi.

I think that THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) is a model example of the "less is more" school of filmmaking. An approach that may well not appeal (or isn't satisfying enough) to every taste.

In my own opinion both films are appreciated and I am able to derive enjoyment from BEAST and GWANGI.

Both THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) and THE NEADERTHAL MAN (1953) were distributed by United Artists Pictures and that is likely the reason that they were double teamed together on this impending bluray SHOUT! FACTORY release.

At least NEANDERTHAL has Robert Shayne (aka Metropolis Police Inspector Bill Henderson on THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN tv series) and Richard Crane (aka Commander Rocky Jones on the ROCKY JONES, SPACE RANGER tv series) in the cast. Actually THE NEADERTHAL MAN (1953) was later ripped off by Jack Arnold's MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (1958) a few years later.

Thank you for your interest and I hope that you enjoy your bluray edition of THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956). I will!



Jeff T.

:D
 

Randy Korstick

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My comparison to Disney was because the title beast kills no one on screen which is unusual and tame for any monster movie of any period which makes it seem like a Disney-Family friendly movie. It wasn't intendted as a put-down as I'm a big fan of the 50's-60's monster movies. This one was just too tame for me. It would be like going to see a Jaws movie and the shark kills no one.
 

JeffT.

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You're absolutely right my friend!

The Image Entertainment DVD release was excellent with superb liner notes on this delightful film's production history by Tom Weaver. A better theatrical trailer could have been selected but still it was very well done albeit unfortunately now out-of-print.

One thing is for certain actor Gregg Martell (May 23rd, 1918 - September 22nd, 2005) gave an excellent performance as the friendly Neanderthal. And he really looked like our remote ancestor to be sure!

It is also interesting that DINOSAURUS! (1960) was theatrically released the selfsame year as Irwin Allen's THE LOST WORLD (1960) and while the former was a more modest production at least DINOSAURUS! (1960) made an effort to depict genuine dinosaurs.

I think that this bodes well for a bluray re-release to be sure.

DINOSAURUS! (1960) was originally theatrically distributed through Universal Pictures but the company apparently either lost or relinquished its distribution rights. The same is true with HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) and THE MUMMY (1959) both of which originally had the Universal International Pictures pre-main title logo.

Ray Harryhausen is the undisputed master of stop motion animation but I give credit to other independent production groups who similarly attempted to present interesting concepts via stop motion animation on the motion picture screen. In some ways it would have been interesting to see just what Mr. Harryhausen could have done with film properties like DINOSAURUS! (1960), THE LOST WORLD (1960), JOURNEY TO THE 7TH PLANET (1962) and JACK THE GIANT KILLER (1962).



Jeff T.

:D
 

JeffT.

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Also of interest (to some like myself) is the welcomed January 28th, 2014 release of Millennium Entertainment's Hammer Collector's Edition Series FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1967) BLU-RAY single disc set a follow-up to Millennium's recent DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966) BLU-RAY EDITION single disc set.

For me this is the parting-of-the-ways in the Hammer Films "Frankenstein" series starring Peter Cushing (May 26th, 1913 – August 11th, 1994) as the latter efforts tended to concentrate on much more tastelessly gruesome carnage (or crudity) and far less in the literate dramatics that initially distinguished these films from their more elementary Universal Pictures 1940s B-film predecessors.



:D
 

John Morgan

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Both THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) and THE NEADERTHAL MAN (1953) were distributed by United Artists Pictures and that is likely the reason that they were double teamed together on this impending bluray SHOUT! FACTORY release.

I can think of about 50 UA films with horror or sci-fi overtones I think deserve the blu ray treatment more than THE NEADERTHAL MAN. Maybe they paired this with BEAST because their previous DVD release was in the incorrect aspect ratio. I hope this sells well enough that they might put out some more double bills of their genre titles.
 

JeffT.

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I think that most of us are buying this mainly (or exclusively) for THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956).

But this particular bluray (I almost said DVD) release pretty much accurately reflects the B-film doublebill programmers of the 1950s. There was the "main" attraction feature and a lesser "minor" film in support.

A good example of this is HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) a handsomely mounted British produced colour feature film which was cobilled with the stateside produced black-and-white trifle THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE (1958).

But you are absolutely right, John, hopefully there will be future similar releases like an Ivan Tors 1950s colour doublebill of RIDERS TO THE STARS (1954) and GOG (1954) on bluray. I am certain that forum members can come up with many others.

Considering that SHOUT! FACTORY began by initially marketing classic tv sitcoms it has certainly come a long way since then.

It is nice conversing and recollecting with you fellas!

9dcf9c87bd68341e2318bf3c4383704b.jpg


Jeff T.

:D
 

Vic Pardo

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I remember going to see THE MISADVENTURES OF MERLIN JONES at a neighborhood theater in the Bronx for a showing at which Annette Funicello would be making a personal appearance and the theater showed trailers for an upcoming horror reissue double bill: HORROR OF DRACULA and HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM. Both trailers showed blood--the second one included a particularly gruesome bit about binoculars that shot spikes into the user's eyes. And the place was filled with kids there to see a DISNEY comedy! I was eleven at the time, so it didn't give me nightmares, but I'm not so sure there weren't other traumatized kids in the audience. Annette was pretty awesome, though.
 

JeffT.

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In typical 1950s style the CinemaScopic colour produced HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSUEM (1959) was originally cobilled with the "lesser" DyaliScopic black-and-white produced "second" feature THE HEADLESS GHOST (1959) and both once again appropriately double-teamed would make for an excellent bluray release. I wish that the "obvious" would similarly occur to VCI Entertainment and they got cracking on it!

For a "prospective" bluray release I wish this time around both the U.K.-based Anglo Amalgamated and U.S. versions (the latter with the American International Pictures pre-main title logo and identifiers in addition to the "Hypno-Vista" prologue by Emile Franchel) would be featured.

"Hypno-Vista" was just a sensationalistic gimmick (more power-of-suggestion than anything else) and the shorter U.K. version makes absolutely no reference to it. I honestly believe that the so-called Hypno-Vista's only real purpose was to pad up HORRORS from a scant 73 minutes running time to a more substantial 90 minutes for its stateside theatrical release.

Wow! There is a (virtual) tonage of (mouthwatering) good stuff that still has to be addressed in future bluray releases of classic "genre" films.



Jeff T.

:D
 

JeffT.

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This message posting can serve as a closure to the (once) anticipated bluray release of THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956).I finally got my copy and thoroughly enjoy the film itself. However the print selected was ordinary and not a fully restored and digital remastering as I anticipated-expected. Actually it is provided in both "standard" DVD and bluray on two separate discs.Pertaining to the older films it appears that (generally) any available print that is in (reasonably) acceptable condition is being employed which defeats the intent and advantages of the advanced high definition technology.It may as well have been transferred to "standard" DVD and left at that.I can only recommend it to those who genuinely like the film itself.Jeff T.
 

Randy Korstick

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This was released as a double feature on Laserdisc around 1990-1991. I believe I still have it.
JeffT. said:
Horrors-of-the-Black-Museum-13164_9.jpg

In typical 1950s style the CinemaScopic colour produced HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSUEM (1959) was originally cobilled with the "lesser" DyaliScopic black-and-white produced "second" feature THE HEADLESS GHOST (1959) and both once again appropriately double-teamed would make for an excellent bluray release. I wish that the "obvious" would similarly occur to VCI Entertainment and they got cracking on it!

For a "prospective" bluray release I wish this time around both the U.K.-based Anglo Amalgamated and U.S. versions (the latter with the American International Pictures pre-main title logo and identifiers in addition to the "Hypno-Vista" prologue by Emile Franchel) would be featured.

"Hypno-Vista" was just a sensationalistic gimmick (more power-of-suggestion than anything else) and the shorter U.K. version makes absolutely no reference to it. I honestly believe that the so-called Hypno-Vista's only real purpose was to pad up HORRORS from a scant 73 minutes running time to a more substantial 90 minutes for its stateside theatrical release.

Wow! There is a (virtual) tonage of (mouthwatering) good stuff that still has to be addressed in future bluray releases of classic "genre" films.



Jeff T.

:D
 

JeffT.

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Randy, it has been available on "standard" DVD for sometime now and is highly recommended!

Provided is a weblink to the AMAZON.COM (U.S.) online retail merchandise webpage for more (exciting) details:

http://www.amazon.com/Horrors-Black-Museum-Michael-Gough/dp/

However, we are now hoping it will (further) break through into the bluray plateau since this video transfer is excellent.

Jeff T.

:D
 

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