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looking for a few good B-films... (1 Viewer)

Jeff Swearingen

Second Unit
Joined
May 23, 2003
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390
Location
Windermere, FL
Real Name
Jeff
I've spent a good deal of time over the past few months studying the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry B-Westerns from Republic Pictures. They were initially hard to find, but then I started digging through the bargain bins at BB, Wal-Mart, etc and quickly amassed a large collection for little money at all.

The picture and sound quality on these releases (mainly Goodtimes, Alpha, and Platinum) are questionable at times. But I can live with that, given the film elements are probably in terrible condition and were from day one because of the treatment B-films traditionally get.

Now I've run across a whole new set of B-films I'm starting to enjoy. I just grabbed a set of Roger Corman flicks and spent Thursday night in my film course watching Detour and Glen or Glenda (yes, I had a serious discussion about an Ed Wood film!).

Does anyone have any good leads on B-films to check out from the 20s-50s? I've already dug through a lot of the 60s monster sci-fi, but I'm interested in finding new things to watch with long summer nights coming soon!
 

Paul_Scott

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
6,545
Alphas Impact is a very good film noir, and also a good looking disc.

i've heard good things about [/b]Kansas City Confidential too.
 

Matt_H

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Oct 22, 2003
Messages
174
well criterions releases of the Blob and Fiend without a Face is a good place to start.
Synapse did a nice release of Beast from Haunted Cave
Elite Entertainment's Horror Hotel,Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, Drive-In Discs Vol. 1and 2 might be up your ally.
there's a bargain bin release of the legend of boggy creek out there
since you have an intrest in roger corman flicks you should check out Piranha.
You might want to check out larry cohen's stuff(it's alive,q the winged serpent) out but it's a little more recent.
might want to check out some of the MST3k discs too.
most of these i heard about through horrodvds.com so check there if you need a review.

hope this disjointed post helps you out!
 

Shaughan

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 15, 2004
Messages
131
The Val Lewton produced b-films are actually very good - As to serials, check out Nyoka and the Tigermen (elements of her character were used to define Indiana Jones).
 

Brian Thibodeau

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Messages
992
By far one of the best deals right now on great B-titles is Deep Discount's pricing on two-packs of the Image/Wade Williams/Corinth series of classic (and not so classic) B-movies at $7.98 (per set). These all feature excellent prints and usually included trailers. The sets are broken down as follows:

Bride of the Gorilla/Bride of the Monster
Teenage Monster/Teenagers From Outer Space
Stranger from Venus/The Cosmic Man
Astounding She Monster/She Demons
Kronos/Spaceways
Missile to the Moon/PRoject Moonbase
Beach Girls & The Monster/Brain From Planet Arous
Mesa of Lost Women/Beast of the Yucca Flats
Cat Women of the Moon/Devil Girls from Mars
The Crawling Eye/Invaders From Mars 50th Ann. Edition
Plan 9 From Outer Space/Robot Monster

These sets all consist of two individual amaray-cased movies shrink-wrapped together.

All in all, it's an excellent collection of sci-fi and horror from the 50's, and a fantastic deal if you love old B-movies.

ALSO

Since you're accustomed to buying the public domain stuff from the bargain bins, you might want to check out the Brentwood 10 Packs and 20-Pack collections that are usually quite cheap at Best Buy and even cheaper online at Deep Discount (with free shipping). I've been thoroughly surprised by the quality of many of the prints in these sets, many of which may or may not be surreptitiously sourced from better companies who don't have the resources to sue them (but then again, many of the Alpha discs look just as good, so who knows). The films run the gamut from the 30's to the 80's, but there's a lot of genuine B-movie gems in these sets. Anyways, here's a link to a recent thread about the 20-packs, with plenty of details about both the 20- and 10-pack sets:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=178193
 

Paul_Scott

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
6,545
it's a shame DDDs search function is so lame.
i just ordered Crawling Eye from them about a month and 1/2 ago and paid $5.99 for that one alone.

i just tried a search for it agian, and it still only came up in that one listing, however when i searched under Invaders, i finally got Invaders from Mars/crawling ey - $7.98

i still haven't opened it up so i hope they'll let me exchange it.
i remember apying $20 for Invaders from Mars all by itself when it first came out (and i think i got about $12 when i ebay'ed it recently).
wouldn't mind having it agian, especially for just $2 more than what i already paid for TCE.
 

Brian Thibodeau

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Messages
992
I gotta agree with you there, Paul.

I thought I found them all, until I saw two additional sets in the store. When I went back to Deep Discount, I found that these titles, like the ones you mention, were listed with partial titles, like "Devil Girl from Mars/Women of the." What the frigg?!?

I guess the safe bet for everyone interested in getting these is to type the first couple words of any title I've listed above and locate them that way. It seems to work with only one or two tries.
 

Lew Crippen

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 19, 2002
Messages
12,060
Touch of Evil is often referred to as the ‘greatest ‘B’ movie ever made’.

Many of Sam Fuller’s movies were considered ‘B’ movies at the time they were made. Criterion has a couple: Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss.
 

WillardK

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 25, 2003
Messages
318
...make that three Sam Fuller's, including Pickup on South Street. Also... there is one now available and another upcoming Fuller dvd from Fantoma.

I second the recommendation of those Image double features, though they are mostly more like Z-films. There's also a few cheapo B-noir sets coming out. Questar's entry looks interesting. They aren't generally known for great transfers, but the advert brags about new ones for this set.
 

Brian Thibodeau

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Messages
992


For my money, they'd be right! Sure, there may be better noir films out there, and certainly TOUCH OF EVIL plays like a B-movie sometimes, but DETOUR's got everything that makes for great 'B' and great noir, and no one, and I mean NO ONE, has ever topped Ann Savage's portrayal of a bitter, cynical, manipulative, animalistic, paranoid, psychotic man-hater from hell! An absolute joy to see an actress nail a part so perfectly.
 

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