2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth turning your DVD player off for awhile., September 29, 2008
This review is from: Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews (McFarland Classics) (Paperback)
I have a pretty sarcastic image and as such there are only a very few things for which I will show unbridled enthusiasm. There is, of course, Wendy's Double Baconator, Lucy Lawless singing the National Anthem at a baseball game, and the pure, unspoiled love of a scrunchy-eyed newborn puppy. Well now that I've read this book you can add it to that list.
This is actually a combination of two shorter books; 1994's "Attack of the Monster Movie Makers" and 1995's "They Fought in the Creature Features" Both books featured interviews with writers, producers, directors and actors who helped create horror, sci-fi, and action B-movies from the '30's on through the 80's. There are 43 interviews all told and if you're a fan you'll want to read each one. The stories are fascinating and the more you read the more you'll want to read.
Interviewees' range from little known (today) acting workhorses to some pretty big stars. For example:
****Billy Benedict talks about life as a Bowery Boy and East Side Kid (and explains the difference between them) as well as being a featured player in serials like "Captain Marvel" and "The Perils of Nyoka", roles in movies like "Bringing Up Baby" and "The OxBow Incident" and what happened when Jitters the monkey got out-of-hand.
****Richard Anderson tells stories about acting in "The Forbidden Planet", "The Six-Million Dollar Man" and the "Curse of the Faceless Man", drive-in fodder about an ancient Etruscan slaver who is turned to living stone when Vesuvius erupts and is reanimated in the modern world.
****Jeanne Bates explains what it was like to work on Return of the Vampire, The Phantom serial, Eraserhead and Silent Night, Deadly Night 4.
****Robert Cornthwaite, who played the scientist who wanted to make friends with the Thing in "The Thing " talks behind the scenes about that movie and several others he made with Howard Hawks.
****Ann Francis talks about the time Robby the Robot got drunk on the set of "The Forbidden Planet" as well as making "Bad Day at Black Rock" and "The Satan Bug", and about working with a 30 lb. ocelot on her TV show, "Honey West".
**** Mark Goddard talks about Lost in Space, Dr. Smith, Paul Newman, Irwin Allen and acting with Liza on Broadway.
****Herman Cohen, writer-producer, speaks at great length on working with the likes of Freddie Francis, Joan Crawford, Michael Landon, Jack Palance and Michael Gough on such movies as Black Zoo, I was a Teen-age Werewolf, Horrors of the Black Museum, Berserk and Konga.
****Kenneth Tobey talks about "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", "Single White Female", "It came from Beneath the Sea"," Gremlins", "and The Howling" and how William Faulkner helped write "The Thing".
**** Vincent Price dishes on pretty much the entire history of the "talkie". He recommends his 1940 film "Green Hell" because it's so terrible it's "hilarious".
There's a great diversity of talent here but one thing they all have in common is that they all enjoyed what they did for a living. They all come across as movie fans too, maybe loving movies as much as you do. And because of that, in addition to reading some great insider stories you may decide that through a love of films, particularly b-movies, you feel the tiniest bit of kinship with these welcome and familiar faces.
The stories in this book were recorded before DVD's became really big, so you probably won't hear any of them on any DVD Commentary track or anywhere else for that matter. It's an excellent addition to any genuine movie fan's library.
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