Customer Reviews

Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

50 DRIVE-IN MOVIE CLASSICS is yet another public domain movie bonanza! It's a mixed bag of hits, misses, and total duds! Still, most are a blast to watch, and cost so much less than other releases of the same movies that it's worth the cheap price! This collection contains nudity, gore, sick humor, etc., and well deserves it's R-rating! Now, to the movies! I'll review 'em in the order they appear and use "*" for stars. THE DEVIL W/ SEVEN FACES- *** Carrol Baker is a woman plagued by the thieving partners of her twin sister. A nice twist ending you'll see coming for miles! TWISTER'S REVENGE- ** (This is on my copy instead of FIEND) A monster-truck w/ artificial intelligence helps it's driver defeat the crooks who want to steal it. Pretty dumb, but fun enough. DAY OF THE PANTHER- *** Aussie kung-fu! Ed Stazak is the fu master, out to get a druglord. Features a kung-fu fighting guy in a pig mask w/ a machette! How can you lose?? CREEPER (AKA: RITUALS)- **** Hal Holbrook stars as a doctor who goes camping w/ a group of other doctors in the deep woods, only to be stalked by a crazed murderer! Excellent! COUNT DRACULA AND HIS VAMPIRE BRIDE (aka: SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA)- **** Christopher Lee is Drac and Peter Cushing is Van Helsing in this mod 70s vampire epic. The Count wants to wipe out mankind w/ a super-plague! Also stars AB FAB's Joanna Lumley! Watch for the nekkid sacrifice too! COUNTRY BLUE- *** Hillbillies run amok in this southern fried cops 'n' robbers saga! Dub Taylor's in it as well. GOING STEADY- ** Somewhat humorous, yet boring little tale of teens in 1950s Tel Aviv. Sort of PORKY'S in Israel! Contains nudity galore! MAD DOG (aka: BEAST WITH A GUN)- **** Helmut Berger is sleazebag, escaped convict Nanni Vitally in this bloody, rape-filled extravaganza of trashiness! He's vengeful and deadly! I WONDER WHO'S KILLING HER NOW?- * Horrible, dull, "comedy" about a guy trying to collect on his wife's life insurance. Ugg! SAVAGE WEEKEND- *** A masked murderer is on the loose! Deaths ensue. William Sanderson is a wacked out sort of guy, but is he the killer? Good stuff! BLACK HOOKER- ** Depressing tale of a mixed up kid who longs for his prostitute mum's love, only to be rejected by her and everyone else. Lots of nudity, rape, etc. JIVE TURKEY- *** OK story about black hoods against italian mobsters. Check out the transvestite assassin w/ the killer heels! ABSOLUTION- **** Richard Burton is a priest in a catholic boys' school who finds himself caught up in a psychotic game of death after he tells his class about the absolute secrecy of confession. Great! BREAKOUT FROM OPPRESSION- *** A woman is stalked and tormented by someone after being released from prison. Interesting and different. CREEPERS (aka: PHENOMENA)- **** A shortened version of Argento's classic. A young girl (Jennifer Connelly) who can psychically communicate w/ insects teams up w/ an entimologist (Donald Pleasance) to catch a serial-killer. Awesome! DON'T OPEN 'TIL CHRISTMAS- *** Someone's killing people who are dressed as Santa! Includes a urinal-side castration scene! Yikes! SNOWBEAST- *** Clint Walker, Bo Svenson, and Yvette Mimeau track down a murderous yeti at a ski resort. HORROR OF THE ZOMBIES- * Those rickety-skeleton templar monks are back. This time, some tasty fashion models are on the menu! Watch for the ship of doom (a toy boat that bobs along in someone's bathtub)! Hilarious! MAMA DRACULA- A good idea gone bad. Louise Fletcher is the queen of the damned, looking for virgins' blood to bath in. Alas, there just aren't as many virgins nowadays! This one would have been better if about 45 mins had been lopped off! MURDER MANSION- ** A group of travelers end up in a mansion surrounded by fog. A witch lives there, and mayhem ensues. The twist ending is not so good! TRAUMA- *** Schoolgirls are being murdered! They all have a connection to a horrible past event. Lots of nudity and a rather disturbing premise! UNSANE (aka: TENEBRES)- **** Yep, another Argento gem! Tony Franciosa is a writer of violent thrillers who has a killer using his books as a blueprint for murder! Bloody! VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES- *** Paul Naschy plays a dual role as a wimpy mystic and his evil twin brother. The evil Paul is raising dead women from the grave to exact revenge on his enemies. These babes look more like Manson gals than zombies! VOODOO BLACK EXORCIST- ** Folks on a cruiseship are haunted by a mummy. So-so at best. Gets an extra star for the fire-eating bellydancer! Rowwrr! IN HOT PURSUIT (aka: POLK COUNTY POT PLANE)- ** It's Cheech and Chong meets Smokey And The Bandit, as hillbilly hippies smuggle pot. Car chases galore! Cheap and cheesy! SHOCK- **** Vincent Price is a doctor who murders his wife. He is witnessed by a woman who goes into shock because of it, and becomes his next patient! INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (aka: GRAVEYARD TRAMPS)- ***** Men are dying from a love overload as Anitra Ford (Messiah Of Evil) leads her swarm of Bee girls on a mating rampage! Stick around for the ultra-sticky marshmallow cream sequence! Great heavenly days! Loads of nude bodies in this masterpiece! KATIE'S PASSION- **** This early Paul Verhoven effort is about a girl who is forced into prostitution in order to survive. It's a good movie w/ one scene that shocked even me! I'll never look at shadow puppets the same way again! THE WEREWOLF VS. VAMPIRE WOMAN- *** Paul Naschy gets hairy and seeks someone to release him from his curse. He needs a silver cross that is located in the heart of the witch / vampire queen! The battle is short and at the very end of the movie! SPARE PARTS- *** A young couple is rudely interupted during their honeymoon when a gang of organ thieves kidnaps the husband! DEATH BY DIALOGUE- * Awful, direct-to-video abomination about a haunted movie script. Pitiful! LEGACY OF BLOOD- *** John Carradine is barely in this film as a "dead" guy w/ a useless family of letches. He'll give them his inheritence only if they stay a week in his mansion. Faith Demergue (This Island Earth) and Jeff Morrow (Kronos) co-star. THE MANIPULATOR- ** Mickey Rooney jumps, dances, screams, emotes, and kills Keenan Wynn in this psychedelic / psychopathic story about an ex-make-up man gone bananas! Rooney is frightening at times (not in a good way)! Luanne Anders (Dementia 13, Night Tide) is along for the manic ride! THROW OUT THE ANCHOR!- *** G-rated family fare about an oddball collection of people trying to save a cove from developers. Dina Merrill was still hot in her 40s! NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR- ***** Oh my! An anthology of truncated movies w/ hideous 80's music segments and a God / Satan philosophical debate holding them together! You get mutilations by hacksaw, nazis, electrocutions, claymation demons, a giant blood-sucking fly, and Richard Moll as a sadistic maniac! A must see! THE GUY FROM HARLEM- * The mountainous afros and plaid polyester suits can't save this toilet raft! Dull to the point of agony! DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT- **** The new nurse is in for a surprise! The mental hospital she's just started working for has undergone some drastic changes recently! Vats of blood and neggidness! PRISONER OF THE LOST UNIVERSE- ** Even Kay Lenz and John Saxon can't save this sci-fi elephant tranquilizer! RATTLERS- *** Chemicals dumped in the desert have turned harmless rattlesnakes into manhunting killers! OK. SAVAGE JOURNEY- * Dull portrayal of history of the mormon church. Richard Moll plays Joseph Smith. ISLAND MONSTER- *** Boris Karloff is either a kindly doctor or a homicidal drug smuggler. Better than I expected. BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE- **** One of my favorite Corman productions! Made for no money at all, and yet it holds up as a good monster movie! THE FIRING LINE- * RAMBO / MISSING IN ACTION clone w/ lots of gunfire and explosions, but no real characters to actually care about! Abysmal! Shannon Tweed's in it, but don't get your hopes up! TREASURE OF TAYOPA- *** Treasure hunters in mexico encounter tragedy when one of their party turns out to be a murderous lunatic! THE LAZARUS SYNDROME- ** Louis Gossett jr. is a cardiologist in this long forgotten TV pilot. It's not bad, but leads nowhere since the show never materialized. PRIME TIME (aka: AMERICAN RASPBERRY)- ***** This movie is worth the price of this entire collection! In the tradition of THE GROOVE TUBE, KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, and TUNNELVISION, PRIME TIME is better than any of these! Someone has taken control of our tv sets, showing outrageous programming w/ such shows as: "Poodles For Christ" and "The Sexual Deviants Telethon"! There are many, many more, even more insane and hysterically funny shows! If you liked National Lampoon magazine in it's 70s hayday, then you'll love this! THE LEGEND OF BIGFOOT- * A home movie w/ terrible voice-overs! Wretched cess! SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD- **** Ursula Andress and Stacey Keach lead a rescue team deep into the south american jungles to find Ms. Andress' husband. Uh-oh! Those pesky cannibals await! This is the cut version w/ limited animal deaths and nudity. Alas, Ursula's infamous scene has been clipped! The movie itself is still worth watching though. TNT JACKSON- *** TNT is out to avenge her brother's death. Her stunt-double will stop at nothing to achieve revenge! Contains the topless karate scene! WOMEN OF DEVIL'S ISLAND- *** Women look for gold and get tortured. A "reformer" arrives on the notorious isle. However, he has a secret! Pretty decent. Alright, That's the lot! I highly recommend this collection. Enjoy...

Not really going to talk about how "cheesy" some of these films are - "Drive-In Movie Classics" pretty much sums it up and that is what you get.

What I want to do is make a couple of comments about this package of movies that I think many of the other reviewers overlooked:

1 - The packaging of the discs - the package I got consisted of a box with 12 individual cardboard sleeves, each with a single DVD inside. Personally I like this as it seems to have kept the discs secure during shipment. I've bought other multi-disc sets and have never been that impressed with how they were shoe-horned into a single huge clam-shell case. Another thing that I like about the slim sleeves that these discs come in - it makes it really easy to drop one or two of these movies into the pockets of my laptop and/or my portable DVD player case. Also on the sleeves is a short description of each movie - in a very readable 12-pt font.

2 - The number of discs, there are twelve double-sided discs in this collection, with two movies on each side. Why do I think that is important? Mainly because I've bought other sets where a cheaper publisher crammed four movies onto each disc side so as to get 50 movies on five discs. To do that they had to greatly compress the videos which made them have a huge amount of artifacts and pixilation - making them almost unwatchable. The movies on this 12-disc set are of excellent quality, at least as good as possible considering the source material. While there appears to have been some defects in the prints used to make these DVDs (scratches and whatnot) there doesn't seem to be any noticeable additional problems introduced from overly compressing the films to get them on the discs.

This is the third set of videos from Mill Creek Entertainment that I've purchased; I also bought their "Hollywood Legends" and "Cartoon Classics" collections. I must say that I've been very pleased with all three sets and look forward to buying more of their collections.

I like the movies but I didn't like the mill creek entertainment logo that comes up 3 or 4 times on the screen when your watching a movie.I own all the 50 packs and no other pack has this annoying logo that comes up except this one and DARK CRIMES.IF i had knew this i would have never bought these two.If you don't mind logo coming up 3 or 4 times on the screen when your watching a movie then buy this.

Drive-in movies are an all but forgotten part of the teenage-dating ritual.

Once upon a time, on Friday and Saturday nights (weather permitting), kids everywhere would head out to their local drive-in theater, ostensibly to catch a double feature. The car would get parked in a somewhat elevated space and a tinny little speaker had to be hung on one of the two front seat windows. After lighting up a dashboard bug coil (to keep the mosquitoes away) then came the quick run to buy popcorn, french fries and Cokes. Finally, back in the car, we'd settle down and wait for the show to start.

When the snack bar commercial started running (usually right around dusk), we all knew that soon the fun would begin! The "Coming Attractions" and a cartoon were followed by the opening credits of the first film. That was the cue for most kids to stop watching that weathered outdoor screen, and begin to watch each other (and then some). In this fashion, we happily managed to ignore some of the strangest movies ever made.

The DRIVE-IN MOVIE CLASSICS 50 MOVIE PACK is the perfect way for those of us old enough to remember what we missed back then (and why!) to finally see exactly what was going on up there on the screen. (To the younger folks who may never have experienced a drive-in theater, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out what your future parents were doing on movie nights.)
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Based on polling numbers from a film resource website, the current average 1 to 10 rating for this box set is: 4.1.

The following alphabetized program list includes individual poll scores, original theatrical titles (where indicated), year of release and country of origin (if other than USA), as well as featured performers.

(6.0) Absolution (UK-1978) - Richard Burton/Domenic Guard
(3.3) Beast From Haunted Cave (1959) - Michael Forest/Sheila Noonan
(3.2) Black Hooker ("Street Sisters") (1974) - Durey Mason/Sandra Alexandra
(5.1) Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride ("The Satanic Rites Of Dracula") (UK-1974) - Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing
(3.9) Breakout From Oppression (Hong Kong-1978) - Fonda Lynn/Alan Tam
(2.8) Country Blue (1973) - Dub Taylor/Jack Conrad
(5.3) Creeper (Canada-1977) - Hal Holbrook/Lawrence Dane
(6.7) Creepers ("Phenomena") (Italy-1985) - Jennifer Connelly/Donald Pleasence (in support)
(4.0) Day Of The Panther (Australia-1988) - Ed Stazak/John Stanton
(2.8) Death By Dialogue (1988) - Ken Sagoes/Laura Albert
(4.6) The Devil With Seven Faces (Italy-1971)- Caroll Baker/Stephen Boyd
(4.5) Don't Look In The Basement ("The Forgotten") (1973) - Bill McGhee/Jessie Lee Fulton
(3.2) Don't Open Till Christmas (UK-1984) - Edmund Purdom/Alan Lake
(3.0) The Firing Line (USA/Philippines-1991) - Rob Brown/Shannon Tweed
(4.4) Going Steady (Israel/W Ger-1979)
(2.4) The Guy From Harlem (1977) - Loye Hawkins/Cathy Davis
(2.7) Horror Of The Zombies (Spain-1974) - Maria Perschy/Jack Taylor
(1.9) In Hot Pursuit ("Polk County Pot Plane") (1977) - Don Watson/Bobby Watson
(4.8) Invasion Of The Bee Girls (1973) - William Smith/Anitra Ford
(2.7) The Island Monster (Italy-1954) - Boris Karloff
(3.2) I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975) - Bob Dishy/Joanna Barnes/Bill Dana/Vito Scotti
(4.9) Jive Turkey ("Baby Needs A New Pair Of Shoes") (1974) - Frank DeKova/Paul Harris
(6.7) Katie's Passion (Netherlands-1975) - Rutger Hauer
(5.7) Lazarus Syndrome (TV-1978) - Louis Gossett Jr./E.G. Marshall
(1.9) Legacy Of Blood ("Blood Legacy") (1971) - Rudolfo Acosta/John Carradine (in support)
(3.9) Legend Of Big Foot (1976) - Ivan Marx/Peggy Marx
(6.0) Mad Dog ("Beast With A Gun") (Italy-1977) - Helmut Berger/Richard Harrison
(2.4) Mama Dracula (France/Belgium-1980) - Louise Fletcher/Maria Schneider
(4.7) The Murder Mansion (Spain-1972) - Evelyn Stewart
(1.9) The Manipulator (1971) - Mickey Rooney/Keenan Wynn
(2.2) Night Train To Terror (1985) - Barbara Wyler/Jamie Scoggin
(5.3) Prime Time ("American Raspberry") (1977) - Paul Ainsley/Royce Applegate/Joanna Cassidy (minor role)
(4.1) Prisoners Of The Lost Universe (UK-1983) - Richard Hatch/Kay Lenz/John Saxon
(4.3) Rattlers (1976) - Sam Chew Jr./Elisabeth Chauvet
(3.9) Savage Journey (TV-1983) - Maurice Grandmaison/Paul Warton/Richard Moll (minor role)
(3.9) Savage Weekend (1979) - Christopher Allport/Jim Doerr
(6.3) Shock (1946) - Vincent Price
(4.9) Slave Of The Cannibal God (Italy-1978) - Ursula Andress/Stacy Keach
(4.0) Snowbeast (TV-1977) - Bo Svenson/Yvette Mimieux/Robert Logan
(5.9) Spare Parts (TV-W Germany-1979)
(2.8) Throw Out The Anchor! (1974) - Richard Egan/Dina Merrill
(4.0) T.N.T. Jackson (USA/Philippines-1975) - Jeannie Bell/Stan Shaw
(5.8) Trauma (Italy/W Ger-1978) - Fabio Testi/Christine Kaufmann
(3.1) Treasure Of Tayopa (1974) - Gilbert Roland/Rena Winters
(3.1) Twister's Revenge! (1987) - Dean West/Meredith Orr
(7.1) Unsane (Italy-1982) - Anthony Franciosa
(3.9) Vengeance Of The Zombies (Spain-1973)
(1.9) Voodoo Black Exorcist (Spain-1973)
(4.7) The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women (Spain/W Ger-1971)
(3.3) Women Of Devil's Island (Italy/France-1962) - Guy Madison

Time to get the popcorn and lean back the recliner for 50 drive-in classics that will take you back to a golden era of over-acting and cheesy special effects. Find the best and worst of undiscovered Drive-in cinema featuring box office legends and complete unknowns.


Movies Included:

Absolution
Beast from Haunted Cave
Black Hooker
Breakout from Oppression
Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride
Country Blue
Creeper
Creepers
Day of the Panther
Death By Dialogue
Devil with Seven Faces, The
Don't Look in the Basement
Don't Open Till Christmas
Fiend
Firing Line, The
Going Steady
Guy from Harlem, The
Horror of the Zombies
I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?
In Hot Pursuit
Invasion of the Bee Girls
Island Monster, The
Jive Turkey
Katie's Passion
Lazarus Syndrome, The
Legacy of Blood
Legend of Big Foot
Mad Dog
Mama Dracula
Manipulator, The
Murder Mansion, The
Night Train to Terror
Prime Time
Prisoner of the Lost Universe
Rattlers
Savage Journey
Savage Weekend
Shock
Slave of the Cannibal God
Snowbeast
Spare Parts
Throw Out the Anchor
TNT Jackson
Trauma
Treasure of Tayopa
Unsane
Vengeance of the Zombies
Voodoo Black Exorcist
Werewolf vs. Vampire Women, The
Women of Devil's Island

Drive-In Movie Classics is a collection of 50 movies that have only one thing in common: they are all public domain and as such it is possible for them to be presented in highly affordable collections. I paid $21.99 for my set and that comes down to about 44 cents per movie. The way that movie tickets cost nowadays, you really cannot complain about this collection.

Anyways, here is how I rate the movies in Drive-In Movie Classics:

Excellent:

Absolution
Horror of the Zombies
Night Train to Terror
Shock
Snowbeast

Great:

Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride
Don't Look in the Basement
Island Monster, The
Unsane
Werewolf vs. Vampire Women, The

Good:

Creeper
Creepers
Day of the Panther
Devil with Seven Faces, The
Don't Open Till Christmas
Firing Line, The
Going Steady
Invasion of the Bee Girls
Legacy of Blood
Murder Mansion, The
Prime Time
Slave of the Cannibal God
Spare Parts
Trauma
Women of Devil's Island



Bad:

Beast from Haunted Cave
Black Hooker
Breakout from Oppression
Country Blue
Death By Dialogue
Fiend
Guy from Harlem, The
In Hot Pursuit
I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?
Jive Turkey
Katie's Passion
Lazarus Syndrome, The
Legend of Big Foot
Mad Dog
Mama Dracula
Manipulator, The
Prisoner of the Lost Universe
Rattlers
Savage Journey
Savage Weekend
Throw Out the Anchor
TNT Jackson
Treasure of Tayopa
Twister's Revenge
Vengeance of the Zombies
Voodoo Black Exorcist

Overall, a very good collection that is well worth your time and money.

Well, you either like bad movies or you don't - I'm one of the former, obviously, or I wouldn't have been buying up many of these 50-movie packs! Now, not all bad films can be enjoyed - some are just plain painful. Take "RV" for example (not included in this movie-pack, of course) - that's a film that allows Standards & Practices to suffocate all emotion and life from it's story until you have nothing left but soulless robots using Dean Jones shenanigans and toilet humor to try and entertain everybody and offend no-one. I'd rather put a bullet in my brain than sit through that again. But if you enjoy surreality more than appearance-based conscious reality, then you'll like quite a number of the films in this and other sets (the sci-fi/horror collections to be precise).

I personally like to take all 12 discs in a collection and 'shuffle' them up a bit, put them back in, and put in a DVD at random - then I block out the left part of the TV and play a film without knowing what one I'm going to see. It's really easy to do and it does make watching bad movies more fun... I mean how excited can you get knowing you're gonna watch "Twister's Revenge" later on tonight??? (Note: If you love the show Mystery Science Theater 3000 and have an overactive imagination, you can always pretend Dr Forrester and TV's Frank are 'sending' you the movies to dull some of the pain you might feel watching some of these movies - but if you're stuffed animals demand to be called Crow and Servo and begin riffing the film with comments you may want to discontinue this tactic).

To give an idea of the type of variety, I'll give some observations of a few of the films enclosed: "Twister's Revenge" is a film that falls under 'painful', though the first half hour or so is bearable - silly-stupid. Once the trio of inept criminals kidnap the 'inventor' of the computer-voice enhanced 4X4, it gets stupid-stupid real quick. Low point- The dumbest criminal gets blown up, lands in a tree, and actually tells his partner he's 'hanging around'.

"Night Train To Terror" takes three awful horror films, chops them down to about 30 minutes each, and tries to build an omnibus around them. The worst thing about this film is the ear-shattering 80's generi-pop band on the Night Train singing the same nauseating "DANCE wit' me DANCE wit' me" song between each story music-video style... No wonder MTV don't show videos anymore. The stories are very graphic and gory, bad acting aside. And meanwhile, God and Satan are in a private car debating souls and sniping at each other. Weird film? Hard to find weirder. NOTE: The last story is actually the film "The Nightmare Never Ends" from the Nightmare Worlds 50-Movie pack. They pare it down in time by half, then add some ridiculous Ray Harryhausen claymation effects to try and make it scarier - but succeed in only making it funny.

"The Guy From Harlem" is the type of film Sweet Daddy Williams from "Good Times" would make if he got into Hollywood. The acting is on par with a low-budget pornographic movie - and so is the screenplay. But as bad as these qualities are, this is what I'd call a 'good'-bad movie. The actor playing Detective Al Collins (I think that's what his name was) is likeable, the outfits, furniture, and -eek!- wallpaper just ooze '70's-retro, and those afro's are just beautiful! The music, though, would send Curtis Mayfield out of the room gagging for air. The actor playing the kidnapped girl's father is loud, brash, and hysterical - I loved him. The blonde girl playing Al's girlfriend does a great job in the scene where she walks out on him - he was genuinely laughing at her performance I believe. And look quick for the scene where Al HURLS the princess onto the bed! The film defect while she's in mid-air just makes it funnier.

So there's a horror, 70's retro, and comedy/farce flick - if these sound watchable to you, even if they aren't grade-A (or B) movies, then you might want to consider getting a couple of these movie packs. I haven't regretted my purchases a bit. If a film is surreal or interesting to look at, I'll watch it several times. (I LOVED 'The Creeping Terror", "Monster A-Go Go", "Robot Monster", and "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed Up Zombies" - films rated among the worst ever made. None of these were included in this pack, I'm afraid). Unfortunately, there is that Mill Creek logo that appears in the lower right corner of the screen a couple times during each movie. Thankfully they switch to a much less distracting blue-white one for the Nightmare Worlds pack (and there's no logo at all in the Chilling Classics set).

And my comment regarding the sound/film quality - each film is exactly like that if you were to watch a movie on television BEFORE digital discs were invented. If you tape a NEW movie off HBO or something onto a VHS tape and put that quality against one of these movies, you'll know what I mean. DVD's have spoiled us, I'm afraid, and since their inception, it seems almost every film has been restored, remastered, and remixed. But these transfers are exact duplicates of the masters Mill Creek recieved and therefore are the best existing so far. Sound is something I'm much more critical of, but asfar I've been able to understand every word just fine. I personally LIKE that these haven't been restored visually - why does everything have to look BRAND new? They remastered Burt Reynolds' "The Longest Yard" last year and you can't even tell it was made in the 1970's anymore! But I agree that some of the missing snippets of film and phantom 'clouds' from age/ improper storage can be a pain, especially when they occur in a film that's just barely twenty years old. But these too aren't that bad an issue. The one thing that irks me about these sets is that the Mill Creek graphic at the very beginning of each disc looks not like a mill unreeling a film, but that of a roll of toilet paper unspooling itself... I mean how could they not have SEEN that???

I just wanted to say that the previous review, stating that the film SAVAGE WEEKEND was heavily edited, is not true. The reviewer must have been referring to the individual DVD release of this film. The SAVAGE WEEKEND film that is included in this 50-movie DVD is definitely the ADULT version. There are several nude scenes and sex scenes, including a completely naked Caitlin O'heaney. In fact, Caitlin spends most of the movie either naked or in her underwear. The violence, too, is included, complete with chainsaw and table-top buzz saw. Also, Yancy Butler made her screen debut in this film as a cute 6-year old. The picture and sound quality of this film, and the other dozen or so that i've watched, isn't perfect. But it's much better than i expected, and certainly more than adequate to enjoy the movies. In short, i'm very pleased with my purchase.

Some great B grade to Z grade movies that are often hard to find, so if the movie you're looking for is in this collection then be warned that the quality of the source (old video)is no match for any reasonable expectations.
Example: The Invasion of the Bee Girls is still much clearer on my 30 year old video copy than it is on the DVD version.

The B/W ones are reasonably clear and I prefer to watch these than the washed out -no contrast - over saturated colour versions.

Millcreek (the production company) seem to have done little to fix up the source stock, or maybe the source stock was incapable of being fixed.
Too bad! If you are desperate for the titles then I recommend that you buy this collection, otherwise try and find it yourself as an original.

This is another one of those bargain price Mill Creek Entertainment mega packs of public domain or cheaply-licensed films (largely B or C grade). Still, this set is well worth the price you pay if you like film variety or crave light horror/thrillers and/or exploitation flicks.

Something about this movie pack of particular importance to archivists and collectors is the fact that if you buy this set, the 50 Chilling Classics set, and the MASSIVE 250 flick HORROR COLLECTION --- you will have nearly 350 different films (whereas all other traditional horror movie packs are almost entirely duplicated inside the 250 pack!).

I would like to point out that in my Drive-In Classics set, I had 3 film differences from those in Amazon's list. I have a feeling that Mill Creek occasionally alters their sets if/when they get copyright notices or if they lose licensing rights, or perhaps the Amazon list has always been wrong...

Each of 12 disks is double-sided and usually features 2 films a side but a few have 3 films per side. That said, 3 different disks in my set contained different films than listed on Amazon:
3 FILMS I DID NOT RECEIVE:
*Mama Dracula
*Creepers (PLURAL, it's apparently an alternate name for a Dario Argento film)
*Death by Dialogue

3 Non-Amazon-Listed films I RECEIVED INSTEAD (these films ARE listed on my DVD case and the disk sleeves):
*Blood Mania
*The Devil's Hand
*Single Room Furnished

I was really looking forward to seeing that film about Drac's mama, but who knows, maybe one of the 3 other films I got will turn out to be an unknown gem? :) Anyone buying this DVD set after me (Nov 2009) should probably expect to get the same films that I received.

One final oddity: Being a stickler for details, I decided to compare the movie titles on the case which matched those on the 12 DVD sleeves against those found PRINTED ON THE DVDs THEMSELVES (in center ring) and I discovered the DVDs themselves had SIX ERRORS (the sleeves & case had the correct films). The six films incorrectly printed on the disk center rings were spread across six of the twelve disks! Here they are:
6 FILM TITLES PRINTED ON MY DISKS BUT NOT ACTUALLY PRESENT:
*Disk1 B2: Deadly Encounter (actually Creeper)
*Disk5 A1: Fatal Error (actually Snowbeast)
*Disk7 A2: Patrick (actually Shock)
*Disk9 B1: Boogey Man (actually Night Train to Terror)
*Disk10 A1: Cockfighter (actually Don't Look in the Basement)
*Disk11 A1: Why Shoot the Teacher (actually The Island Monster)

What does all this mean? Beats me.
Maybe those films are coming soon in a future iteration? Or they were on a past iteration? Or the DVD press somehow screwed up on 50% of the disks? Hmmmmmmmm. Who cares? Just pop the popcorn, get liquored up, and enjoy these cheap crappy flicks.