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321 of 333 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy This One Too!..., November 10, 2005
Here's another great collection of public domain movies! Don't expect perfect, mint versions. These are movies that are available (although, some are not available anywhere else but this set) in a zillion different versions from tons of companies at ridiculously ranging prices! Why pay for packaging?? THE CHILLING 50 MOVIE PACK is for mature audiences as it contains lots of blood and nudity. Here's the rundown: DEATH RAGE- Yul Brynner (West World) is a retired hitman who returns to his trade in order to find the man who murdered his brother. This one also has a beautiful blonde stripper in it! MEMORIAL VALLEY MASSACRE- A wildman is preying on a group of hideously annoying campers. You'll cheer him on! Watch for the wet T-shirt dance in the rainstorm! MEDUSA- George Hamilton (Love At First Bite) is a crazy guy who owes a loan shark (Cameron Mitchell) a lot of money. Someone even crazier than George is killing people! Not bad. DEADTIME STORIES- A good old fashioned horror anthology loosely based on fairy tales. I like this one! SCREAM BLOODY MURDER- A madman goes on a killing spree in this completely bonkers gore flick! Very bloody and disturbing! Don't let granny or the tikes watch! THE BELL FROM HELL- A man is released from an asylum and gets a job at a slaughterhouse. This one's gruesome, with a TEXAS CHAINSAW vibe at the end! METAMORPHOSIS- A decent monster flick up until the silly finale. I suggest skipping the last 5 minutes or so. NAKED MASSACRE- Another shocker like SCREAM BLOODY MURDER! NAKED MASSACRE takes the Richard Speck case and moves it from Chicago to Belfast Ireland! The killer is a sadistic, remorseless rapist. I hate rape scenes, and this one's got 'em! Originally titled BORN FOR HELL (a nod to Speck's "Born To Raise Hell" tattoo), I would definitely keep granny far from this one too! HAUNTS- May Britt is a lonely woman who lives on a farm. Her small town is plagued by a stalking murderer. Is it her weird uncle (Cameron Mitchell)? I like this one, though it runs a bit long at the end. CHRISTMAS EVIL- The classic yuletide murder and mayhem film! Brandon Maggart is a guy who works at a toy factory. He snaps around Christmas time, dresses as Saint Nick, and checks that list! DRILLER KILLER- Abel Ferrara is a struggling artist with a problem. He lives with two gorgeous babes in an apartment. Unfortunately, a loud, obnoxious punk band just moved in directly beneath them! Sleep deprivation drives our hero nuts. He buys an electrical outlet belt he sees on TV, plugs in his drill, and goes on nightly hunting trips through times square! Bloody and twisted! Watch for the gal-pal shower scene! HORROR EXPRESS- Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are scientific rivals who must team up to defeat an alien being that boils people's brains in their skulls! Telly Savalas makes an appearance near the end. Very good! THE SNAKE PEOPLE- Boris Karloff stars in this voodoo epic with zombies, cannibal women, and the ever-lovely Tongalele dancing her way into our hearts! Oh yeah! SISTERS OF DEATH- A girl is accidentally killed in a sorority hazing ritual. Years later, the gals who were there are summoned to a "reunion". They arrive at the big mansion, surrounded by a 10-foot electric fence, and actually stay! Brainless! Still, not too awful. WAR OF THE ROBOTS- An italian space opera with goofy guys in even goofier outfits as "robots". Dumb but fun. OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES- Not exactly Romero or Fulci, yet has a certain charm. Some college kids set out to find a treasure of WWII gold, guarded by nazi zombies! OK. THE WITCHES' MOUNTAIN- This one's stone-cold-boring! I barely made it to the finish! A photogragher and a girl he just met venture into the mountains where nothing really happens! Witches play a small role indeed! The ending is good, but hardly worth the misery of the rest of the movie! DEEP RED- Argento's classic! Don't expect anamorphic treatment! A man witnesses a murder and simply must solve it. Lots of twists and cool death scenes! THE REVENGE OF DOCTOR X- Written by Ed Wood, it's too bad he didn't direct this dull pile of ofal! A mad scientist sets out to prove that man evolved from plant-life (!). He succeeds in creating a plant man with venus flytrap feet! I kid you not! BAD TASTE- Yep, Peter Jackson's first movie! Jackson made this in his spare time with family and friends! It's a gore masterpiece! Cannibalistic aliens try to turn earth into a free-range farm for human meat! Can Jackson and his cohorts save us? Yepper! VIRUS- Glenn Ford is the president as the world is wiped out by a super-flu bug! Only an arctic outpost remains uninfected. Doom and gloom abound! THE MILPITAS MONSTER- Horrid. However, it was acually made by highschool students! So, worth at least a peak. FUNERAL HOME- A fairly good PSYCHO-type flick. A woman goes to live w/ her grandma in a renovated funeral parlor, now a bed and breakfast! Death ensues. LADY FRANKENSTEIN- The drop-dead gorgeous daughter of Frankenstein decides to make her own creature, using the brain of dad's assistant in the hunky bod of the groundskeeper! Nudity ensues! SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT- Another holiday murder flick! A madman escapes from the bin just in time to cause panic in a small town. Nice twist ending and gallons of blood! PANIC- Another mad scientist turns himself into a murderous monster on the loose! Edited and flat! MESSIAH OF EVIL- One of my favorite movies! A woman trying to find her father is drawn into a zombie holocaust! The scenes in the grocery store and movie theatre are unforgettable! Elisha Cook jr. (House On Haunted Hill), Royal Dano, and Anitra Ford (Invasion Of The Bee Girls / Graveyard Tramps) are memorable. THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER- There's a monster loose in an old castle! ok. CATHY'S CURSE- A little girl is possessed by her evil, vengeful aunt! Extremely low-budget schlocker that has many high points, like the creepy doll! THE ALPHA INCIDENT- A deadly viral weapon is unleashed at a train depot in hillbilly land! Dull to the point of causing amnesia! THE DEMONS OF LUDLOW- A haunted piano attempts to destroy a town. "Demons" in frilly clothes murder people. Yikes! THE COLD- Quite possibly,the worst movie ever made! AKA: THE GAME, this flaming pile of dogfudge is about 3 old gazillionaires who give people money to spend a week in their "hauted" resort. It tries to be funny, but fails badly. HANDS OF A STRANGER- A famous pianist loses his hands in an accident. A brilliant surgeon replaces the hands w/ those of a murdered gangster. This sends the piano-man into a murdering rampage! Watch for Sally Kellerman (M*A*S*H) in a tiny role. GOTHIC- Lord Byron throws a bash with Mary Shelly and company. They all get stoned on laudnum, causing a night of hallucinatory horrors! Ken Russell's at his whacked-out best! MAN IN THE ATTIC- Jack Palance takes a room in a quiet London boarding house. Is he the notorious Ripper? I like this one too! THE DEMON- A vile, seemingly faceless killer is stalking victims! Can psychic Cameron Mitchell help catch him? Violence and nudity throughout. CRYPT OF THE LIVING DEAD- Watch out! The queen of the vampires is awake! She's beautiful and can turn into a wolf! Andrew Prine is the man who unleashes her and must try and stop her! Pretty good. TRACK OF THE MOONBEAST- A guy gets hit in the head by a meteor and turns into a lizardman! Pretty stupid! THE GHOST- Barbara Steele plots to kill her husband, only to be double-crossed! Ms. Steele is always grrrreat! JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER- Frankenstein's daughter sets up shop in the old west! Following the family tradition, she must create a monster. Enter Cal Bolder as Frank Clayton, a musclebound gunslinger and side-kick of Jesse James! He soon becomes a mindless slave! This movie could easily have been 30-45 minutes shorter without losing any "suspense". DR. TARR'S TORTURE DUNGEON- A man visits an insane asylum to observe the doctor's new method of treating patients, only to find that the patients have taken over the asylum! ok. THE BLOODY BROOD- My copy had GOD TOLD ME TO instead. People are commiting mass murder with their only explanation being the title phrase! Excellent! HOUSE OF THE DEAD- Another horror anthology! 3 stories told in a mortuary! good. SLASHED DREAMS- Robert Englund plays a gentle, nice guy in this silly, new-agey, "feelings" movie! Don't let the title fool you! There's a rape scene, but ths is NOT a revenge flick! Yuck! A BUCKET OF BLOOD- Dick Miller is a busboy in a beatnick coffeehouse. He stumbles into a career as an artist after covering a dead cat in clay. Let's just say that he needs bigger subjects for his art! A Corman classic! HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND- Scantilly clad babes run around screaming a lot! Oh yeah! THE LEGEND OF BIGFOOT- Like watching a home movie! Endless narration and nature scenes! Boredom incarnate! THE DEVIL'S HAND- Loopy devil-worshippers gather new people through visions and voodoo-dolls! Silly but fun. I BURY THE LIVING- Richard Boone works at a cemetery where a mystical bulletin board has the power of life and death! Good. DRIVE-IN MASSACRE- A sword-wielding maniac slaughters patrons at a drive-in theatre. Pretty gory for it's day! ok. Well, there you have it folks! This collection's a keeper! The price is unbeatable!...
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69 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Material Transcends the Medium, April 17, 2006
I have a particular fondness for what might be referred to as 'public domain material'; films/TV shows that are either un-licensable or not currently licensed & pretty much fair game for anyone to do what they like with. And I must say that for the dollar cost these 50 Movie Packs by Mill Creek & Treeline Films are usually worth taking a gamble on -- for about $.50 cents a movie you are bound to find something worth watching more than once, and this box set is probably their best collection to date.
There literally is something for everyone on here: Giant rampaging monster movies (MILPITAS MONSTER, TRACK OF THE MOON BEAST), cult Euro horror (WITCHES MOUNTAIN, THE BLANCHILLE MONSTER), urban slashers (DRILLER KILLER, DRIVE-IN MASSACRE), 80s teen oriented trash (DEADTIME STORIES, FUNERAL HOME, MEMORIAL VALLEY MASSACRE), a classic Euro crime/revenge thriller (DEATH RAGE), some genuine classics from American horror (SILENT NIGHT BLOODY NIGHT, MESSIAH OF EVIL), even some stuff completely out of left field that sort of defy description (HORROR OF SPIDER ISLAND, REVENGE OF DR. X, PANIC, THE COLD) and will command multiple viewings. Something which cannot be said of say, the new KING KONG DVD. Heck, you even get Mr. Jackson's BAD TASTE, an aptly named film that is ten times more imaginative, clever and endearing even if a bit primative compared to what his computer programmers can whip up. Anyone else had enough of that junk? Well here are 50 movies that don't use any CGI and some are actually very well made, even if the DVDs aren't.
And while the print quality is uniformly poor -- most are old fullframe home video or television prints -- the content is so diverse and some of it so utterly obscure that they sort of transcend the "bargain bin" nature of the collection and makes the box set a very rewarding investment for those who like to see stuff that might be a bit more obscure than what you can find on Netflix: This box set marks the first ever DVD pressing of WITCHES MOUNTAIN, the 85 minute print of SILENT NIGHT BLOODY NIGHT is the most complete version currently described (most run 83 minutes, including the old VHS versions), nobody else seems to have TRACK OF THE MOONBEAST or THE MILPITAS MONSTER, and who can resist stuff like THE REVENGE OF DR. X, DEADTIME STORIES (with all of the nudity, sleaze & gore), DRIVE-IN MASSACRE and Alfonse Brescia's WAR OF THE ROBOTS?
One other thought, which is that these sets kind of represent the future of this medium of public domain collections. The packaging is bare-bones, two movies per side on 12 double sided DVDs, cardboard sleeves for the discs inside of a larger carton, and so much material to sample & choose from that if a movie stinks, let it. Just move on to another title and let fate take you where it will. For $.50 cents apiece the movies are allowed to stink and the DVD transfers be somewhat sub-par: The collection very easily pays for itself just by being so darn watchable. I highly recommend taking a chance, and Mill Creek did a wonderful follow up with their '5O DRIVE-IN CLASSICS' collection too. Someone working there knows what they are doing.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
On a 1 to 10 scale, this collection is rated: 4.2, April 14, 2007
To all fans of blood-by-the-bucket cinema, monsters, ghouls and gore:
The CHILLING CLASSICS 50 MOVIE PACK was made JUST for you! These drive-in theater spectaculars are certain to amaze, the "special effects" dazzle, and the bizarre stories keep you entertained for many a day. Watch 'em with someone you'd love to squeeze when things get gruesome.
The averaged-out rating for this box set was determined from data gathered at a film-intensive website. User polling numbers (on a 1 to 10 scale) rate CHILLING CLASSICS at: 4.2.
The alphabetized program list below includes individual poll scores, original theatrical titles (where indicated), country of origin (if other than USA), years of release and prominent actors for each film.
(3.9) The Alpha Incident (1978) - Stafford Morgan/John F. Goff/Ralph Meeker (in support)
(6.7) Bad Taste (New Zealand-1987) - Terry Potter/Peter Jackson
(6.1) A Bell From Hell (Spain/France-1973) - Renaud Verley/Viveca Lindfors
(5.1) The Blancheville Monster ("Horror") (Italy/Spain-1963) - Gerard Tichy/Joan Hills
(4.5) The Bloody Brood (Canada/USA-1959) - Jack Betts/Barbara Lord/Peter Falk
(6.8) A Bucket Of Blood (1959) - Dick MillerBarboura Morris/Ed Nelson (in support)
(3.8) Cathy's Curse (France/Canada-1977) - Alan Scarfe/Beverly Murray
(4.0) Christmas Evil ("You Better Watch Out") (1980) - Brandon Maggart/Jeffrey DeMunn
(2.2) The Cold ("The Game") (1984) - Tom Blair/Carol Perry
(4.3) Crypt Of The Living Dead (USA/Spain-1973) - Andrew Prine/Patty Shepard/Mark Damon
(3.0) Deadtime Stories (1986) - Scott Valentine/Nicole Picard
(5.1) Death Rage (Italy-1976) - Yul Brynner/Martin Balsam
(7.8) Deep Red (Italy-1975) - David Hemmings/Daria Nicolodi
(3.3) The Demon (S Africa/Netherlands-1979) - Jennifer Holmes/Cameron Mitchell
(3.4) The Demons Of Ludlow (1983) - Paul Von Hausen/Stephanie Cushna
(4.4) The Devil's Hand (1962) - Linda Christian/Robert Alda
(4.4) Driller Killer (1979) - Abel Ferrara/Carolyn Marz
(1.7) Drive-In Massacre (1976) - Bruce Kimball/Adam Lawrence
(4.4) Dr. Tarr's Torture Dungeon ("Mansion Of Madness") (Mexico-1972) - Claudio Brook/Ellen Sherman
(5.3) Funeral Home (Canada-1980) - Kate Hawtrey/Lesleh Donaldson
(5.5) The Ghost (Italy-1963) - Barbara Steele/Peter Baldwin
(5.3) Gothic (UK-1986) - Gabriel Byrne/Julian Sands/Natasha Richardson
(5.2) Hands Of A Stranger (1962) - Paul Lukather/Joan Harvey/Sally Kellerman (minor role)
(4.8) Haunts (1977) - May Britt/Cameron Mitchell/Aldo Ray
(6.2) Horror Express (UK/Spain-1973) - Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing
(2.2) Horrors Of Spider Island (W Ger/Yugoslavia-1960) - Alexander D'Arcy/Barbara Valentin
(4.6) House Of The Dead ("Alien Zone") (1978) - John Ericson/Ivor Francis
(6.2) I Bury The Living (1958) - Richard Boone/Theodore Bikel
(2.3) Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966) - John Lupton/Narda Onyx
(4.6) Lady Frankenstein (Italy-1971) - Joseph Cotten/Rosalba Neri
(3.9) The Legend Of Big Foot (1976) - Ivan Marx/Peggy Marx
(5.8) Man In The Attic (1953) - Jack Palance/Constance Smith/Francis Bavier
(2.7) Medusa (UK/Greece-1973) - George Hamilton/Cameron Mitchell
(3.0) Memorial Valley Massacre (1988) - John Kerry/Mark Mears/Cameron Mitchell (in support)
(6.0) Messiah Of Evil ("Dead People") (1973) - Michael Greer/Royal Dano/Elisha Cook Jr. (in support)
(3.3) Metamorphosis (Italy/USA-1990) - Gene LeBrock/Catherine Baranov
(2.4) The Milpitas Monster (1975) - Paul Frees/Douglas Hagdohl/'Crazy George' Henderson
(5.3) Naked Massacre ("Born For Hell") (W Ger/Canada/France/Itly-1976) - Mathieu Carrière/Debra Berger
(2.3) Oasis Of The Zombies (France-1983) - Manuel Gelin/Jeff Montgomery
(3.2) Panic (Italy/Spain-1976) - David Warbeck/Janet Agren
(2.5) Revenge Of Doctor X ("The Double Garden") (USA/Japan-1970) - James Craig/James Yagi
(3.4) Scream Bloody Murder (1973) - Fred Holbert/Leigh Mitchell
(5.0) Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974) - Patrick O'Neal/James Patterson/John Carradine (in support)
(4.2) Sisters Of Death (1977) - Arthur Franz/Claudia Jennings
(3.3) Slashed Dreams (1975) - Peter Hooten/Robert Englund/Rudy Vallee/James Keach
(2.7) The Snake People (Mexico/USA-1971) - Boris Karloff/Julissa
(2.3) Track Of The Moon Beast (1976) - Chase Cordell/Leigh Drake
(6.4) Virus (Japan-1980) - George Kennedy/Bo Svenson/Edward James Olmos (minor role)
(2.4) War Of The Robots (1978) - Antonio Sabato/Yanti Somer
(3.4) The Witches' Mountain (Spain-1972) - Patty Shepard/Cihangir Gaffari
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