Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Doomsday Done Right..., January 12, 2008
Another Midnite Movie double feature masterpiece! CHOSEN SURVIVORS concerns a group of eleven men and women chosen (by the government) to be the ones who wait out WWIII. Yep, they get to repopulate the planet! Luckily, our beloved elected officials have thought of everything, sending these folks deep beneath the earth. Once there, they are greeted by a pre-recorded message telling them that the world has been destroyed. Tensions start to build as each person tries to comprehend what has happened. Unfortunately, things go badly, as a massive swarm of vampire bats somehow infiltrate the underground facility, hungry for the red stuff! Richard Jaeckel (Grizzly, Day Of The Animals, The Dark) is the military engineer. Bradford Dillman (Bug, Piranha) is the psychiatrist who just might know something the others don't. Jackie Cooper (Superman 1 and 2) is the slimy corporate executive of the bunch. CS is a nice claustrophobic thriller. THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING is sort of the british version of TARGET EARTH. The movie opens with a train crashing, a plane plummeting from the sky, etc. It seems that some alien force has unleashed poison gas on mankind! Soon, a few survivors find each other and attempt to make sense of it all. Our heroes are hunted by lumbering, annoyingly slow robots. Also, some re-animated zombies w/ eyes like boiled eggs are shambling around. Watch for Dennis Price (Horror Hospital, Tower Of Evil) as a sneaky jerk with selfish plans of his own. Both of these films are quite re-watchable. A terror-ific double bill...
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Don't forget the "second feature"!, March 1, 2008
It seems like many of the reviewers of this release have concentrated on "Chosen Survivors" in their comments. I'd just like to put in a plug for "The Earth Dies Screaming" as the movie here that I liked better. (Admittedly, an awful title if one wanted the film to be taken seriously).
A movie directed by Terence Fisher cannot fail to be of interest to genre fans. Dumb title aside, the plot is reminiscent of The Day of the Triffids; I actually find this film as good if not better than the 60's version of that. All in all, a sort of Triffids meets Village of the Damned meets Target Earth. And I can't say enough for the demo-quality black & white transfer. I know I'll be returning to this film often, something I can't say about "Chosen Survivors".
If you like 50's-60's sci-fi, do treat yourself to this set! (Four stars for "Earth", two for "Survivors" is what is behind my overall three-star rating.)
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another great set in the Midnite Movies line, August 7, 2007
The Earth Dies Screaming and Chosen Survivors may not be anywhere near the greatest sci fi movies ever made, but I have to thank Fox for making them available to rabid horror/sci fi movie fans like me who want to see and own just about everything from the classic drive-in era of the 50s through the 70s. The Midnight Movies line is always well done, with movies picked to fit together as double features, very nice prints of the films (if usually lacking extras like trailers, commentary, etc.), and attractive, suitably retro cover art. This one is no exception - film and audio quality leave nothing to complain about, and they are presented in their proper ratios. Neither film was ever officially released on any home video format, so it's nice to see them available at long last. Of the two films, The Earth Dies Screaming is the better (despite the silly title) in sort of a Night of the Living Dead precursor kind of way, and in keeping with the generally good quality of British sci-fi from the 50s & 60s. I would rather have seen it paired with more suitable 60s Brit sci-fi companions: the rarely seen 1965 Invasion and/or the underrated 1963 Unearthly Stranger (both more in-line with this film), but I don't know if Fox owns the rights to either of those films. As for Chosen Survivors, it's good cheesy fun - kind of TV movie-ish, but with a decent cast and enjoyable premise. Note to Fox: please keep these Midnight Movies coming. And since you released The Quatermass Xperiment and Burn Witch Burn in this series on VHS only just prior to the DVD era, how about Midnite Movie DVDs of those two excellent films?
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