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Ghost Canyon

'Killer Creature Features: 50 Movie MegaPack'
(Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Lon Chaney Sr., Lon Chaney Jr., Telly Savalas, Jack Nicholson, Raymond Burr and more! / 10-Disc DVD + Digital / NR / 2016 / Mill Creek Entertainment)

Overview: From maniacal monsters to the living dead, this killer collection of classic movies offers a bevvy of blood-thirsty creatures guaranteed to scare and delight horror hounds of all ages.

DVD Verdict: This stunning collection of 50 classic crime story movies spread over 10 discs is like Heaven on a stick for someone like me! A lover of old school creature flicks, in general, and someone who, once settled on the couch, doesn't like to have to get up to change movies, these 50 movies have kept me couch-bound for well over a week - and I have loved every single second of it!

OK, well, as I can't go over every single title here, obviously, I will however discuss in detail my Top 5 from the collection. I'll start with 'Attack Of The Giant Leeches' (1959), starring Ken Clark, Yvette Vickers, and Jan Shepard, a backwoods game warden and a local doctor discover that giant leeches are responsible for disappearances and deaths in a local swamp, but the local police don't believe them.

Trust me, there's just enough of a story and an almost sensible scientific rationale to the proceedings to make this film an absolutely entertaining hour - though it IS offset by cheesy monster costumes reminiscent of DC Comics' Starro the Conqueror ... which is truly excellent fun to behold here today!

In 'Indestructible Man' (1956), starring Lon Chaney Jr., Max Showalter, and Marian Carr, scientific experiments accidentally revive an executed criminal and make him impervious to harm, prompting him to seek revenge on his former partners.

This film is to me what 'The Wizard of Oz' is to most others - a warm fuzzy! Having grown up around Los Angeles, I thought this film was based on a true story when I first saw it as a kid. It has a gritty, real-time feel to it, and Casey Adams' narration is obviously based on Jack Webb's for "Dragnet." In fact, this film feels like an Outer Limits version of a Dragnet episode!

Next up is 'Nosferatu' (1922), starring Max Schreck, Greta Schröder, and Ruth Landshof. Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife in this classic cult horror film.

What you may not know though is when Dracula was first put on sale for movie rights, one of the first men to grab it was F.W.Murnau - one of the most of the famous German directors of his time. By the time word got back to them about using the rights of the name and story line of Dracula (owned by the rights of Florence's widow) Murnau had already started production on the film. So to get around it they cut out the name Dracula and replaced it with Count Orlok, Jonathan Harker became Hutter and Van Helsing became Professor Bulwer; Orlock stalks the gothic streets of Bremen instead of Vistorian London.

What is so different from 'Nosferatu' and many of the others films of the time was that most of the film was shot on actually locations around Eastern Europe. Indeed, the production company hardly used any studio sets. What makes the most haunting feature though is the sense of realism and the expressionism (most evident in the interiors of Orlok's Castle) that gives the film its hypnotic visual power.

In 'The Screaming Skull' (1958), starring John Hudson, Peggy Webber, and Russ Conway, a newly married couple arrives at the home of the husband's late wife, where the gardens have been maintained by a gardener faithful to the dead woman's memory. Soon, eerie events lead the new wife to think she's losing her mind.

Here, well sure, the plot itself is good enough - the ghost of a man's first wife haunts his new wife in their super-large house - but the film has a lot of great horror elements that work in its favor: the big house, the creepy house grounds, the grave on the grounds, the path through the woods area, the "odd" person (the gardener), the howling wind, the noisy windows, the scary painting, and much more! Especially the skull that keeps on showing up all over the place, of c(o)urse!

Lastly, it has to be 'The Giant Gila Monster' (1959), starring Don Sullivan, Fred Graham, and Lisa Simone. A giant lizard terrorizes a rural Texas community with a heroic teenager attempting to destroy the creature. [Spoiler] - I remember as a kid watching any number of TV shows and movies of the 1950's in which nitroglycerin was a major factor in the outcome of a story. With four quarts of nitro just hanging around, young Chase manages to steer his souped up hot rod into the path of the looming monster to insure a successful and fiery finale! They just don't make movies like this any more - sadly.

All 50 Films Included in this Collection:
Alien Contamination (1980) 97 Min.
Alien Prey (1977) 85 Min.
Attack Of The Giant Leeches (1959) 62 Min.
Attack Of The Monsters (1969) 82 Min.
Beast From Haunted Cave (1959) 73 Min.
Beast Of The Yellow Night (1971) 87 Min.
Blood Tide (1982) 84 Min.
Bride Of The Gorilla (1951) 66 Min.
Creature From The Haunted Sea (1961) 75 Min.
Curse Of The Headless Horseman (1972) 75 Min.
Destroy All Planets (1968) 90 Min.
Dogs Of Hell (1983) 89 Min.
Eegah (1962) 90 Min.
Gamera The Invincible (1966) 86 Min.
Grave Of The Vampire (1972) 89 Min.
Horror Of The Zombies (1974) 89 Min.
Horrors Of Spider Island (1960) 75 Min.
Indestructible Man (1956) 71 Min.
It's Alive! (1969) 80 Min.
Killers From Space (1954) 71 Min.
Monster From A Prehistoric Planet (1967) 90 Min.
Monstroid (1980) 98 Min.
Moon Of The Wolf (1972) 74 Min.
Mutant (1984) 99 Min.
Night Fright (1967) 75 Min.
Night Of The Blood Beast (1958) 62 Min.
Night Of The Living Dead (1968) 96 Min.
Nosferatu (1922) 80 Min.
Rattlers (1976) 82 Min.
Revolt Of The Zombies (1936) 65 Min.
She Beast (1966) 74 Min.
Snake People (1971) 90 Min.
Snowbeast (1977) 86 Min.
Sound Of Horror (1966) 91 Min.
The Alien Factor (1978) 80 Min.
The Beast Of Yucca Flats (1961) 54 Min.
The Fury Of The Wolf Man (1972) 84 Min.
The Galaxy Invader (1985) 80 Min.
The Giant Gila Monster (1959) 74 Min.
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1923) 101 Min.
The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960) 73 Min.
The Monster Walks (1932) 57 Min.
The Phantom Of The Opera (1925) 93 Min.
The Screaming Skull (1958) 68 Min.
The Snake Woman (1961) 68 Min.
The Snow Creature (1954) 71 Min.
The Vampires' Night Orgy (1974) 109 Min.
The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Woman (1971) 86 Min.
Voodoo Black Exorcist (1974) 88 Min.
Werewolf Woman (1976) 98 Min.

These are all Full Screen Presentations (4:3) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

www.MillCreekEnt.com





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