Looking for something fun and funny to watch on a rainy Saturday afternoon? Grab some popcorn and a cold soda and curl up on the couch for some campy B-movie Sci Fi! If you like cheese on your popcorn like I do, you won’t need it. The fromage factor is strong in Night of the Blood Beast (1958) and Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959).
I know! You’re immediately asking yourself which one of these films from legendary B-Movie producer Roger Corman should I watch first? Once you pick up this new release of Night of the Blood Beast (1958)—with an extensive restoration, a new 4K scan from original 35mm archival elements—and Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)—newly restored in HD—which became available on Blu-ray and DVD Nov. 12, in a special collector’s two-disc edition from Film Masters, it’s going to be a tough decision. Ultimately, it comes down to this: how much do you want to know about the people that get killed by these creatures? Yes, this gruesome twosome of creature features have different approaches in how they establish and subsequently eliminate characters from the stories.
Do I need to write spoiler alert here? I mean, come on people. Who can’t figure out what’s going to happen?
In Night of the Blood Beast, we don’t get to know our characters too well. Though we don’t really need to as they are familiar to anyone who has ever watched a science-fiction film from that era. Astronaut Maj. John Corcoran (Michael Emmet) is returning from what was clearly a very important mission in space when something goes wrong, and his ship (I use the term loosely) crashes. At first examination, John is dead, but his body refuses to decompose. Why? He’s got dancing sea horses inside of him! Well, when you see it on the screen, you tell me what it looks like.
When Dave and the ship are recovered and taken back to the base, we meet the rest of the potential victims. There are two doctors (John Bear and Angela Greene). Dr. Julie Benson is John’s fiancé, so, she’s got mixed emotions about the status of her husband to be. He’s kind of alive. The base is now conveniently cut off from the rest of the world just as they discover that there was something else on the ship with John, and it seems a little upset.
The monster is very funny looking, and familiar to those who saw the Corman-directed classic, Teenage Cave Man. The way that the alien creature is eventually able to communicate with the humans is too good to share, but it happens, and you need to see it. Eventually we lose a few characters and some live unhappily ever after.
Night of the Blood Beast will leave you with more questions than answers, but at a run time of only 62 minutes, there is enough fun here to make it worthwhile.
Though it also comes in at 62 minutes, there is far more character development in Attack of the Giant Leeches, and less time with the creatures. Some may say that sucks. Oh, come on, who didn’t see that pun coming? They’re Giant Leeches!
It is the character development and performances of Bruno VeSota, Yvette Vickers, and Michael Emmet that exceed Sci Fi B-movie expectations. Their Tennessee Williamsesque subplot is well acted and well executed.
While our classic rock-jawed game warden hero Steve Benton (Ken Clark) is out in the Florida swamp looking for creatures and missing town folk with his girlfriend Nan Greyson (Jan Shepard), there is a love triangle going on that is far more entertaining. Before I get to that. Yes, the game warden takes his girlfriend out into the swamp with him. No explanation as to why, other than the possibility of using her as bait for the Giant Leeches.
So, Dave (VeSota) has somehow landed himself quite the vixen (former Playboy Playmate Vickers) for a wife. Unfortunately, she is more interested in Dave’s best friend Cal (Emmet). When Dave finds them together, he chases them into the swamp and, well, I’m guessing you know what happens.
What Attack of the Giant Leeches gains in storytelling and acting, it loses in monsters. We simply don’t get enough of them, and they are horribly lacking when compared to the effective sets and subsequent atmosphere created by director Bernard L. Kowalski and his team. It’s a couple of guys in hefty bags! We never find out where they came from, but we know where they went.
This new release includes great special features including a 4×3 presentation of Night of the Blood Beast (1.37:1); a new documentary on director Bernard Kowalski; Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episodes of both films; 8mm silent digest version of Night of the Blood Beast; full-length commentaries by Tom Weaver and the Weaver Players; Yvette Vickers still gallery from the private collection of Weaver; re-cut trailer of both films using restored elements; publicity slideshow of both films, courtesy of Mike Barnum; a before/after film restoration comparison of Night of the Blood Beast; and a full-color, inserted booklet with essays by Weaver. Captions are included for the features, documentary, and commentaries.
This new release of Roger Corman special collectors set—a creepy creature double feature receives Ron’s Recommendation! It’s just in time for Thanksgiving and these two turkeys are sure to please the whole family! This is just good stuff and with the bonus of watching the MST3K take on the two films, well, you’ll be smiling through Christmas with monster mayhem merriment! I’d write more but this is the fourth Corman collectors set that Film Masters has put out, and I need to go find the other three. Enjoy!
