Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Horror
Rating: NR
Release Date: 16-OCT-2007
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19066 in DVD
• Brand: KATZMAN,SAM
• Released on: 2007-10-16
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .40 pounds
• Running time: 144 minutes

Amazon.com
The four Sam Katzman films included in his Icons of Horror Collection stand as testaments to the American atomic age, reflecting public terror and awe towards 1950s technology and the accomplishments made in science and medicine. Sam Katzman, an incredibly prolific B-movie producer whose expertise in horror and sci-fi resulted in collaborations with Ray Harryhausen (Jason and The Argonauts), originally masterminded several wonderful thrillers, classic archetypal examples for later films on similar topics. In this DVD set, two of the four films are painfully slow paced, but contain horror scenes that vibrantly combine horror, sci-fi and film noir. Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) catalogues a researching team's attempts to confiscate a diamond stash lodged on an abandoned ship in a harbor guarded by the living dead. Some foggy shots of zombified sailors, eternally guarding the gems as a curse for stealing them, provide chills if even for a few moments. The Giant Claw (1957) introduces the viewer to the age of alien invasions and military paranoia. Opening with a great shot of an Earth diorama orbiting in space, the film chronicles Mitchell MacAfee (Jeff Morrow), an electronics engineer who reports from his aircraft shadows of a large bird dive-bombing his plane. Sally Caldwell (Mara Corday) stands by at home base, continually ready for action. When one does manage to see this elusive shadow, the viewer can almost make out the giant avian claw that looks like a chicken foot. The two films that really make the collection are Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) and The Werewolf (1956), which reinvent the Frankenstein story to chronicle humans-turned-monster in the name of science. In Creature, Dr. Steigg (Gregory Gaye) has reanimated dead men with atomic energy by injecting their brains with radioactive material that exponentially increases their strength to kill normal humans. Great sequences show Dr. Chet Walker (Richard Denning), the heroic scientist hired by police, using a Geiger counter at crime scenes. Live-dead men with stitched up heads wandering stiffly around as a monster mafia, giving hearty doses of humor to this fantastic film. Likewise, The Werewolf features awesome footage of star, Duncan Marsh (Steven Ritch), turning into a wolf while managing to keep his well-tailored suit clean as he runs through the forest. During most of the film, Marsh is fleeing a well-intentioned Sheriff Haines (Don Megowan), and two villains, Dr. Emery Forrest (S. John Launer) and Dr. Morgan Chambers (George Lynn), who accidentally turn him into a wolf when experimenting with radioactive injections that would protect humans from radiation. All four films have the look and feel of the epic Universal movies like The Wolf Man, and The Mummy, and give historical context to buffs researching 1950s monster films. —Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews

Okay , so it took 50 years...
Most Boomers already know why they love these particular flicks, so I'll get right to the important stuff: The Giant Claw, The Werewolf and Zombies of Mora Tau are all in the Anamorphic widescreen format (Creature with the Atom Brain is fullscreen). All the prints are sharp with crisp soundtracks. This is really a long way from all the poor bootlegs and cable copies that many Boomers were forced to live with for so many decades.

Although these films are important to many who grew up with them, either seeing them during their first runs in the movies or later on Chiller Theater, some newer viewers may not see them in the same light (many younger people won't bother watching them for the simple fact that they're not in color). But then again, these newer viewers will never know of that magical time when these flicks were lighting up the huge screens in Movie Palaces and Drive-In theaters throughout the country.

It will be the true enthusiasts of this genre who will see this set as a home run, especially at these prices. Kill the lights, then hold tightly onto your honey and enjoy!

Rainy Saturdays and the Saturday Afternoon horror double feature
I'm still in the second childhood phase and looking for all the old movies I watched as a child. This collection features some of the movies that I watched on those long ago Saturdays. While not great they are very fun and in some cases very funny.
1.The Giant Claw= The last word on monster fx's. You can see the strings and the "bird" looks laughable, but the movie is still great fun if you let it be.
2.The Werewolf= An "atomic" twist on the old werewolf legend and really pretty good
3.Zombies Of Mora Tua= Silly and very funny.
4.The Creature With The Atom Brain= Brain dead fun
Not for all taste but some fun for anyone who loves these old cheesy movies like I do.

childhood nightmares
My dad took me to the movies back in the 1950's when "The Werewolf" and"Creature with the Atom Brain " were in their first run theatrical release. After seeing "Creature" this 8yr old boy was afraid to go to bed.
It haunted me for a long, long time. When I saw it again as an adult those childhood chills came right back. Glad these classics are getting a top notch release replacing the terrible copies made from poor prints.