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A new era of the B-movie was born in the 1950s. While the term originally referred to the second film in a double feature that defined much of the moviegoing experience during the Golden Age of Hollywood, a 1948 landmark Supreme Court antitrust ruling against major studios’ monopolistic practices upended the way films were distributed. While the traditional double feature waned, the demands of the burgeoning drive-in theater market gave way to the rise in independent genre films.

Two such low-budget B-movies made a mark in 1959: The Giant Gila Monster and The Killer Shrews. Produced by radio broadcasting magnate Gordon McLendon and future Gunsmoke actor Ken Curtis, the sci-fi horror movies were shot back-to-back in under three months with much of the same crew before being distributed together.

Both films are directed by Ray Kellogg, who had no prior directing experience, but his visual effects work on the likes of...

The premiere release from Film Masters—the new vintage film restoration and distribution company, launched in June by industry veteran and film historian Phil Hopkins—is a two-disc collection featuring cult favorite The Giant Gila Monster with bonus film The Killer Shrews, which were originally released as a double-feature, drive-in bill in 1959.

Bloody Disgusting has learned that the Blu-ray & DVD will release on September 26.

The classic era of drive-in schlock was near its end at the time, but there remained a dedicated audience for this pair of no-budget howlers from director Ray Kellogg and producer Gordon McLendon.

The Giant Gila Monster (from a new 4k scan of 35mm, original film elements): When two teens disappear from a small Texas town, the locals think they’ve eloped. But soon it becomes clear that something much more sinister is afoot. And if a giant Gila monster isn’t enough for you,...