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Jack Rabin and Irving Block were a couple of indie FX mavens whose works ranged from Night of the Hunter to Robot Monster. But one of their most offbeat creations was the giant alien robot Kronos, who wanted not Our Women but Our Energy. On its own terms it’s a pretty nifty little picture, with an emblematic 50s sci-fi cast.

The post Kronos appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Kino’s triple-threat Edgar Ulmer show has great commentaries plus HD debuts of his two ‘Texas’ movies, that likely have not been seen in their original widescreen aspect ratios since the 1960s. Ulmer’s first tale of a solo space invader has the pleasing look of a silent-era expressionist film. His take on a time travel paradox uses Air Force cooperation to project pilot Robert Clarke from 1959 to the far far future date of 2024 (ulp!). And Ulmer’s cut-rate invisible man is a master thief sprung from the pokey to help with a mad scheme to conquer the world — but the crook instead rushes to rob a bank! The excellent presentations will have special appeal for connoisseurs of exotic sci-fi thrillers.

Edgar G. Ulmer Sci-Fi Collection

The Man from Planet X, Beyond the Time Barrier, The Amazing Transparent Man

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1951-1960 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen, 1:37 Academy / 204 min.

Fondly remembered as a permanent resident on all-night movie channels, this patchwork concoction has just enough ‘good stuff’ to qualify as a fun monster show. Jim Davis’s stock-footage safari arrives just in time to be irrelevant to the fate of the title monsters; some good actors are along for what amounts to a picnic in Griffith Park’s Bronson Caverns. There’s still not a full accounting of who did what, special effects-wise. But Hey! The picture has stop-motion animation, which always guarantees viewer interest.

Monster from Green Hell

Blu-ray

The Film Detective

1957 / B&w with colorized sequence / 1:85 widescreen + 1:33 open matte / min. / Street Date March 8, 2022 / Available from The Film Detective / 24.95

Starring: Jim Davis, Robert Griffin, Joel Fluellen, Barbara Turner, Eduardo Ciannelli, Vladimir Sokoloff.

Cinematography: Ray Franklin

Production Designer: Ernst Fegté

Visual Effects: Louis DeWitt, Jack Rabin, Irving Block, Wah Chang, Jack Cosgrove, Gene Warren

Film Editor: Kenneth G. Crane...

Who Shot Barney? Or should we say, who is going to shoot Barney? Chalk up another excellent Noir Rescue by The Film Noir Foundation, the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Flicker Alley: Joan Leslie is a Broadway star in a group of ‘difficult’ actors, writers, lovers and cheats, trying to prevent a ‘repeat’ cycle of deception and murder. Richard Basehart makes a strong film debut as her confidante, a conflicted poet. The story twists tweak the noir format with supernatural content, almost like the ironic fantasies of The Twilight Zone. The choice extras double our interest in this very different noir.

Repeat Performance

Blu-ray + DVD

Flicker Alley

1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 93 min. / Street Date February 18, 2022 / Available from Flicker Alley / 39.95

Starring: Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie, Virginia Field, Tom Conway, Richard Basehart, Natalie Schafer, Benay Venuta, Ilka Grüning, Keefe Brasselle. John Ireland (narrator).

Cinematography: Lew W. O’Connell

Art Director: Edward C. Jewell...

The Wade Williams Collection yields another ’50s sci-fi notable, Monogram Pictures’ ambitious space travel movie filmed in glorious green-challenged Cinecolor. Cameron Mitchell and Arthur Franz sign up for a semi-suicidal space expedition, but instead of murderous Bat-Rat-Spider-Crabs, waiting for them on Mars is the glamorous, mini-skirted Marguerite Chapman. It’s core sci-fi fun from early in the Golden Era. The Film Detective adds a commentary, two new featurettes and an insert booklet; the film itself is lovingly restored to its original Cinecolor brilliance.

Flight to Mars

Blu-ray

The Film Detective

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 72 min. / Street Date July 20, 2021 / Available from The Film Detective / 24.95

Starring: Marguerite Chapman, Cameron Mitchell, Arthur Franz, Virginia Huston, John Litel, Morris Ankrum, Richard Gaines, Lucille Barkley, Robert Barrat, Russ Conway, Edward Earle, Everett Glass.

Cinematography: Harry Neumann

Production Designer: Ted Haworth

Film Editor, Associate Producer: Richard Heermance

Special Effects: Jack Cosgrove, Irving Block, Jack Rabin

Original Music:...

“Brace Yourself For A Shock!…200 Feet of Living Burning Horror!” Eugène Lourié’s second feature about an irate sea monster wrecking a city features sober eco-preaching, good performances by Gene Evans and André Morell, and several minutes of exciting stop-motion animation nirvana. One just needs to overlook a few lunkhead effects scenes and concentrate on the key Willis O’Brien / Pete Peterson material. It’s a Shock all right — do you prefer to be stepped on like a bug, or fried by a zillion volts of ‘projected radiation?’

The Giant Behemoth

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1959 / B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date January 22, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Gene Evans, André Morell, John Turner, Leigh Madison, Jack MacGowran, Maurice Kaufmann, Derren Nesbitt.

Cinematography: Ken Hodges

Production Design: Eugène Lourié

Special Visual Effects: Willis H. O’Brien, Pete Peterson, Phil Kellison, Jack Rabin, Irving Block, Louis DeWitt.

Original Music: Edwin Astley...

A Savant Article

CineSavant shows off an arcane observation: in 1957, scenes from a glossy CinemaScope Fox production directed by Raoul Walsh, were almost immediately re-purposed, with grandiose special effects added, for a landmark science fiction fantasy. It’s an opportunity to admire the resourceful artistry of Jack Rabin, Louis DeWitt and Irving Block, special effects professionals that did fine work but were seldom if ever considered for industry awards.

Back in the 1970s I picked up from Larry Edmunds’ Bookstore a copy of a one-shot special effects fan magazine that I think had been put together by the effects master/researcher Robert Skotak. The photo magazine lauded the efforts of a Hollywood effects partnership consisting of Jack Rabin, Irving Block and Louis DeWitt. Their names appeared on dozens of 1950s films, for their creative optical work — whatever enhancements might be needed, from simple title sequences to matte shots and even stop-motion animation when required.

Even lesser Abbott & Costello movies are still comedy gravy to the avid fans of the fast-talking duo. Their first film deal away from Universal yields a so-so production graced with a string of their patented old-time comedy routines. And the transfer beats anything we’ve yet seen.

The Noose Hangs High

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1948 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 77 min. / Street Date August 15, 2017 / available through ClassicFlix / 24.99

Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Joseph Calleia, Leon Errol, Cathy Downs, Mike Mazurki, Fritz Feld, Murray Leonard, Ellen Corby, Russell Hicks, James Flavin, Minerva Urecal, Fred Kelsey.

Cinematography: Charles Van Enger

Film Editor: Harry Reynolds

Assistant Director: Howard W. Koch

Original Music: Walter Schumann

Written by John Grant, Howard Harris from an earlier screenplay by Charles Grayson, Arthur T. Horman story by Julian Blaustein, Daniel Taradash, Bernard Feins

Produced and Directed by Charles Barton

A few famous movie comedy teams prospered with good will and parted with hugs,...

Jack Rabin and Irving Block were a couple of indie FX mavens whose works ranged from "Night of the Hunter" to "Robot Monster." But one of their most offbeat creations was the giant alien robot Kronos, who wanted not Our Women but Our Energy. On its own terms, it’s a pretty nifty little picture, with an emblematic '50s sci-fi cast.

Jack Rabin and Irving Block were a couple of indie FX mavens whose works ranged from Night of the Hunter to Robot Monster. But one of their most offbeat creations was the giant alien robot Kronos, who wanted not Our Women but Our Energy. On its own terms it's a pretty nifty little picture, with an emblematic 50s sci-fi cast.

From the pages of Deep Red in 1986, Joe Dante interviews a real monster’s monster.

It was 1986 and Godzilla had just made a comeback picture called Godzilla 85: The Legend Reborn.

He didn’t usually give interviews, due to his speech impediment, but the lure of a few drinks with an old pal (I directed him in my first picture, Hollywood Boulevard) got him to open up. I wouldn’t say he was bitter, exactly, but he’d been though a lot. I have no idea what he’s up to today, but I ran across this interview while cleaning out the garage, so here’s where his head was at 25 years ago…

I met with Godzilla at a Ginza sushi bar on a recent visit to Japan. Although in seemingly good health, he pretended not to remember me as the director of his only American picture of the past 30 years,...

In 2010 Shout! Factory delivered us stellar editions of some truly classic Roger Corman films. The best part? They have no signs of slowing down in 2011! That's right, kids, five more flicks are on the way on January 18th that are bound to bring a smile to your horror-loving face!

From the Press Release

Roger Corman’S Cult Classics: Sci-fi Classics Triple-feature Collector’S Edition 2-dvd Set

In Attack Of The Crab Monsters, a group of scientists become marooned on an island while investigating the disappearance of researchers who were looking into atomic activity in the Pacific. They quickly fall prey to giant, mutant crustaceans that have the ability to absorb the minds of their prey. Starring Russell Johnson (Gilligan’s Island), Richard Garland and Mel Welles (Little Shop Of Horrors). Attack Of The Crab Monsters is a Roger Corman Production. Produced and directed by Roger Corman; screenplay by Charles B. Griffith.

Jack Rabin and Irving Block were a couple of indie FX mavens whose works ranged from Night of the Hunter to Robot Monster. But one of their most offbeat creations was the giant alien robot Kronos, who wanted not Our Women but Our Energy. On its own terms it's a pretty nifty little picture, with an emblematic 50s sci-fi cast.