Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The Sam Katzman Boxset

The Sam Katzman Boxset

From Nebiroth99 at CHFB

The titles are confirmed as: The Giant Claw, The Werewolf, Zombies of Mora Tau, Creature With the Atom Brain - evidently, there is not going to be a fifth film about which there was much earlier speculation. There will also be a single episode of the Mysterious Island serial.

The release date is October 16th; the SRP is $24.96


From Tarco and Jim C from MFTV

Here's the latest from Fangoria.com:

THE SAM KATZMAN COLLECTION, containing THE GIANT CLAW, ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU, CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN and THE WEREWOLF (all making their DVDebuts, with the latter two entirely new to video) will present the features in 1.85:1 transfers; they were shot full-frame, but theater owners at the time were encouraged to project them at that dimension. “People like to make fun of Katzman’s films,” SPHE consultant Michael Schlesinger says, “but they’re generally quite well-made, given their budgets and schedules, and remain entertaining today. THE WEREWOLF, in particular, generates real poignancy in [Steven] Ritch’s plight; it’s not at all a standard wolfman movie. And the only thing wrong with GIANT CLAW is the hokey bird itself; had Ray Harryhausen done the effects, it would be considered a minor classic today. That Sam had the sense to hire great writers like [ATOM BRAIN’s Curt] Siodmak and [ZOMBIES’ Bernard] Gordon proves he took these things very seriously, no matter how far-fetched their premises may be.” Gordon, blacklisted at the time, was originally billed as Raymond T. Marcus; his real name has been restored for the packaging.

Also part of the package are the original trailers for all four films, plus bonus trailers, the monster-comedy shorts MIDNIGHT BLUNDERS and TERROR FACES MAGOO and Chapter 2 of Katzman’s 1951 serial version of MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. Schlesinger explains why the first installment isn’t included: “The first chapter is all exposition and frankly not very exciting. I thought it would be better to get right to the action. And in any event, it opens with a recap, plus everyone already knows the story from the 1961 Harryhausen version or the Jules Verne novel.” Retail price is $24.95.

Jim Clatterbaugh
Editor/Publisher MFTV
www.monstersfromthevault.com

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