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| Cult Camp Classics 1 - Sci-Fi Thrillers (Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman 1958 / Giant Behemoth / Queen of Outer Space) | 
| Directors: Edward Bernds, Douglas Hickox, Eugene Lourie
Actors: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, Dave Willock, Laurie Mitchell, Lisa Davis
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $19.99
You Save: $9.99 (33%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $18.76
Avg. Customer Rating:  (19 reviews)
Sales Rank: 26045
Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD
Running Time: 236 minutes
Number Of Items: 3
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD114521D
UPC: 085391145219
EAN: 0085391145219
ASIN: B000OHZJGO
Release Date: June 26, 2007
Theatrical Release Date: March 3, 1959
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/26/2007
Amazon.com
Featuring three enjoyably "awful" movies from 1958-59, Cult Camp Classics, Vol. 1: Sci-Fi Thrillers turns nuclear radiation into cause for celebration, especially if you enjoy movies with extra cheese. With the Cold War in full swing and society's worries blamed on the threat of nuclear annihilation, sci-fi buffs (like future filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and John Landis) could see a new monster movie almost every week. Many of them came from Allied Artists, the low-budget B-movie production company (formerly Monogram) that rose from the ghetto of "poverty row" distribution to produce countless exploitation thrillers between 1946 and 1979. The '50s saw the rise of nuclear monster thrillers, and Allied popularized the trend with its own menagerie of giant, irradiated creatures. The key to Allied's success was its crowd-pleasing combination of exploitable ingredients, and what better way to combine sci-fi, sex, and horror than to unleash a towering babe with an attitude problem? That's exactly what Allied did with Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, a now-classic campfest in which a spurned wife (Allison Hayes) is irradiated by a glowing alien space-ball, grows to a height of (you guessed it), and exacts revenge upon her cheating husband (William Hudson). A year before she bared her shapely backside as Playboy's Playmate of the Month for July 1959, Yvette Vickers costars as Hudson's scheming mistress, giving the film an extra boost of sex appeal. With bargain-priced effects including a giant floppy-fingered hand, hilarious process shots, and cheesy models destroyed by the world's biggest bitch (for whom it is still possible to feel some sympathetic compassion), the movie's not as good as its celebrated poster (which now adorns movie-geek T-shirts around the world), but it's still a lot of fun. The Giant Behemoth was director Eugene Lourie's obvious attempt to capitalize on his 1953 hit The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, starring a gigantic paleosaurus rising from the Atlantic with a bad case of atomic radiation. London is the monster's eventual stomping ground, but the lumbering lizard is camera-shy for nearly an hour; you can imagine Beaver Cleaver and his pals groaning through seemingly endless scenes of talky exposition, anxiously awaiting the climactic stop-motion creature effects supervised by the legendary Willis (King Kong) O'Brien. Scoring much higher on the camp-o-meter, and far more entertaining, is the cult classic Queen of Outer Space, which borrows props and costumes from Forbidden Planet, Flight to Mars and World Without End for its outrageously kitschy plot about manly astronauts who crash-land on Venus and discover an underground society of mini-skirted space-babes. Unfortunately the disfigured Venusian queen (Laurie Mitchell) is a man-hater supreme, so the spectacularly costumed Zsa Zsa Gabor (as a Venusian scientist, no less) leads a revolution against her. With a screenplay by Twilight Zone veteran Charles Beaumont and a story credited (almost incredibly) to legendary playwright/screenwriter Ben Hecht (who surely never suspected his idea would eventually yield this movie), Queen of Outer Space is exactly what you'd expect it to be: So bad it's good, and more than worthy of inclusion in this irresistibly priced triple-feature set. --Jeff Shannon On the DVDs
Three feature-length commentaries accompany the sci-fi thrillers in Cult Camp Classics, Vol. 1. Two of the commentaries are hosted by Tom Weaver, a noted authority on sci-fi and horror films whose historical acumen is more casual than academic: While sharing the commentary on Queen of Outer Space with the film's titular star Laurie Mitchell (who became a mainstay at fan conventions at Weaver's invitation), Weaver fails to explain how the production came to use props and costumes from the classic Forbidden Planet, and that's a glaring oversight. He compensates as an amiable interviewer with the equally good-natured Mitchell, and it's a treat to hear them enthusiastically reading unfilmed scenes from the film's original screenplay. For the commentary on Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, Weaver is joined by the film's comely costar Yvette Vickers (another regular at sci-fi conventions), and their combined anecdotes provide an adequate oral history of this camp-classic production. Star Wars veterans and special-effects masters Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett provide the loose-and-lazy commentary on The Giant Behemoth, which consists mostly of Muren making sarcastic jokes about the film's glacial pacing. It's hardly the authoritative commentary that some fans might've hoped for, but Muren and Tippett are well-versed in special-effects history (Muren even owns the original stop-motion Behemoth creature model), and they share an infectious enthusiasm for the films that inspired them to excel in their profession. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 A MUST HAVE SCHLOCK FEST!!! June 22, 2008
Three of the most notorious, (hard to find on vhs) sci-fi camp classics from the 50's packaged together in one set makes this purchase an absolute neccessity for baby boomers who grew up on this stuff and lovers of low-budget trash!
Saw 50 FOOT WOMAN at the theater and as a child believed that the transparency of the spaceship and the alien was on purpose to show how he can disappear into the desert at will and that Nancy Archer became the same due to radiation! This one is my favorite of the three.
Saw GIANT BEHEMOTH at the theater and thought it very well-made with good acting, interesting locations and scary situations. Certainly not as juvenile as to what I was used to at the time. It's still the best of the three.
Saw QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE on tv a bazzillion times during the 60's and still love it's wackiness and lack of logic. The color here is just great and the film comes off like a poor Star Trek episode. This one is certainly the most fun of the three.
Great prints, great packaging and a great bargain!
Buy and enjoy...You really can't go wrong here.
Three classics in one package - how can you beat it? May 5, 2008
This box set is what I have been waiting for for a long time, I have seen one in a set with others but I have never seen 3 of my favorite 50's sci-fi movies in one set before so I had to grab it:
ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN: definitely one woman you don't wanna piss off, the story of a woman whose hubby is unfaithful and plans on killing her but instead, leaves her out in the desert where they run into a UFO with a giant in it, the hubby takes off and leaves the wife behind, the giant alien contaminates the wife and...well, you can guess what happens next and I'm not gonna spoil it for you.
THE GIANT BEHEMOTH: In the traditional "Dinosaurs that come out of the water and romp all over the city" movies...Japan had Godzilla, The US had The Beast from 20,000 fathoms, and london has THE GIANT BEHEMOTH, one of my favorite childhood movies of this genre, this creature, like his predecessors, is radioactive so naturally, scientists must find a way to do away with this creature before he destroys mankind.
QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE: a no brainer, campy classic, no thrills, no chills, just fun to watch, my sister loves this movie and so do I, probably because the case is predominately women and nice looking ones at that, this is just 90 minutes of fun which shouldn't be missed.
You can't go wrong with any of these movies, they are from a time that has long since vanished except from your memories from a childhood that has...............LONG SINCE VANISHED unless you are like me and don't mind going back there once in awhile.
50's "B" movie fun! November 16, 2007
All three of these fall into the "So bad they're Good" catagory. "Attack" is my favorite of the three, the one I really bought the set for. Truly awful special effects (even by that era's standards) and a story that makes absolutely no sense (The Giant Alien apparently brings Allison Hayes home after they're encounter in the desert-- only how in the Hell did he know where she lived?) only add to the fun. "Behemoth" was actually quite good,though it pales in comparison to the classic "Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", which it is often compared to. As for "Queen"-- well,let's just say I watched it once, and then put it back in its case, never to be seen again!
Good dumb fun October 6, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In an older Simpson's episode, "camp" is defined by a character as something that is tragically ludicrous or ludicrously tragic, to which Homer responds, "Oh, like when a clown dies." No clowns die in Volume 1 of Warner Brother's Camp Classics, but this threesome of B-movies are definitely campy. By most standards - special effects, story, acting, direction - these are pretty weak films, but somehow, enough bads occasionally make a good.
This set is titled Sci-Fi Thrillers. Disc One is Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, which is definitely a cult classic, not a real classic. In it, Allison Hayes plays Nancy Archer, a wealthy woman whose trophy husband has started playing the field, leaving her to drink herself into oblivion. One night, she encounters a giant alien, but no one believes her. A second encounter somehow results in her growth to fifty or so feet, allowing her to dole out some much needed vengeance. The effects are truly cheesy (topped by a giant papier-mache hand), but it is entertaining, and some affectionate commentary adds some extra insight.
The second film is The Giant Behemoth. In this one, a huge radioactive lizard threatens the English coast. There's a lot of filler before anything good happens, but the highlight is the Behemoth's London rampage, mainly because of the special effects work of Willis O'Brien (of King Kong fame). Unfortunately, budget constraints limit this good stuff, and the rest of the story - filled with silly science and stiff acting - is poor enough to make this movie the weakest in the bunch. The commentary focuses more on The Giant Behemoth's flaws than its successes, but it does have an appreciation of Ray Harryhausen's effects work (which would need to be found in other movies).
Finally, there is Queen of Outer Space, which features Zsa Zsa Gabor at her acting peak, which is not very high. This movie has four (male) space explorers taken off-track and winding up stranded on Venus, which is actually has a pleasant climate and is populated only by women. The Queen of Venus is intent on destroying the Earth, and Gabor must lead a rebellion to stop her. This is more of a low-"A" movie than a B-film, with bright color and sets that look nice if not very realistic. (As a side note, the astronauts wear the exact same uniforms as in the classic Forbidden Planet.) This movie also has some good commentary.
Not every 1950s sci-fi movie was the same caliber as The Day the Earth Stood Still, Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Thing From Another World. Some of the bad ones should only be viewed on a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. Others, such as this trio, are more in the "so-bad-they're good" category. If you like classic cheesy science fiction, this is a fun set.
Great Classics September 12, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
All 3 are really great old (Classic) B-Movies. I can watch em over and over again. Thank's for the collection.
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