31 Days of Horror, Vol. 2
Attack of the Killer B’s is our unabashed celebration of the quirky crazed horror movies you hate to admit you love! These B’s (and many more) have transcended their B-movie-ness to become permanent fixtures in our collective imaginations. For the uninitiated, B-movies were originally made to fill the second half of a double feature in theaters. Typically shorter, lower in budget and showcasing less expensive talent, a "B" could break out of rigid genre formulas to create fun and enduring entertainment that's still enjoyed today.
So, without further ado, join us now for the second weekly installment of our "31 Days of Horror" series as we delve into this cinematic trove of the campy and cult classics from the Warner Bros. Film Library!
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Although it was not initially made as a B-film, this Beast spawned an era of atomic-age creature features down to the present day. When an experimental atomic blast in the Arctic frees a 140 million-year-old dinosaur from the ice, the humongous beast heads undersea to New York, raining radioactive devastation on the terrified city. This screen adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story features Ray Harryhausen's (Sinbad films, 1981’s Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts and Mighty Joe Young, to name just a select few) first time wielding total control over special effects. On October 27, along with Mighty Joe Young, this cult classic arrives on Blu-ray for the first time.
The Cyclops (1956)
Writer/director Bert I. Gordon (Beginning of the End, The Amazing Colossal Man) masterminds the menace behind a woman's dark odyssey into the wilds of Mexico in search of her missing aviator fiancé. Instead of finding her lost love, she and her three male companions are accosted by behemoth bugs, giant battling lizards, and a 25' tall Cyclops who will stop at nothing to protect his radioactive turf. Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man) co-stars as a wheeler-dealer who'd just love to become a uranium millionaire—no matter the danger to the rest of the expedition.
Budget film impresario William Castle began his historic run of slickly promoted horror/suspense thrillers with this plot-twister that offered to insure its audience against death from fright with Lloyds of London. We may not be able to extend you the same offer, but think you will enjoy this tale of a man who must race against the clock to save his buried alive offspring—a victim of the same psychopath who killed his spouse and her sister!
Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1958)
B-Queen Allison Hayes stars in this enduring classic of 1950s science fiction as a wealthy young woman, trapped in a loveless marriage to a philandering husband. The joke’s on him when she exacts a terrible vengeance after being exposed to radiation from an alien UFO which causes her to grow into a 50-foot-tall monster. There's no guilt involved with this femme noir pleasure!
Wild, Wild Planet (1965)
Taking place in the distant future of 2015, any who saw this classic Italian-made B upon its first release 50 years ago is sure to look around today in a constant state of disappointment that we don’t have the ability to miniaturize people or that the skies aren’t yet filled with hover cars. (Which leads to the question we all have to this day: Why do hover cars have wheels?). With the currently mastered DVD from the Warner Archive Collection, you can see the wires the astronauts are suspended from better than ever! Wild, Wild Planet is perfect for those who like their cheese with an extra bit of Parmesan!
The Frozen Dead (1966)
What do Dana Andrews, Nazis on ice, murder, mad science and heads that wouldn't die have in common? The answer is in this decidedly B sci-fi horror-fest. A fugitive Nazi doc has been unsuccessfully trying to defrost the Third Reich's finest warriors who were put on ice during the closing days of WWII. Unfortunately, his innocent ingénue of a daughter comes home earlier than expected with a buxom school chum in tow just as his former Nazi bosses pay a surprise call. Horror, not hijinks ensue. Although this entry from writer/director/producer Herbert J. Lederer was released in black-and-white for budgetary reasons, the film was originally shot—and is now presented—in eye-popping color via the Warner Archive Collection!
The Green Slime (1968)
After completing a perilous mission to blow up a huge asteroid headed directly to Earth, the “astronuts" return to their space station unaware a bit of ooze from the planetoid has clung to a crewman’s uniform. Aboard the station, the goo transforms into a giant monster that feeds on electricity, mutating into more monsters, killing everything in its path. Can our heroes stop the slime before it gets to Earth? This bizarre Japanese/American co-production was directed by Quentin Tarantino-favorite, Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale) with a psychedelic theme song composed by Charles Fox (Barbarella). The world would be a far bleaker and joyless place without marvels like this.
Night of the Lepus (1972)
"Attention! Attention! Ladies and gentlemen, attention! There is a herd of killer rabbits headed this way and we desperately need your help!" When a research scientist and his wife inject a hormone into a rabbit in an attempt to exterminate the local bunny population, the hare goes astray and breeds an army of "super rabbits" that terrorizes the community. The formerly cuddly bunnies soon grow to enormous proportions and, in order to facilitate their size, develop a taste for animal protein—and that means big trouble for the local slow-moving human population. Starring Janet Leigh, Stuart Whitman and DeForest Kelley.
Wicked, Wicked (1973)
Presented in IN ANAMORPHIC DUO-VISION!!! What's Duo-Vision? It's TWO SEPARATE IMAGES projected AT THE SAME TIME! Think split-screen but with...no, that's about it. Film and TV journeyman Richard L. Bare (Cheyenne, Green Acres) writes and directs this tongue-in-cheek slasher with a twisted gimmick worthy of William Castle. With DUO-VISION, the audience experiences the terror as both the hunter and the hunted—in split screen! Shot on location at San Diego's spectacular Hotel del Coronado, Wicked, Wicked takes us inside the lives of staff, residents, and visitors to the hotel, including an orphaned handyman, a loose lounge singer, a haunted ex-cop, a feckless hotel manager, a faded starlet and a desperate drug mule. One of them is a killer, and more than one will become a victim.
Killer Party (1986)
After a few false starts and a special appearance by '80s hair metal titans White Sister, this Canuxploitation classic really gets rolling. Three sorority pledges are tasked with ensuring that the gals of Sigma Alpha Pi throw a killer party at their university’s abandoned fraternity house. Unfortunately, a vengeful spirit decides to take the killer part quite literally. Killer Party delights in throwing curveballs at the viewer before settling in for the slash and bash.
Also be sure to check out more from our "31 Days of Horror" series
Volume 1: Horror-fying Oscar Winning Actors