Forbidden treasures

Cult Classics 20 Movie Pack (4 DVD) (Mill Creek Entertainment): They carried titles like "Chained For Life," "The Road to Ruin," "Child Bride" and "Reefer Madness." Even with the dramatic titles, they weren't dramas in the strict sense -- they were exploitation films of the '30s and '40s -- each a filmmaker's attempt to scare and sway his audience.
We laugh about them today. But they were no laughing matter back then, as seen in Mill Creek Entertainment's Cult Classics 20 Movie Pack, a fascinating budget-friendly four DVD set collecting 20 of these curios.
The films tackled subjects that were sometimes only whispered about back then. One could argue the films weren't for teaching, but for shock value. There's "Reefer Madness," the overly dramatic 1936 midnight-matinee cult favorite of recent years. The set also includes several other drug-related films: "Marihuana," "She Shoulda Said No," "The Marijuana Menace" and "The Cocaine Fiends," all from the mid-30s.
Other "shocking" subjects seen in the films include Siamese twins ("Chained For Life"), prostitution ("Slaves in Bondage," "Escort Girls") and infertility ("Test Tube Babies").
But maybe the most controversial film in the set is "Child Bride," a 1938 film starring Shirley Mills (who bears a slight resemblance to Shirley Temple) in a film about a teacher who tries to halt the practice of underage girls marrying older men. The film has what for its time -- and even now -- is quite a shocker -- a scene featuring a somewhat distant view of the young Mills swimming naked in a river -- and observed luridly by an older man from her town. It's surprising that such a scene would have been filmed in the '30s and one can only imagine the reaction it might have received from the public.
These films are available individually from other publishers, but this collection rounds up 20 of them in the most economic package we've seen. As with other releases by Mill Creek, the films aren't remastered. And purists may not be too happy about the company logos that pop up very briefly during each film.
But don't let that keep you from getting this set. It's a must for film history buffs, and film fans in general. It's entertainment and weirdness at the same time. We hope Mill Creek can dig up 20 more for a second set. It'll be worth it.
Short takes: Two other sets by Mill Creek are worth a mention. 150 Cartoon Classics is the biggest collection of public domain cartoons we've seen to date. It includes Popeye, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Felix the Cat, Betty Boop, Woody Woodpecker, Mutt and Jeff, Grampy, Little Lulu and many more. The cartoons appear to be grouped somewhat chronologically, with several black-and-white cartoons on the first disc, with color cartoons filling out the collection. Given the age of most of these cartoons, viewers will find a lack of political correctness they may be used to seeing in today's toons. Therefore, not all of these are for kids.
Mill Creek's Very Best of One Step Beyond (4pc) collects 50 episodes of this TV series, hosted by John Newland, which originally ran in the late '50s. Comparisons are often made with "The Twilight Zone," but there's a big difference between the two: While stories on "Zone" often dealt with fictional human stories punctuated with fantasy, "One Step Beyond" stories dealt with the paranormal based on real events like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the sinking of the Titanic. As with the cartoon collection, you'll find many DVDs of this material around, but this 50-episode box is by far the best for the money.


You can order "Cult Classics," "150 Cartoon Classics" or "The Best of 'One Step Beyond'" in our 50 Movie Pack Store in the right.

Public domain gold mine

How many movie and DVD fans tend to take for granted the incredible number of films and programming in the public domain on those bargain bin DVDs you often find in drug stores and discount houses?
If you like old B movies and obscure TV shows, as we do, they're no brainers. But even discriminating fans of this stuff can find some great DVDs out there.
The best collections of this stuff are put out by Mill Creek Entertainment. They've compiled box sets of programming in collections with four, 10, 20, 50 and 100 films in a package. The 100 film boxes retail for about $30 -- 3 cents a film!
So what do you get in these collections? You'll find a fairly complete selection of them here in our Movie Pack store, but we'll run down a few of them and rate them on a five-star basis:
Warriors 50 Movie Pack: A collection of sword-and-sandal films. Most appear to be Italian and therefore overdubbed, making this a great one for fans of "Mystery Science Theater." The box includes "Hercules Unchained" with Steve Reeves (but, strangely, no "Hercules," the first film in the series) and 13 other "Hercules" or "Son of Hercules" films, including the dreaded "Hercules Against the Moon Men." There's also "Cleopatra's Daughter," "Caesar the Conquerer" and "Atlas in the Land of Cyclops." This is a fun set, not a serious one. 12 discs. 2 1/2 stars.
Historic Classics 50 Movie Pack: A fairly solid set for those who aren't big fans of these films, since there are several good films included here, among them "The Jackie Robinson Story," an autobiographical film Robinson starred in himself, "Abraham Lincoln," the D.W. Griffith film starring Walter Huston and "Scrooge" with Seymour Hicks, not our favorite version of "A Christmas Carol," but not a bad one, either. The box contains more than a few Biblical dramas, plus a few rare TV live drama playhouse shows, including "The Nativity" with Paul Tripp and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" with John Carradine. Those featured in films include Gary Cooper, Charlton Heston, Michael Redgrave, Richard Greene, Chuck Conners, Jose Ferrer, Orson Welles and David McCallum. 12 discs. 3 stars.
Classic Serials Megapack 150 Episodes: This one appears to be out of print, though it's still available used on Amazon.com. It collects 12 serials: "The Hurricane Express" with John Wayne, "The Lost City" with William "Stage" Boyd, "The New Adventures of Tarzan" with Herman Brix, "Ace Drummond" with John "Dusty" King, "The Phantom Creeps" with Bela Lugosi,
"Shadow of the Eagle" with John Wayne, "SOS Coast Guard" with Bela Lugosi,
"The Three Musketeers" with John Wayne, "Undersea Kingdom" with Ray "Crash" Corrigan,
"Zorro’s Fighting Legion" with Reed Hadley, "The Clutching Hand" with Jack Mulhall,
and "Dick Tracy" with Ralph Byrd. This is hardly prime stuff as far as serials go, but it's not a total washout. The vintage serials make for some unintentionally funny stuff. Still, this would have been dynamite if the content had been better (3 John Wayne serials?) 12 discs. 2 stars.
Action Classics 50 Movie Pack:
"Action," and we use that term loosely, is the defining term of this set, which includes a couple of gems and a lot of B-movie fodder. Edward D. Wood Jr.'s "Jail Bait" is one of the highlights. The set spotlights action and adventure films, with more of the former than the latter. Classic Adventure, Born to Be Bad, Exotic Adventures and Hard-Boiled Heroes are the categories from the inside of the box. Couldn't have said it better. 12 discs. 2 stars.
Sci-Fi Classics 50 Movie Pack: Some of the titles make this one a natural for "Mystery Science Theater" fans. "First Spaceship on Venus," "The Brain Machine," "Eegah," "Mesa of Lost Women," "Teenagers From Outer Space" and "The Amazing Transparent Man" are just some of them. Some real sci-fi "classics" here, we said jokingly. A lot of fun for the money. 12 discs. 3 stars.
TV Favorites Megapack 100 Episodes: A discerning collection of old TV shows. There's a lot of the shows that always turn up on bargain DVDs -- "Bonanza," "The Lone Ranger," "Dragnet" "The Red Skelton Show" and "The Beverly Hillbillies." But there are some that don't. This is only the second DVD collection we've seen with an episode of "Highway Patrol," the hard-boiled cop show with Broderick Crawford ("10-4") and the only one we've seen with "Boston Blackie". There's also "Racket Squad," "You Bet Your Life," "Dangerous Assignment" and "Mr. and Mrs. North." Grab this one. 9 discs. 4 stars.
Family Classics 50 Movie Pack: The collection this type of box set was made for. A fantastic set with box office big names. "Till the Clouds Roll By" with Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra, "Life With Father" with William Powell, "A Star Is Born" with Janet Gaynor, the animated "Gulliver's Travels" from the Fleischer Studios, "A Farewell to Arms" with Gary Cooper, "Royal Wedding" with Fred Astaire, "The Little Princess" with Shirley Temple and "The Last Time I Saw Paris" with Elizabeth Taylor. As all of these sets do (some more than others), there are some flubs ("Utopia" by Laurel and Hardy comes to mind). But there is so much good here that it's worth the buy. 12 discs. 4 1/2 stars.
We've seen criticism that some of the films in these boxes are cut or may have logos. Except for "Long John Silver" in the Family Classics box, we haven't seen any that seem cut. No logos either.
But given that these aren't remastered and are basically just put quickly on DVD, these are a bargain and, in our view, well worth having.
We'll do a review of others in the series as time goes on. But these sets are valuable because they the cheapest and most convenient way to pick up some of these films. If you think too many of today's films seem like they came out of focus groups, you'll find these sets take you back to a different and bygone era in Hollywood.
And the nice thing is that it's a fairly cheap trip, too. Scan through our Movie Pack store and have a look.