Cold War Creatures

Time marches on.  And as collectors of physical media will tell you, there’s a sense of urgency to preserve films that are being pushed into the dusty corners of history.  I would imagine that fans of ‘50s horror and science fiction are becoming a more exclusive bunch.  But those who remain will be thrilled by Arrow’s new limited edition Blu-ray set Cold War Creatures:  Four Films from Sam Katzman, the prolific low-budget producer who made the most of the timely atom-age trend.

 

Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) combines a few genres to showcase its titular menace, a small army of undead errand boys sent out to get revenge at the command of a bitter gangster.  The man-made zombie versus the cops is a familiar trope that dodges out of fashion supernatural elements.  And writer Curt Siodmak (The Wolf Man) has fun playing with the reanimated corpses’ impressive indestructibility, even while the script’s sexist clichés garner plenty of unintentional laughs.

            

 The Werewolf (1956) is a straight-up underappreciated classic of the era, blessed with a sympathetic performance by Steven Ritch as the unwilling lycanthrope, a product of medical science rather than any lunar cycle.  Shot around Big Bear Lake in early winter, the film takes advantage of the snowy outdoor location, providing a great counterpoint to the era’s typically bland laboratory settings.   Although shot on the cheap, The Werewolf takes advantage of a better-than-average cast and some disturbing make-up effects.

 

An outlier in the set, The Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) sticks to the supernatural origins for a story about a shipwrecked crew of pirates still defending their sunken treasure chest.  There are some shocking moments of violence and an overall sense of dread in director Edward L. Cahn’s ghost story, enough to make this one a real influence on modern films like John Carpenter’s The Fog.

 

Which brings us to The Giant Claw (1957), a rather infamous giant monster movie about an indestructible flying buzzard from outer space.  The script follows all the usual beats but it’s the practical execution that’s enjoyably embarrassing, making even the suitmation effects of Godzilla seem convincing.  With googly eyes and a repetitive squawk the monster bird knocks down every plane in the sky, chomping on the parachuting pilots, before stars Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday (who despite her college degree still is put in charge of serving coffee and sandwiches!) figure out a way to penetrate its impenetrable force field.

 

Arrow’s set makes every film look like brand-new, with only the old stock footage shots showing any wear. Extras include introductions to each film by Kim Newman, commentary tracks, visual essays, condensed Super 8mm versions, trailers and a pair of collector’s booklets.  Now this is how you preserve a piece of history!