The Devil's Partner / Creature from the Haunted Sea

’50 sci-fi and horror films had some high-highs and low-lows; there wasn’t much in-between.  Much like today’s streaming channels, producer Roger Corman was challenged to provide as much “content” as possible, even if that meant pasting films together with recycled scripts and a misleading poster.  So, it’s a pleasant surprise to discover The Devil’s Partner (1960) is a more-than-competent piece of Faustian horror with a cast that doesn’t seem anxious to move on to the next shot.

After a prologue in which ornery hermit Richard Evans sells his soul to the devil, a stranger pops up in the town of Furnace Flats, New Mexico.  Nick Richards (Ed Nelson) is the amiable – but somewhat unsettling – nephew of the deceased whose appearance kicks off a series of terrible accidents.  He takes a romantic interest in Nell (Jean Allison), whose fiancé becomes understandably suspicious, launching an investigation into Nick’s late-night shenanigans involving goats, knives and a hidden pentagram.

 

Clocking in at a brisk 75 minutes, The Devil’s Partner, filmed in 1958 but released by Corman’s Filmgroup two years later, feels like an edgy hour of episodic television.  Director Charles R. Rondeau makes sure the gore stays off camera or in silhouette, but each supernatural incident is effective nonetheless, mostly thanks to the cast.  Ed Nelson is genuinely unsettling as the stranger with a satanic secret, but TV veterans like Edgar Buchanan and Jean Allison prop up every scene.  Comparing similar Corman content from the same era, The Devil’s Partner is top notch stuff!

 

More apropos is the co-feature, 1961’s Creature from the Haunted Sea, which also sat on a shelf for a few years.  One of three films Corman shot himself on a Puerto Rican junket, writer Charles B. Griffith’s script is the red-headed stepchild of his more well-known horror comedies Bucket of Blood and Little Shop of Horrors.  Here the scenario finds gangsters escaping the Cuban revolution with a ship full of stolen gold, escorted by a general hoping to get out while he can.  But when a staged monster attack attracts the attention of a real sea beast, it’s every passenger for themselves.

 

Despite that relatively thrilling synopsis, absolutely nothing about Creature from the Haunted Sea is meant to be taken seriously.  With smartass narration, plenty of camera mugging and one character who communications strictly with animal calls, it’s a best to know what you’re getting into.  That being the case, there’s plenty of enjoyment to wring out of this soggy mess, particularly from the titular monster which looks like leprous Muppet.  The expanded TV version – also included - adds a lengthy prologue and catchy musical number.

 

Film Masters’ special edition Blu-ray isn’t just a cleverly marketed clean-up, it’s a revelation!  Both films have been languishing in public domain hell almost since their release (check out the Prime Video streams).  But this two-disc set present both in amazing new transfers with 16:9 and 4:3 formatting options along with separate audio commentaries, interviews, trailers, restoration examples, liner notes and a featurette on Corman’s early career.

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