Beast From Haunted Cave (1959) Special Blu-ray/DVD Collector’s Edition Review
Beast From Haunted Cave (1959) Special Blu-ray/DVD Collector’s Edition Review
Roger Corman’s suspenseful, cult classic, BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE—newly restored from a 4K scan of 35mm archival materials—will be released as a special collector’s edition on Blu-ray and DVD, Oct. 24 from Film Masters.
Acclaimed as the king of low-budget cult movies, Corman produced dozens of films that were both hilarious and thrilling. Among the best of his early output was 1959’s BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE, which was directed by legendary director Monte Hellman (TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, COCKFIGHTER), launching a 15-year collaboration between the duo. The film stars Michael Forest, Sheila Noonan and Frank Wolff.
In BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE … Cut-throat gangsters hatch a plan to rob a bank in Deadwood, South Dakota, but when one of the henchmen sets off an explosion in a nearby gold mine to act as a diversion for the heist, he awakens a blood-sucking, spider-like creature that isn’t happy about the intrusion. When a violent snowstorm delays the gang’s escape, things rapidly progress from bad to blood-curdling worse.
Directed by Monte Hellman, his feature-film debut, and filmed at the same time as SKI TROOP ATTACK (included in this release and includes the same lead actors and writer) BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE was released as a double feature with THE WASP WOMAN (also 1959). It marked the beginnings as Hellman’s association with producer Roger Corman who went on to finance the director’s flicks over the next fifteen years. BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE is essentially a remake of another Corman film from a couple of years prior called NAKED PARADISE.
It was only one year later that both Hitchcock’s PSYCHO and PEEPING TOM changed the horror movie landscape, seeing the genre away from pretend threats from such as alien invaders, oversized insects, and monsters to the very real feeling threat of a murderous ‘boy-next-door’ type. However, BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE managed to feel outdated even before the shift, it’s flat in its telling and the beast – a wispy spider like beastie that cocoons its victims – fails to convince. And as a heist flick it rarely, if ever, grips.
PRE-ORDER NOW!
Blu-ray:
DVD:
BONUS FEATURE: Ski Troop Attack (1960) — Upon wrapping BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE, Corman directed this World War II drama using the same location and much of the same cast and crew. For Corman, economy was key!
BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE is presented in its original theatrical 1.85:1, 65-minute format and extended, 72-minute 4×3 TV version. Ski Troop Attack is presented as a newly restored HD print in 4×3 aspect ratio.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story: Part One, a Ballyhoo Motion Pictures documentary; full-color booklet with essays by authors C. Courtney Joyner and Tom Weaver with the man behind the beast, Chris Robinson; commentary for BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE by author and film historian Tom Weaver and filmmaker Larry Blamire; ; commentary for Ski Troop Attack by author C. Courtney Joyner and filmmaker Howard S. Berger; gallery of rare stills from camera negatives taken during the filming of BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE, courtesy of Tom Weaver; original, 35mm-restored theatrical trailer for BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE and new, recut trailers from restored both films using restored film elements. Easter egg alert! Hidden on the disc is a special interview with the original beast.
