Blu-Ray News #307: Attack Of The Crab Monsters (1957).

Produced & Directed by Roger Corman
Starring Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, Russell Johnson, Leslie Bradley, Mel Welles, Richard H. Cutting

Shout Factory has announced that Roger Corman’s Attack Of The Crab Monsters (1957) will be released on Blu-Ray on August 25th (that’s next week) in a limited edition of just 1,000 copies. Act now, folks!

This pretty much sums up all that was wonderful about Hollywood in the 1950s.

Made for just $70,000, Attack Of The Crab Monsters played in a double bill with Corman’s Not Of This Earth (1957) — which Shout Factory will hopefully get to soon, and made over a million bucks.

Attack Of The Crab Monsters was shot at Leo Carrillo State Beach, Bronson Caverns and Marineland by the great cinematographer Floyd Crosby, and it features a good score by Ronald Stein. The crab monsters were made out of styrofoam, so getting them to go underwater was tough (and destructive). Everything about this movie is terrific.

This Blu-Ray promises a new scan of a fine-grain print (in its original 1.85), a new commentary, the theatrical trailer and a tribute to Mr. Corman. It’s available exclusively through the Shout Factory website, and only 1,000 of ’em will be pressed. Highly, highly recommended. Click on the half sheet up top to order yours!

Blu-Ray News #227 Update: This Island Earth (1955).

Directed by Joseph M. Newman
Starring Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, Russell Johnson, Douglas Spencer, Richard Deacon

Scream Factory has pushed their release date for This Island Earth (1955) back a few weeks. Given some of the rumblings I’ve heard about what they’re doing to this thing, it’s gonna be well worth the extra wait.

The more I think about this, the more excited I get. While I’m a The Thing (1951) man through and through, This Island Earth may be the Gone With The Wind (1939) of 50s science fiction movies — apologies to all you Forbidden Planet (1956) nuts out there. And when I drug out my DVD of it a couple months ago, I was really disappointed by how it looked. We’ve come to expect a lot out of DVD/Blu-Ray transfers these days. I’m sure this Blu-Ray will be stunning.

Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason): I want to know what it is and what it does. Order the list of parts on these pages.

You don’t want to miss this one folks. After all, as the ads remind us, it was “2-1/2 years in the making!”

Blu-Ray News #227: This Island Earth (1955).

Directed by Joseph M. Newman
Starring Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, Russell Johnson, Douglas Spencer, Richard Deacon

Here’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. This Island Earth (1955) on Blu-Ray. And since it’s coming from Scream Factory, we can rest assured it’ll look great and be a thorough, well-stacked package. Coming in June.

Also on the way are two minor, but still terrific, Universal-International pictures — The Monolith Monsters (1957) and Jack Arnold’s Monster On The Campus (1958). They’ll also come around in June.

Blu-ray News #77: It Came From Outer Space (1953).

Directed by Jack Arnold
Starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Russell Johnson, Kathleen Hughes, Joe Sawyer

Universal has announced the October 4 release of Jack Arnold’s great It Came From Outer Space (1953). The Region-Free disc will offer up both a 3-D and 2-D hi-def transfer of the film as a Best Buy exclusive.

The 3-D has been meticulously restored, along with the original stereo mix! This was one of the first pictures to boast stereophonic sound. And you can get it all for just 10 bucks!