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War of the Colossal Beast / Attack of the Puppet People; June, 1958
Topic Started: May 28 2017, 03:07 PM (367 Views)
Laughing Gravy
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War of the Colossal Beast (1958, dir. Bert I. Gordon)
69 min. / B&W / 1.66:1

Attack of the Puppet People (1958, dir. Bert I. Gordon)
79 min. / B&W / 1.66:1

ITB Strange Science Cinema #126-127

I live for double-features like these; the summer drive-in season of 1958 opens with a pair of films as memorable as anything else out that year. (Well, the best picture nominees for the year were Gigi, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Auntie Mame, Separate Tables, and The Defiant Ones, and I like these two better, anyway.)

First up, a 60 ft. giant is suspected of stealing food trucks in Mexico; the sister of Glenn Manning, The Amazing Colossal Man, suspects that it's HER 60 ft. giant. Sure enough, Col. Manning survived being shot off the darn dam, losing half his face, his memory, and his ability to speak in the process, and now he's going to be captured and kept chained up while the government decides what to do with him. The big guy simply doesn't LIKE to be captured and chained up, though. For one thing, every time he falls asleep he has lengthy stock footage dreams from the FIRST movie.

War of the Colossal Beast is a rare sequel for 1950s AIP and one that delivers the goods; the skull-faced Colossal Beast is one unforgettable monster, although reminiscent of The Cyclops and with the same guy playin' the colossal beast.

Million-dollar Dialog:
Deadpan Mexican sheriff: "Giants can run very fast. They have long legs."

Doctor: "The foot that made that print is about ten times the size of a normal man's. That would make him about..." *calculating* "...sixty feet tall!"
Miss Manning: "Why, GLENN was sixty feet tall!"

Thrills, chills, and a laugh riot to boot... no wonder everybody loves this movie, and you haven't seen the first Colossal Man movie, so much of it shows up here you'll think you have. And the climax (right after Glenn drops the school bus he's toting around) is in COLOR! Way!

Meets my definition of a great movie, any day of the week.

Off to the snack bar for some popcorn and Grape Nehi, then back to our DeSoto to watch a cartoon called Cape Kidnaveral; a trio of annoying children build their own rocketship and harm one of the kid's annoying fathers. We also saw the trailers for two upcoming films, Horror of Dracula and The Crawling Eye, and I can't think of an accolade great enough to express my delight.

Next up, another all-time favorite of ours, as a twisted doll maker invents a shrinking ray that minuscules his friends and employees so that he can host champagne parties with the little critters. Yep, it's Attack of the Puppet People, arguably Bert I. Gordon's best movie, if you can argue ANY of them are the "best" anything. I don't care, I love it. John Agar and June Kenney are our leading couple of doll folks; and one of the other dolls sings a song called "You're My Living Doll," and you know how much we like inappropriate musical numbers in our 1950s AIP horror films (we like it a LOT).

Million-dollar Dialog:
Pretty former receptionist greeted by her new itty-bitty friends: "Glad to meet you, Sally. Welcome to the toy department!"

Michael Mark plays a wacky old puppeteer; you don't know the name, but you'd recognize him in a minute, he is in most of the old Frankenstein pictures (and I think he gets killed in all of 'em).

Also, apparently Mr. Gordon did a better job with small things than colossal things; the special effects are quite competent here, except when our lovers are on the run and chased by a giant see-through rat.

I simply don't think you can have much of a better 2 1/2 hours at the movies than watchin' this pair. Unfortunately, neither were well treated on DVD; War of the Colossal Beast (paired with Earth vs. the Spider) was released with the color sequence intact by Lionsgate, but the film's shown in the obviously wrong 1.33:1 format, as was the MGM Midnite Movies release of Attack of the Puppet People. Kino Lorber seems to be revisiting some of the old AIP titles, and one hopes these two get proper masters (as for The Amazing Colossal Man, that's NEVER been on DVD).

"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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The Batman
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Yes, love ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE, and have always wanted to see both Colossal movies, so hopefully Kino comes through, as they have a few times lately.


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Don Diego
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Bats both have been on TCM several times
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The Batman
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Thanks, Don. I was always bad for checking TCM, but I kept reminding myself about THE COSMIC MONSTERS (thanks, again) and found myself leaving it on TCM all weekend. Got to check out ACROSS THE PACIFIC and 12 O'CLOCK HIGH as a result.


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Don Diego
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Bats check this out for advanced notice at the start of each month http://www.tcm.com/schedule/monthly.html
there once was an option to check months in advance
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The Batman
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Thanks, Don, perfect! I've bookmarked for future use. I definitely should start watching more TCM, and buy less DVDs, at least ones that I probably won't watch more than once. It would sure make Catwoman a lot happier!

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Don Diego
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do not forget the option of recording -- many of my dvds are recorded - usually TCM
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The Batman
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Yes, I have a DVD recorder packed away somewhere around here, I definitely need to break it out again.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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