Budget DVD reviews - Alpha/Diamond/Brentwood/Etc.

[Bill Piper]

name: Galaxy Invader

company: Treeline Films

info: An alien (think really cheap man-in-suit costume) crash lands on Earth in redneck central. What you have here is a MST3k style film! A lot of fun is to have here from the alien itself to the oddball rednecks in the town.

video: VHS port, and it looks pretty good. B-

audio: sound is good as well. B

extras: No extras, but it is part of Treeline's SCI-FI 50 movie pack collection.

overall: This movie is a blast, in a so bad its good way, and considering it's packed with 49 other movies for $20, you can't go wrong.

[Bill Piper]

name: Zombie Flesh Eaters (incorrectly labeled, as the real name is "The Ghost Galleon")

company: Brentwood

info: Part of the "Horror Rises from the Grave" 4-pack. The movie is actually the third blind dead film, though for some reason, it features the title ZFE. This time the blind dead are on a ship drifting on the sea when some guests come aboard. Ok flick, but I prefer the other BD films to this one.

video: VHS transfer here. Very dark and quite ugly. It does sort of give the film an eerie feel however. C-

audio: English dub, and has the same problems as other VHS transfers. C

extras: nope

overall: Skip this and pick up Blue Underground's legit release of "The Ghost Galleon" as it's a transfer from the original negative.

[Bill Piper]

name: Horror Rises from the Tomb

company: Brentwood

info: One of my favorite Naschy flicks!! Instead of playing the typical werewolf role, here he plans a worlock who was recently awakened in modern times. Lots of gore and nudity, but that's to be expected from a Naschy flick! This movie is part of the Brentwood 4 pack titled "Horror Rises from the Grave."

video: Presented full frame, this is a VHS transfer. That being said, most of the problems with VHS transfers are presented here. However, the film is presented in it's uncut form. B-

audio: VHS tape transfer = tape hiss. However, the audio is quite loud, though lacks bass. B-

extras: nope

overall: I doubt this collection is even for sale anymore, however you really should pick up BCI's (formerly Brentwood) new edition of Horror Rises from the Tomb as it features a transfer straight from the negative. That dvd looks amazing and features the orignal language, as well as the English dub.

[Steve V.]

That same transfer is readily available in the Cult Horror Collection, which gives you ten movies over three discs (plus some pithy extras). Retail stores like Wal-Mart and Target usually start carrying them around Halloween for five bucks.

It also includes a decent looking version of the American cut of Deep Red, which I prefer to the European cut.

[Bill Piper]

Name: The Violent Years

company: Alpha

info: A group of 4 spoiled teenage girls decides to get their kicks by robbing banks and people, committing vandalism, raping a man (that's right), murder, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and listening to jazz music....yes, all signs of juvenile delinquency!! This film sets out to warn everyone of such dangers (sure...). Screenplay by the one and only Edward D. Wood, Jr. At times, the dialogue does have some "Woodisms" that fans will get a chuckle out of (a scene between a doctor and a cop got me rolling). This film runs just under a hour and never gets boring. I really enjoyed it.

video: Besides the usual print defects (vertical lines, dirt, slight damage here and there), it looks pretty good. My major complaint would be that sometimes the white levels are a bit too bright. Considering this is a low budget film from 1956, it looks decent. B-

audio: The soundtrack is loud, and at times a bit too loud. There are some defects on the soundtrack that sound like a mic drop (sorry, I don't know the technical term, but it usually occurs during switching of scenes) and some pops occur as well. It gets the job done. C+

extras: nope

overall: I had a lot of fun with this. If you dig juvenile delinquency films, give this a try. Ed Wood fans will want to check it out considering he wrote the screenplay and it does have an "Ed Wood" feel to it.

[MJ Smith]

Got my first Alpha disks last week, "War of the Monsters" and a double feature of "The Day Time Ended" and "The Doomsday Machine," as well as a cheapie version of "Hell Comes to Frogtown." My two cents -

"War of the Monsters" looks pretty muddy and is almost monochromatic at times. The movie itself is a hoot, and Barugon is an incredibly disturbing monster (those who've seen his freeze ray know why). There is a nice gallery of promotional material for the movie, and the cover is attractive (duh pretty colors ). The other Gamera releases sound like they're in better shape.

"The Day Time Ended" is the film I bought the double feature for, and it lives up to its nonsensical reputation. Alpha's disk looks very soft and pixellated (correct term?). There's about a dozen trailers for Alpha movies, including the Ted V Mikels ouvre (10 Violent Women! The Corpse Grinders! etc!) and some atrocious looking indie features. All in all, very happy with the DVD, even if it's more Drive In Double Feature than "Grindhouse Double Shock Show."

And now, we come to Frogtown. Oh boy, do we ever.
Do not buy anything with the Top Ten New Media label. Ever. The title menu (which doubles as the chapter menu - all six of them) contains a typo so blatant I missed it the first time around. Please, "Strat Movie." Never mind the menu is ugly as hell and resembles something that took 5 minutes in Toast or iDVD (not bashing those programs, but man). The fullframe transfer (not sure what aspect ratio the movie was filmed in) looks like a VHS dupe and is too dark in a lot of places. I would suspect that Top Ten New Media is a shady company, but on the back of the case they claim copyright. On the bright side, I thought the actual movie was a blast (frog with a chainsaw!) and will probably pick up the Anchor Bay version down the line.

I also got the Diamond release of "Creature," but the disk was defective and I'm waiting for an exchange.

[Kester Pelagius]

Originally Posted by MJ Smith

And now, we come to Frogtown. Oh boy, do we ever.
Do not buy anything with the Top Ten New Media label. Ever.

Ah, yes, Top Ten New Media Production Limited HKSAR. I remember that label. Their DVDs used to be flea market staples a few years back.

They offered a wide array of titles that, at the time, were not officially on DVD. The only catch was their releases were all in FS and looked to be PAL ports. Here's the menu screen from the very same HELL COMES TO FROGTOWN DVD from my collection:



And, yes, the color is slightly off:



Severe grain was in evidence even when played on my VLC Media Player and interlacing is a major issue, especially noticable in screencaps, as is the fact it's way too dark:



The only plus was this was released before the official AB version. Wouldn't suggest anyone paying more than a dollar for it (or any other DVDs from this label) if you come across it today though.

Originally Posted by MJ Smith

I also got the Diamond release of "Creature," but the disk was defective and I'm waiting for an exchange.

Originally Posted by Bill Piper

I used to have the Diamond feature of "Creature" and it was a VHS dupe. Not too bad, but I've since found a better transfer (company name escapes me at the moment).

Creature was also released by Westlake Entertainment and Brentwood. Look for Brentwood's old "Space Odyssey" multi-movie set, I think it was on that.

[Bill Piper]

I used to have the Diamond feature of "Creature" and it was a VHS dupe. Not too bad, but I've since found a better transfer (company name escapes me at the moment).

The other Alpha Gameras are in much better shape than the War of the Monsters. Sadly, I think this print is the same one used by other companies (well, besides the legit R2 version).

[MJ Smith]

That's a shame. I've got a few Gamera movies on the Treeline 50 movie SciFi pack, they all look pretty good considering it's a Treeline/Mill Creek 50 movie pack; bright colors, not too fuzzy. "Attack of the Monsters" is probably my favorite of the bunch

"Star Crystal" gets a widescreen transfer from Anchor Bay, but "Creature" languishes . . . where's the justice

Does anyone know if the "Grindhouse Experience" 20 movie packs are any good? I know "Stryker" and "Raiders of Atlantis" are on vol. 2, but I also heard they were just VHS dupes, and as I already have "Stryker" on video I don't see the point.

[Bill Piper]

Just checked my Creature dvd and it was put out by Westlake. It's a better transfer than Diamond. I haven't seen the Brentwood version.

As for that grindhouse experience set, I think it's a waste of money. If you want it, I'll willing to trade my set.

[MJ Smith]

Originally Posted by Bill Piper

As for that grindhouse experience set, I think it's a waste of money.

Too bad . . . I'll pass on the trade, thanks for the offer. I wish Shriek Show would put out another Post-Apocalyptic box set . . . maybe all Cirio H. Santiago movies

Google says a company called Braun also has a "Creature" disk, it's listed as Pan'n'Scan, so it's probably the same transfer as one of the others.

I've got the Westlake version of "Warriors of the Wasteland." Atrocious cover, but the DVD is fine.

[dduncil]

just out of curiosity, has anyone ever figured out a good way to keep track of these multi disks. you almost need a bracket like they use for march madness to figure it out.

for instance i was going to buy creature, then saw it was on a 4 pack, then it was on a different 10 pack, then it was on a 20 pack.

does anyone know of a site that makes this a bit clearer?

[Kester Pelagius]

dduncil,

The lists aren't complete but these are a good place to start:

The Mind-Boggling Output of Brentwood

The Unofficial Brentwood Communications 10-Movie DVD Sets Shrine and Info Center

[dduncil]

man...this is awesome.

the name is david, by the way.

[Bill Piper]

name: Ultraman II

company: DML

info: DVD is not a movie, but rather the first four episodes of the 1979 anime series "The Ultraman."

video: VHS transfer and it's pretty good. B

audio: English dub track provided in PCM stereo. Sounds decent. B-

extras: nope

overall: Ultraman releases are quite rare here in North America, which is very unfortunate. I recommend fans pick this release up, but it would be nice if a company would get the rights to release the entire series of this anime, or any other Ultraman series for that matter