Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast
by Bert I. Gordon
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ed Kemmer, Eugene Persson, Gene Roth, Hal Torey, June KenneyDirector: Bert I. Gordon
Brand: Lions Gate
Producer: Bert I. Gordon
Writer: Bert I. Gordon
Producer: Henry Schrage
Producer: James H. Nicholson
Producer: Samuel Z. Arkoff
Writer: George Worthing Yates
Writer: L?szl? G?r?g
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 142 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-10
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast
Movie Review: 2 From Mr. B.I.G.
Summary: 5 Stars
Folks may scratch their heads when I say this, but Bert I. Gordon is one of my all time favorite movie directors. He is for the simple fact that I have found them all(the "big" ones specifically) thoroughly entertaining, which I assume is what most directors could ever hope for. Gordon's reputation is no more than that of a low budget trash peddler, and his place in cinema history will probably be no more than a mere footnote in the world of Sci-Fi. I feel he's more deserving than that. After all, if Ed Wood can achieve the status he has, why can't Gordon(I find Gordon's films to be consistently more entertaining and fun than Wood's)?
Anyhow, the first on the Gordon double bill is Earth Vs. The Spider. A much more accurate title would have been Handful Of People Vs. The Spider, but that's not as punchy or threatening. In the movie, a pair of high school students(sweethearts of course) find a giant spider(Giant Spider! Whoa! Giant Spider! Whoa!) in a cave outside of their small town. The local authorities blast it with DDT and believe it to be dead. It's taken to the local high school auditorium and put on display until it can be picked up by scientists. When the band slated to play the high school dance start rehearsing their blasted rock and roll music, the spider wakes up and is pretty pissed(no accounting for taste I suppose. I thought they were kinda catchy). The spider rampages through town and finds his way home where the final showdown takes place.
The best of the two films for sure. It's alot of fun with everything you could want from a film like this. It's got rock and roll, high school kids, creepy theremin theme music, shriveled corpses, and of course a giant spider. My rule of rating is that any film will get one extra star if it features a giant spider(hence the 5 star rating). Gordon's visual fx are the same as he's always used, and that consists of a real spider spliced into the frame with the actors and settings. Gordon's fx are always slammed and considered laughable, but I always though he was above average for this kind of film. You can tell it's fake, but it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. In fact there's something strangely realistic about it. After all we are dealing with a real spider and not a puppet. You can't help but imagine that that is how it would really look if a giant spider were to invade your hometown. Very cool movie.
Next we have War of the Colossal Beast. It's a sequel to the Amazing Colossal Man, but you won't be lost in the plot considering they use footage from that film and reference it enough to bring you up to date. Glen, The Colossal Man, has survived the attack he received at the end of the first film and has turned up in Mexico. Glen is a 60 foot man mutated by atomic radiation. He must have an enormous schwanzstucker, but I guess that goes without saying. He's been stealing food, terroizing the people and just making everything unpleasant. The U.S. army comes, captures him and brings him back to the states where he can be treated by doctors and scientists. But in the King Kong tradition, he escapes and goes on a rampage. Can he be stopped? While entertaining, it's more of a limp rehash of the first film. There just doesn't seem to be anything new added to justify an entire film. Glenn does have a section of his face torn away, giving him a grotesque and more sinister look, but that's about as original as it gets. Hopefully we'll be seeing the Amazing Colossal Man on DVD soon.
All in all, well worth your money if you like this stuff. Besides, Bert needs our support!
Summary of Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast
Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 01/10/2006Horror DVD Video
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