Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

It isn’t all that often that a pure blood, true-blue slab of B-movie becomes elevated to a level of pop culture recognition enjoyed by Attack of the 50-Foot Woman. Compared to many of its contemporaries in the rampaging-mutant-giant-creature sub genre, Nathan Juran’s 1958 oddfest has endured a surprising legacy thanks in large part to stunning marketing, what with the ear-grabbing title and the poster you see above, in which the scantily-clad giant temptress plows through a highway interchange like it was a Tonka playset. And duh… it’s not a monster, it’s a buxom babe. Nearly fifty years later, the film still wins over fans with a delightful mix of appalling effects and less than stellar acting, which means this week’s DVD release from Warner’s Cult Camp Classics label is an absolute must.
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The Secret of Nimh: Special Edition

Poor Don Bluth. Struck out from his Disney bearings in 1979 to start his own animation studio, and ever since has more or less labored in the shadow of the mouse’s mighty animation juggernaut. Although fan favorites like An American Tail and The Land Before Time performed well in the 80’s, it seemed that despite a strong fan base, Bluth’s animated features would never get the respect they deserved. Thank goodness some folks in power disagree, as evidenced by this week’s special edition treatment of what is arguably his masterpiece, 1982’s The Secret of NIMH.

Though it only made a minor splash at the box office and was then considered a flop, this gorgeous animated adaptation of Robert C. O’Brien’s Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a perfect example of the edgier storytelling Bluth’s camp was known for in their halcyon days. The vastly abridged yet still heady storyline involves mouse mum Mrs. Brisby (changed from the book because of a lawsuit from the makers of the Frisbee – true story!), whose little son, Timothy, is gravely ill. Desperate to move their home and avoid the encroaching farmer’s plow, she seeks the advise of a wise owl who instructs her to seek out a group of rats beneath a nearby rose bush. She discovers that the rats, as well as her late husband, were once experimented on by the mysterious NIMH (National Institute for Mental Health – d’oh!) and though they agree to help her, she finds herself caught up in a power struggle between the intelligent rodents.

Emotional, strongly written and socially relevant, The Secret of NIMH looks and plays better than ever thanks to the DVD treatment; this week’s release includes featurettes, deleted scenes with optional commentary by Bluth and co-director Gary Goldman, and much more.

Also recommended this week: Animaniacs Vol. 3; Big Nothing; The Big Street; If… (Criteron Collection); Longford; The Manhattan Project; The Panic in Needle Park; Pinky & the Brain Vol. 3; Powerpuff Girls: Season 1

- Nicole Campos

The Club (1994)

The early 90’s was the time of some great Direct to Video horror. And when I say Direct to Video, I mean that lost friend VHS. Back in those days, groups like Full Moon were around and you’d get stuff that never got on the big screen that was better than most of the movies playing at your local theater. One of those little trinkets was a film called The Club that came out back 1994. I’d been out of high school for a year at that point (man…I feel old just now.) I had a movie habit, a bad one. And most of my pay went to the local video stores. That’s how I came across this one.

With not one single big name star, The Club manages to pull off a slick production and be entertaining. Harkening back to the twister endings of Tales From The Crypt and Twilight Zone, The Club tells the story of a prom night that’s cursed. The high school prom is taking place in a castle (why didn’t mine do that?) and the creepy principal Mr. Carver (played by the always awesome and underrated Kim Coates) is on the prowl.
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DVD Pick of the Week - Deadwood: Season 3

I really, really hope John From Cincinnati fails. That’s awful, I know – you shouldn’t wish ill upon anyone, much less someone like television maestro David Milch, whose quality of work deserves more thoughtful treatment, most of the time. Yet despite the raves for his new HBO series, which premiered last Sunday, I can’t help hoping it tanks…because it’s for this Cali surfing parable that Milch ditched Deadwood. As the magnificently potty-mouthed Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) might say…. “Cocksucker.”
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A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More: Special Editions: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly – arguably the best of Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy, which really isn’t a trilogy at all – has had a fine special edition disc for a few years now. So it’s high time the first two flicks featuring Clint Eastwood’s iconic Man With No Name get special edition DVD releases of their own. Filmed in 1964 and 1965, the classic spaghetti westerns – the latter featuring the first clash of titans between Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef – didn’t make it to the States until ’67, and it was many years still until Leone’s artistic embrace of a very American genre was recognized as the high art it is. Give these dirty dust-ups the double-disc respect they deserve…

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: Extra Frills Edition: Yet another “What took them so long?!” package, for before moviegoers had to choose from dueling asteroid and volcano films, we had 1995’s great battle of the drag epics.
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The Spawn of Freaky Friday: The Triple 80’s Switcheroo films

Back in the 80’s body swapping was a “Big” trend. Be it growing younger or just swapping places with a family member, this was a new format that Hollywood decided to run with till we all got sick of it. Well at least until Lindsey Lohan and Jennifer Garner would lead the charge back to this formula fifteen years later with yet another Freaky Friday remake and the fem version of Big, 13 Going on 30.

But the 80’s were this type of films hey day. In the course of 12 months 3 different movies, all of them nearly the same exact plot, were released. All it seemed to try and hide the fact they had ripped off their plots from Freaky Friday by saying “Look, its guys! We’re not the same at all!” Wow, thanks for showing us just how smart you think we are studio people. In any regard, even with their lack of originality the 3fer of body swap flicks are still pretty entertaining and a nice dose of nostalgia. Let’s recap them shall we?
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Big Train: Seasons 1 & 2

Though still too steeped in DIY shows and reruns of Benny Hill to be completely relevant, BBC America has improved slightly in the last couple of years by airing quality British comedies such as Black Books and The Mighty Boosh. And it’s not helping things to release certain shows straight to video without a cable premiere; although, we’ll forgive them in the case of Big Train, which is hands down the funniest sketch comedy show you’ve never seen…and now you can!
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