Matinee

This loving 1993 tribute to atomic monster movies of the 1950s in general and the B-movie gimmicks of horror film producer-director William Castle in particular is set in a Florida military town during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which provides an apt backdrop of real-life anxieties. High school boy Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton), fresh arrived on the local military base, is the new kid in school. He loves horror movies and is thrilled to meet independent filmmaker and showman (modeled on Castle) Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), who is previewing his new giant monster movie Mant! (part man, part ant) at the local cinema. Director Joe Dante was a big fan of monster movies before he became a filmmaker in his own right and here he pours his affection into the clever movie-within-a-movie Mant! He also successfully connects with the child and teen actors, bringing their stories to life with real empathy for everything from adolescent romance to the loneliness of being an army brat and the difficulties of making new friends all over again. But the nostalgia is mixed with anxiety in the town as Cold War tensions increase. Newly remastered for Blu-ray, extras include new and archival interviews and featurettes, and the full-length version of Mant! (seen only in clips during the film itself, and running about 20 minutes). Recommended. (S. Axmaker)