Monsters and Madmen

The Criterion Collection is famous for exquisitely restored editions of classic films, presented with loads of ancillary material, but while Monsters and Madmen boasts the usual sumptuous presentation, the four pictures included here hardly fall into the “classic” category. All were produced by brothers Alex and Richard Gordon, who happily refer to them as “exploitation movies” of the sort that filled double-bills during the 1950s. The better pairing is Richard's The Haunted Strangler (1958), a Jekyll-and-Hyde story about a mild-mannered writer transformed into a homicidal maniac, and Corridors of Blood (1959), revolving around a doctor experimenting with drugs who becomes addicted—both British productions that gave Boris Karloff two of the better roles of his later career. The other two films are ultra-cheap sci-fi flicks. Alex's The Atomic Submarine (1959) is an unintentionally campy piece about an underwater flying saucer that the titular sub must confront under the polar ice, while Richard's First Man Into Space (1959) revolves around a pilot whose trip into the stratosphere turns him into a flesh-eating monster (i.e., a guy in a hilariously chintzy suit). Presented with impeccable digital transfers, DVD extras here include anecdote-filled commentaries in which Richard converses with writer Tom Weaver (also included is a half-hour interview with Alex, who died in 2003), as well as new video interviews with cast and crew, trailers, radio spots, stills galleries and PR materials. Despite the Criterion imprimatur, Monsters and Madmen is hardly in the same league as Seven Samurai, but this set can certainly be recommended to aficionados of ‘50s genre B-movies. (F. Swietek)