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Nature will run amok when Kino Lorber unleashes five classic eco-horrors on Blu-ray as part of its Kino Cult line:The Food of the Gods, Empire of the Ants, Frogs, Squirm, and Kingdom of the Spiders. Due out on August 20, each title comes with a slipcover and features reversible artwork. Pre-orders are up for $24.95.

1976’s The Food of the Gods is written and directed by Bert I. Gordon, based on H. G. Wells’ 1904 novel The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth. Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, Ralph Meeker, Jon Cypher, and Ida Lupino star.

In the film, “On a remote island, a mysterious substance is oozing from the ground. A farmer sees that it acts as a growth hormone and thinks his fortune is made. But when rats, chickens, worms and wasps begin sampling the potent substance, they morph into bloodthirsty giants! Now, it’s up to...

Bert I. Gordon’s career groove of shrinking and bloating various animals and people bottoms out in this trashy drive-in groaner: it’s colorful but nigh-unwatchable. The exploitation target is sci-fi and the teen musical, with incompatible helpings of pre-teen ‘cutes’ and girlie show jiggle for the raincoat crowd. The show apparently did well, but I heard mostly about resentful walkouts. Gordon’s early films have far more charm; this one mostly shows contempt for his audience. For fans that think there’s Camp value here, the Blu-ray transfer is sensationally good, as is the reproduction of Jack Nitzsche’s rock music score. The only thing to call this movie is Poor, but how can that be when I find so much to say about it?

Village of the Giants

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 81 min. / Street Date February 22, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford,...

“Two smoldering women made all the danger worthwhile!”… heck, we didn’t even see ’em catch fire. John Wayne is charismatic and Andrew V. McLaglen’s direction is decent for once in this formulaic ‘easy listening’ pot-boiler from the Wayne school of laid-back ’60s entertainment. After winning the Vietnam War, our intrepid action man extinguishes 101 out-of-control oil fires, which appear to happen every twenty minutes. When nothing’s burning, there are plenty of domestic tangles to straighten out with the womenfolk. In support are Katharine Ross, Jim Hutton, Vera Miles, Bruce Cabot and Jay C. Flippen. It’s old-fashioned but not embarrassing — Wayne still has his charm.

Hellfighters

Blu-ray

Mill Creek

1968 / Color/ 2:35 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date May 4, 2021 / Available from Mill Creek Entertainment / 19.99

Starring: John Wayne, Katharine Ross, Jim Hutton, Vera Miles, Jay C. Flippen, Bruce Cabot, Edward Faulkner, Barbara Stuart, Edmund Hashim, Valentin de Vargas, Frances Fong, Alberto Morin,...

Inspired by an overture from Hell’s Angels’ Sonny Barger to President Johnson offering up his boys as “gorilla fighters”, director Jack Starrett and screenwriter Alan Caillou serve up quite the grindhouse mish-mash in this 1970 rarity. A brave biker gang plows into Vietnam on a rescue mission – straddling specially rigged motorcycles with armor and special weaponry, the wanna-be Rambos spend the next 95 minutes mowing down commies and popping wheelies. Later retitled as Nam’s Angels.

The post The Losers appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Back in 1964 a lot of people still thought dolphins were fish, but by the time this TV show was finished, we all knew that our happy undersea friend was smarter than the average bear and lives in a world full of wonder. Ivan Tors’ grandly successful Florida-shot family show kept a lot of seagoing movie veterans in green seaweed, including both original ‘Creature’ Gill Men.

Flipper, Season One

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1964-65 / Color / 1:33 flat TV / 780 min. / Street Date August 29, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 39.95

Starring: Brian Kelly, Luke Halpin, Tommy Norden.

Cinematography: Clifford H. Poland Jr., Lamar Boren

Original Music: Henry Vars, song by

Written by: Jack Cowden, Ricou Browning, Peter L. Dixon, Laird Koenig, Stanley H. Silverman, Orville H. Hampton, Lee Erwin, Art Arthur, Jess Carneol, Key Lenard, Ivan Tors, Alan Caillou, Arthur Richards, Robert Sabaroff.

Produced by Ivan Tors, Ricou Browning, Leon Benson, Andrew Marton

Directed by: Ricou Browning,...

Full disclosure: I hate spiders. Like really, really despise them. God’s creatures blah blah blah – save it. They are absolutely, without a question, the most insidious, terrifying things on the planet. Now, horror films about arachnids? Well, that’s different. They have a built in creepiness factor that ensures, at the very least, it will hit the icky button with me – not my go to sensation for horror, but still creating a sensation while I watch – which promises a memorable experience.

But when you add in a level of fun, and in the case of Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), a ridiculously high quotient of it, I pivot from respect to awe in the space of 97 minutes. Not for the spiders – that will never happen as long as I’m gulping air. But the film? I’m in awe each and every viewing. It’s my favorite Animals Attack film,...

By Lee Pfeiffer

I recently wrote in relation to a review of "The Big Show" that circus movies have gone the way of the Model T. You can add to that another genre of film that used to be a Hollywood staple- the safari movies in which the hero was a great white hunter. Changing social attitudes make it unlikely we'd ever again cheer some rock-jawed leading man as he unloads some hi caliber bullets into a grazing elephant or a lazing hippo. The last word on such films was Clint Eastwood's woefully underrated (and woefully under-seen) 1990 film "White Hunter, Black Heart", which was loosely based on the hunting obsessions of director John Huston during production of "The African Queen". Nevertheless, jungle-themed adventures are still the stuff of cinematic thrills in the minds of retro movie lovers. One of the best is "Rampage", a 1963 opus directed by Phil Karlson...

Writer Lee Gambin calls them Natural Horror films, other writers call them Revenge of Nature or Nature Run Amok films and writer Charles Derry considers them a type of Apocalyptic Cinema.

Of course we’re speaking of one of the great horror subgenres for which we’ll employ writer Kim Newman’s tag: The Revolt of Nature.

Since the end of the 1990s, lovers of animal attack films have been subjected to copious amounts of uninspired Nu Image, Syfy Channel and Syfy Channel-like dreck like Silent Predators (1999), Maneater (2007) Croc (2007), Grizzly Rage (2007) and a stunning amount of terrible shark attack films to name a few that barely scratch the surface of a massive list.

These movies fail miserably to capture the intensity of the unforgettable films they are imitating and the recent wave seems to carry with it the intent of giving the Revolt of Nature horror film a bad name.

"We Want Our DVD And Blu-ray!" - It always frustrates retro movie lovers when a film becomes unavailable in a home video format. Even "B" movies deserve a better fate. Sometimes this is due to contractual and licensing reasons. Nevertheless, we always want to be on the tip of the spear in lobbying for unavailable movies to be brought back to the home video market. In that regard, we are running our previously published review of "Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion", a minor effort, to be sure, but one that we hope will be available again on DVD or Blu-ray. It is presently available for streaming rental or purchase on Amazon.) 

By Lee Pfeiffer

The Warner Archive has released a number of films made by Ivan Tors' production company during the 1960s. Tors specialized in underwater and animal-themed adventure movies and TV series and he had a number of major successes including Sea Hunt,...

William Shatner. Not since his iconic portrayal of Captain James Tiberius Kirk has he ever played as ridiculously masculine a character as he did in Kingdom of the Spiders. His character's name? "Rack" Hansen. That's right, "Rack" Friggin' Hansen, and he can take out your stupid eye and steal your woman with nothing more than a mere glance shot your way via his razor sharp animal magnetism!

Directed by John Bud Cardos and written by Richard Robinson and Alan Caillou, Kingdom of the Spiders was released in 1977, grossing a respectable $17 million against a $500,000 budget.

In celebration of the DVD's January 19th, 2010, release, Shout! Factory has assembled a video montage for the ages! Dig on it below!

Synopsis

William Shatner stars as veterinarian "Rack" Hansen in this cult film about an Arizona town infested with a horde of arachnids that turn on the humans whose insecticides have depleted their natural food supply.

If you've never seen William Shatner's seminal portrayal of Rack Hansen in the 1977 film Kingdom of the Spiders, shame on you! However, come January, 2010, you'll be able to redeem yourself as Shout! Factory will be releasing a Special Edition Uncut version of the film on DVD.

The kind folks at Shout! Factory provided us with a list of what special features will be included, and I for one cannot wait to hear Item #1:

All new interview with William Shatner Audio commentary by director John Bud Cardos, producer Igor Kantor, spider wrangler Jim Brockett, and cinematographer John Morrill, moderated by Scott Spiegel and Lee Christian Jim Brockett: Spider Wrangler featurette Rare behind-the-scenes footage Poster gallery Original theatrical trailer

The film's synopsis is as follows: William Shatner stars as veterinarian "Rack" Hansen in this cult film about an Arizona town infested with a horde of arachnids that turn on...