Three Monster Tales of Sci-fi Terror

With this 2-disc Blu-ray monster set, the good people at Eureka are offering something that fans of B-movies should have something to enthuse about: THREE MONSTER TALES OF SCI-FI TERROR contains three films from the 1940’s and 50s with the first edition (2000 copies) presented in a limited edition O-card slipcase.

The respective films are MAN-MADE MONSTER (1941), directed by George Waggner and starring horror stalwarts Lionel Atwill and Lon Chaney Jr. followed by THE MONOLITH MONSTERS (1957), directed by John Sherwood and starring Grant Williams and last but by no means least, Jack Arnold's 1958 MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS. Let's start with 'Man Made Monster' in which Dan McCormick (Lon Chaney Jr.) is the sole survivor of a bus crash after the vehicle hit a high power line. There is, however, a reason as to why Dan is the only survivor, namely that he seems to be immune to electric shocks! With the tabloid headlines going into overdrive, Dr. Lawrence (Samuel Hinds) becomes interested in the case and saves Dan from a new and exploitative career as a sideshow exhibit 'Dynamo Man'. While Dr. Lawrence's intentions to study Dan’s unique condition is sincere his colleague, mad scientist Dr. Riga (Lionell Atwill), hatches an evil plan involving an army of electro-biological zombies with Dan McCormick as his supposed guinea pig who will help him fulfil his dastardly ambition... While Dr. Lawrence is away on business he leaves precise instructions for Dr. Riga which are promptly ignored, instead he ‘feeds’ Dan with higher doses of electricity until his mind is zombified and he becomes dependent on ever more electrical charges. Dan’s increasingly strange behaviour causes Dr. Lawrence’s daughter June (Anna Nagel) and investigating motormouth journo Mark Adams (Frank Albertson) to become suspicious of Dr. Riga though so far they have no proof. When Dr. Lawrence unexpectedly returns and is woken up by the light in his bedroom coming and going he grabs his morning coat and enters the laboratory to see whether any of the equipment is at fault. Instead, he catches his colleague administering another strong dose of electric shocks to Dan whose body now exudes a strange glow and he displays no will of his own. When Riga orders him to kill Dr. Lawrence he does so and in order to save his own skin, Riga turns Dan into a killing machine who soon spreads terror across the countryside… The concept of creating an army of electro-biological ‘zombies’ might seem a tad silly but there’s method in Dr. Riga’s madness as he actually hatches ambitions of one day replacing humans with robots as the main workforce – but at what cost? Although we can guess the outcome of this story from the start it still makes for an exciting little B-thriller.

In 'Monolith Monsters', the Californian desert area near San Angelo is spilling over with countless mini-meteorites after a large meteorite has crashed. Trouble is, these strange meteorites multiply through contact with water, and all those who come into contact with the strange black fragments soon turn into stone, that is to say organs and limbs become hard as rock! Dave Miller (Grant Williams) - head of the local geological bureau and his teacher girlfriend Cathy Barrett (Lola Albright) at first ignore strange gossip about people turning to stone, not making the connection with the meteorite fragments which soon grow into monoliths. But when young pupil Ginny picks up one of the black stones during a school trip and places the stone in a barrel filled with rain water outside her parents house, disaster strikes. With Ginny the only survivor and her parents dead, a race against time is on to prevent the little girl from turning into stone, though as yet neither Dave nor any of the other experts have put two and two together to figure out that it is the water which causes the stones to multiply at rapid speed. Newspaper editor Martin Cochrane (Les Tremayne), Professor Flanders (Trevor Bardette) and Dr. Hendricks (Harry Jackson) all come up with their own theories at first but when it emerges that these black meteorites drain silicon out of all those who touch them it suddenly becomes clear as to why the victims gradually turn to stone: silicon in the human body maintains vital tissue flexibility. Now they must come up with a plan preventing the citizens of America turning into stone, seeing how the meteorites multiply quicker than you can say “run fast”! To make the overall situation worse, a massive rainstorm is forecast. But when one scientist discovers that salt-water halts the growth of the monoliths, Dave plans to blow up the local dam in order to ensure waves of water flow over the salt deposits at the canyon’s edge where the bulk of the monolith stands. With the governor against the idea of blowing up the dam, will Dave succeed in his mission?

In 'Monster on the Campus', science professor Dr. Blake (Arthur Franz) is excited about the delivery of a so-called ‘coelacanth’ – in this case a prehistoric specimen of fish thought to be millions of years old. During a demonstration at Dunsford University he lectures his excited students about evolution and devolution, pointing out that man is the only specimen who can decide whether we move forward or backwards provided we learn to control our basic instincts (humanity doesn’t appear to have learned much in that case…). Back in the lab, Blake accidentally scratches his hand on the teeth of the fish-like reptile and to make matters worse, he then dips his injured hand into the water tank in which the species was held. It doesn't take long until strange changes start happening to Blake… When his assistant Molly Riordan (Helen Westcott) is found dead in the scientist's garden a short while later and rumours of an odd looking beast scare the town’s residents, Blake's fiancée Madeline (Joanna Moore) has no idea that she is in love with the monster in question, neither does Detective Powell (Phil Harvey) nor Dr. Howard (Alexander Lockwood). Naturally there cannot be a happy ending in this low-budget feature which isn’t without interest although it must be said that Blakes' ‘costume’ looks like it was purchased from a Halloween shop – perhaps it was.

The three films most definitely don’t provide any intellectual stimulation but if you like to be entertained by B-movie schlockers during a rainy night in, then THREE MONSTER TALES OF SCI-FI TERROR is your best choice! Bonus material consists of audio commentaries, trailers and a photo gallery.