Back in September of this year, I posted a review for the first blu-ray release from newly founded boutique label Film Masters, a 2-disc double feature of Ray Kellogg’s The Giant Gila Monster and The Killer Shrews. Film Masters followed this up in late October with their next release, another 2-disc set, this time featuring two films from Gene and Roger Corman’s (The) FilmGroup production and distribution company, and both from screen writer Charles B. Griffith: 1959’s Beast From Haunted Cave and 1960’s Ski Troop Attack.

Undoubtedly, the connecting element to both films featured in this set is the South Dakota shooting locations that both films share. While also providing stark contrast to the California locations, such as Los Angeles’ Griffith Park, that frequently served as shooting locations for the Corman brothers’ films, the snow-covered mountains of South Dakota added a layer of credibility and credence to these film’s settings that cheap studio sets could never provide. However, as the Cormans (particularly Roger) were known for squeezing every penny from their low-budget investments, both films also feature the exact same cast, and in somewhat similar roles.

What the two films most certainly do not share are themes, plot, or even genre. While Beast From Haunted Cave is a monster movie with heist film elements attached, Ski Troop Attack is a grim, WWII-set, small-scale war film. So, while the genre disparity between the two titles in this collection may initially make them seem like an odd paring, the history of their joint productions really do make the two films an ideal pairing.

Beast From Haunted Cave Review:

Produced by Gene Corman, Beast From Haunted Cave is the first directorial credit for the late filmmaker Monte Hellman, who is probably best known for his directorial efforts on the James Taylor-starring Two Lane-Blacktop and a handful of Jack Nicholson’s early films, such as The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind, but would later serve as an executive producer on Quentin Tarantino’s Reservior Dogs. Hellman also directed the third entry in the Silent Night, Deadly Night series and provided some editing work on The Monkees’ 1968 film Head, but those particular credits tend to be mentioned only by specific sets of film fans.

Posing as guests of a nearby ski resort, a small band of thieves make plans to rob the vault of a mining company in the mountains of South Dakota. Ward (Frank Wolff – Once Upon a Time in the West, God Forgives… I Don’t), the leader of the group, sends his goon, Marty (Richard Sinatra, cousin of Frank) to plant explosives at the gold mine that will act as a distraction while they loot the vault at the company’s office. Marty decides to take a local barmaid along with him, partially to act as an alibi in case something should go wrong, but also because there’s a pretty solid chance that he might get laid. Although his intentions are sound, the decision to bring the young woman proves to a bad one when she is attacked and abducted by a large, spider-like monster.

The heist goes off as planned. Well, except for that whole “dead barmaid” thing. With the help of local guide Gil (Michael Forrest, who’s done everything from westerns to “Star Trek” to localization work on dozens of anime and video games), who is initially unaware of their crime, the crew make a long-distance trip to a remote cabin, where they expect to be picked up by a getaway plane. Meanwhile, Marty senses that they are being followed on their trip, which is proven true when the monster soon returns.

Of course, the monster makes a few appearances to cause trouble for our characters. However, some viewers may find themselves wishing that the “Beast” appeared even more frequently as the second half of the film does tend to drag when the creature isn’t present. Although the design is quite intriguing, there’s no denying that Beast from Haunted Cave‘s titular monster is not constructed in an overly convincing manner, even by low-budget standards of the era, so the fact that this somewhat-hokey creation is often the highlight of the film is a bit damning. At only 65 minutes long, Beast from Haunted Cave feels padded out and even possibly a bit too long, yet still manages to feature an ending that seems quite abrupt.

Sheila Carol (also known as Sheila Noonan) co-stars as “Gypsy”, the female portion of Ward’s gang and his embittered lover seeking a way out of her current situation, and Wally Campo (The Little Shop of Horrors, Tales of Terror) attempts to add a little lighthearted goofiness as “Byron”, the final member of the gang. While all of the cast give decent performances, nearly all of the characters become at least a little annoying as the film progresses. The film also features an exceptional (and iconic to some) opening theme by Alexander Lazslo, one that Corman had previously used on 1958’s Night of the Blood Beast and would use again on 1959’s Attack of the Giant Leeches.

The Film Masters blu-ray release of Beast from Haunted Cave features both the 65-minute theatrical version of the film, as well as the 72-minute TV cut. While all of the added scenes feature Marty chatting with another character, the bulk of the added runtime is devoted to a inconsequential conversation between he and “Jill”, Gil’s younger sister who is neither seen nor mentioned in the original theatrical release.

VIDEO/AUDIO QUALITY: Film Masters has presented Beast from Haunted Cave in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Of course, this HD transfer from restored footage looks far superior to the dime-a-dozen (well, maybe $20 a dozen), often duped and/or low-quality standard definition home video copies that have cluttered the shelves of department stores (and, later, pawn shops) of this country for decades. However, that’s not to say that this release doesn’t have some issues.

While clarity and fine detail are improved, the presentation is not exactly jaw-dropping. That said, I do blame a lot of this on the film itself as the snowy white backdrops offer little variety and can often become indistinct from each other, while there’s just an overall greyness to many of the exterior shots as well, as if the entire film shoot only took place on the cloudiest of days. While these are more along the lines of minor complaints, I did find myself more receptive to the film’s interior shots, whether that be of the local bar, the cabin, or even the seldom seem “Haunted Cave” of the film’s title. In these instances, I found the visual quality of the transfer to be quite pleasing.

As for the audio side of the presentation, expectations should probably be tempered. As with many of those lesser quality releases that Beast from Haunted Cave received over the years, dialog often sounds somewhat metallic and echoey, almost as if the actors were talking into tin cans. This is accompanied by some slight hiss/static in the background of dialog heavy scenes. However, the film’s soundtrack fares quite well comparatively.

SPECIAL FEATURES: The Beast from Haunted Cave blu-ray features a commentary track from film historian Tom Weaver, with filmmaker Larry Blamire (The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, Trail of the Screaming Forehead) adding in a few thoughts. Weaver is insanely knowledgeable and manages to deliver his presentation in an entertaining yet straightforward manner, although he does repeat certain pieces of trivia. The commentary also features previously recorded audio clips from Monte Hellman.

Also featured, albeit hidden in the menus, is a brief interview with actor Chris Robinson, who was the star of William Grefe’s 1972 “snakevenge” film, Stanley, but is probably best known by many for his roles on “General Hospital” and “The Bold and the Beautiful“. Robinson discusses his earliest days as a struggling actor, how he learned make-up to help with his chances of finding work, and how he landed the job on Beast while his agent failed to find him acting roles.

Also included are a “Behind The Scenes” still gallery from the film’s production, a restored version of the film’s original trailer, and a re-cut version of the trailer.

Ski Troop Attack Review: Produced and directed by Roger Corman, who also has a cameo late in the film as a German officer, Ski Troop Attack tells the tale of five American soldiers who find themselves skiing through hostile German territory while on a recon mission during WWII. As should be expected, they do encounter some enemy troops as well as a not-so-welcoming local, losing one of their number along the way before devising a plan to destroy a railroad trestle vital to the transport of Nazi supplies and re-enforcements.

As previously mentioned, Ski Troop Attack features the same cast as Beast from Haunted Cave, albeit with the addition of Paul Rapp (who would later serve in production capacities on films such as Boxcar Bertha, Mean Streets, and The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, as well as TV shows “Laverne & Shirley” and “Happy Days“) in an uncredited role as one of the American soldiers. All of the actors give more convincing performances here, almost as if they found this film to be the more “respectable” of the two projects. The reappearance of Sheila Carol as a German woman who finds the soldiers at her home is of particular note as the actress gets to deliver a more dramatic performance, albeit in a much smaller role.

Overall, I quite enjoyed Ski Troop Attack, although there is no denying that the film’s limited budget is reflected in the scale of the action sequences. Battles feel small and confined, never featuring more than a handful of extras (generally portrayed by members of the local high school ski teams) in any sequence. There’s also plenty of stock footage on hand. However, Corman was wise enough to tailor scenes around the stock footage that he planned to use, preventing their inclusion from feeling random and disconnected and making the scene fit the footage instead of the footage fit the scene. That said, it’s still clearly stock footage, so it can cause some level of disconnect from the flow of the film.

 

VIDEO/AUDIO QUALITY: Film Masters’ release of Ski Troop Attack is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which seems to indicate that this transfer was likely sourced from a TV print of the film. While this does mean that there’s a drop in image quality compared to that provided for Beast, the release’s “main feature”, I definitely don’t consider this transfer to look “poor” in any way. While I had watched Ski Troop Attack at least once previously, I can’t claim to be overly familiar with the film, so I can’t truly compare Film Masters’ HD transfer to previous home video releases. However, if the previous releases of Beast from Haunted Cave are any indication, then this release has to be a massive upgrade.

Ski Troop Attack, like Beast from Haunted Cave, features a Mono audio track. Much like the presentation for Beast, dialog is clear, but can frequently have a bit of that “tin can” sound. While worth mentioning, it’s never much of a distraction. Overall, I would call the audio side of things “decent”. However, a lower budget does result in the film’s battle scenes sounding a little less bombastic than intended, so a stellar audio track would not have made difference in that regard. 

BONUS FEATURES: One of my favorite film commentators, C. Courtney Joyner provides yet another fun, lighthearted, and insightful commentary track, this time joined by filmmaker Howard S. Berger. Also included is “Hollywood Intruders: The FilmGroup Story – Part 1”, a compelling short feature from Ballyhoo Pictures recounting the history of FilmGroup, in particular the two films featured on this release and 1959’s The Wasp Woman.

A 2023 re-cut trailer for Ski Troop Attack is also included.

BOOKLET: As is the case with all Film Masters releases, a booklet is included featuring two essays on the featured films. The first is an interview with actor Chris Robinson as conducted by film historian Tom Weaver. Robinson discusses his initial meeting (in full make-up) with Gene Corman, the creation of the monster suit used for Beast from Haunted Cave, and film’s production.

The next essay features C. Courtney Joyner once again, this time discussing the creation of The FilmGroup, and the making of Ski Troop Attack, which would prove to be one of the studio’s final films. The essay also discusses two of Roger Corman’s later “war films”, The Secret Invasion and Von Richthofen and Brown, with significant attention paid to the former.

VERDICT: While maybe not the most visually stunning of HD presentations, this double feature nevertheless presents two moderately entertaining entries from the early careers of the Corman brothers, as well as presents a showcase for their resourcefulness when it came to squeezing as much as they could out of a production budget.

While I may be a much more avid fan of the films included on Film Masters first release, I’m much more pleased by the featurettes and commentary tracks this time around. I found all of them to be quite entertaining and informative without once ever overstaying their welcome.

All in all, this is a rather solid release from Film Masters.