First Man into Space

Starring:Marshall Thompson, Marla Landi, Bill Edwards (IX), Robert Ayres, Bill Nagy, Carl Jaffe, Roger Delgado, John McLaren, Spencer Teakle, Chuck Keyser, John Fabian, Richard Shaw, Bill Nick, Helen Forest, Roland Brand, Barry Shawzin, Mark Sheldon, Michael Bell, Sheree Winton, Franklyn Fox
Director: Robert Day
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The early reels of First Man into Space should delight fans of the Mercury/Sputnik era in rocket technology... though it may delight fans of low-budget '50s sci-fi even more. A small manned rocket, launched from a jet cruising at high altitude, manages to poke its nose up about 250 miles above the earth---thus making its cocky, reckless pilot the (you guessed it) first man into space. Unfortunately, weird cosmic debris clings to the spacecraft when it crash-lands, and also to the astronaut: he's now covered with a layer of scaly, sparkly space rock. To put it in technical terms, the returned pilot is categorized as "a great big lumbering deformed monster." He's lumbering around a rocket facility in New Mexico, and the monster-pilot's brother (played by the always sober, always reliable Marshall Thompson) must find the thing before it kills again. Oddly enough, once the cheesy space-flight FX wear off, First Man into Space turns into a competent and surprisingly thoughtful thriller; give this movie some points for at least trying to emphasize the science in its fiction. --Robert Horton
Description
A cocky test pilot takes his experimental aircraft higher than anyone has ever flown before--and he is bombarded by cosmic rays and crashes without a trace, until a mysterious string of vampire-like killings occur.

Monsters And Madmen (The Haunted Strangler / Corridors of Blood / The Atomic Submarine / First Man into Space) - Criterion Collection
Average customer rating:

Darwyn Cooke covers

Pretty good set, way over-priced

Great Karloff, shabby sci-fi --

a very fine release

man, tough crowd

Monsters And Madmen (The Haunted Strangler / Corridors of Blood / The Atomic Submarine / First Man into Space) - Criterion Collection
Starring: Monsters & Madmen
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000K0YM18
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Amazon.com

For sheer entertainment value, Monsters and Madmen is a more-than-welcome addition to the prestigious Criterion Collection. Proving that well-made exploitation films deserve as much scholarly appreciation as classics of world cinema, this four-disc set lives up to its name with four enjoyable features (two horror, two science fiction, all above average) that showcase the consistent quality achieved by British producers Richard and Alex Gordon. Taking their cue from American International Pictures (AIP, which Alex co-founded in the mid-1950s) and Roger Corman's low-budget approach to profitable production, the Gordons were passionate film buffs who moved into filmmaking when Boris Karloff brought them a story property called "Stranglehold," which was eventually produced as The Haunted Strangler (1958), giving 69-year-old Karloff a much-needed respite from the forgettable programmers that plagued his later career. Directed by Robert Day, it's a superbly crafted thriller in which Karloff plays 19th-century English author James Rankin, determined to prove the innocence of a man wrongfully executed 20 years earlier. His quest turns horrifically tragic when Rankin is overtaken by the dead man's spirit, and the killer's strangulation spree continues. As part of a double-feature package, The Haunted Strangler was immediately followed by Corridors of Blood (1959), another fine vehicle for Karloff, who plays a doomed physician in 1840s London obsessed with pioneering experiments in anesthesia. It's a grim graverobber's tale, with an early role for Christopher Lee as a macabre character named "Resurrection Joe."

Gaining momentum, the Gordons also produced First Man into Space and The Atomic Submarine (see previous DVD releases for detailed reviews), a pair of 1959 releases that took timely advantage of Cold War headlines, the space race, and advances in nuclear-sub exploration of the polar ice caps. The former involves a cocky test pilot's ill-fated exposure to a strange alien substance which turns him into a blood-sucking predator; the latter is a sci-fi adventure that culminates in an encounter with an ill-tempered alien beneath the ice of the Arctic Circle. All four films guarantee a welcome trip down memory lane for long-time genre buffs, and DVD collectors of all ages will enjoy the enthusiastic expertise of Tom Weaver, whose delightfully reverent commentaries with Richard and Alex Gordon--along with video interviews with primary cast and crew members from all four films--serve as detailed testament (owing to Richard Gordon's wonderfully vivid recollections) to the lasting appeal of these "B-movie" relics. Theatrical trailers, radio spots, and exploitative print advertising place the films in proper historical context, and accompanying booklets offer appreciative essays by producer John Croydon and critic/historians Maitland McDonagh, Bruce Eder, and Michael Lennick. Anyone with a passion for '50s sci-fi and horror will quickly accept Monsters and Madmen as a crucial addition to their DVD collections, well in keeping with the expansive Criterion legacy. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Launching us from a grave past to a space-age future, these two thrilling double features, from producers Richard and Alex Gordon, spin classic tales of hair-raising homicidal mania and intrepid, death-defying exploration. Featuring The Haunted Strangler, Corridors of Blood, The Atomic Submarine, and First Man Into Space.

Customer Reviews:

Darwyn Cooke covers.......2007-06-10

The covers and box art for this set were drawn/designed by Darwyn Cooke,
the writer/artist of DC:The New Frontier and other very cool comics.
(if you like the covers of these dvds, you should check these out:
Absolute DC: The New Frontier,
Batman: Ego and Other Tails,
Spirit,
Catwoman: Selina's Big Score )

I bought this set on faith.
Between Darwyn Cooke's art and Criterion's eclectic high quality, this just HAS TO BE cool.
'nuff said.

Pretty good set, way over-priced.......2007-04-03

While I found all four movies interesting for their nostalgia factor as well as for the b-movie schlockiness, the price was a bit too steep. The commentary and packaging were top notch, although I would have preferred a more authentic, vintage style artwork. These type movies generally delivered as much in the fun factor for their marketing concepts and over the top advertisements as for the movies themselves. For many viewers the initial interest for these movies upon their theatrical release in the late 50's - early 60's was by way of the small poorly printed drive-in ads in the local newspaper. Some of the original posters and ads are included on the disk as a slide show, but the box cover art and descriptions have been updated with anime style illustrations. Not bad artwork, just not in keeping with the times the movies were originally released. Doesn't really do justice to the movies included within.

Both Karloff movies were groundbreaking for the gore factor and are by and large well acted with decent set design and direction. The 2 sci-fi films also included a bit more gore than usual for the times, although extremely tame by today's standards and are of interest now as rare and forgotten low budget popcorn drive-in fare.

It was enjoyable to re-discover these movies all together in one package and with Criterion's attention to detail and top notch remastering it made it that much more so. But there have been other non-Criterion multi-movie genre box sets that are just as good if not better for about 30-40 dollars less. The Universal Monsters box sets are but just a few examples.

I do have to say though that, unlike many of the other reviewers, I am especially glad that Atomic Submarine was included. Of the four movies, this one piqued my interest the most. While the effects and acting hit the embarrassment scale several times throughout the proceedings, the cumulative impact was high on nostalgia, inducing recollections of late night science fiction theatre on TV.

I recommend this box set, but not at this price. All four movies in this package do a good job of illustrating that memorable movies can be made on a shoe string budget. And all four also have some historical significance in the changing way that graphic violence was being portrayed on the theatre screen. Let's hope Criterion continues bringing us rare low budget genre pictures...if only they could improve the pricepoint.

Great Karloff, shabby sci-fi --.......2007-03-19

Among DVD companies, Criterion courts controversy as much as a Great White zeroes in on tasty human limbs leaning off of inflatable rafts. Their name is synonymous for the finest that the digital medium has to offer. A Criterion disc is sure to have the finest possible transfer with a plethora of extras. In countless reviews, any overly loaded disc is given the appellation of "Criterion worthy." Any film on the Criterion label has become shorthand for being the definitive version of that particular film. As such, discriminating viewers usually put off purchasing classic films until Criterion gets their mitts on a particular title.

The question remains -- with so many undisputed classics from major filmmakers in their catalog -- Douglas Sirk, Fassbinder, Pasolini, et al -- why does Criterion, from time to time, choose to produce loaded discs for exceedingly minor films of dubious merit? Excluding a few scattered fans of this title, does the world really need a definitive version of Fiend Without A Face (1956)? A dreary black-and-white low-budget shock show, Face's chief claim to fame is some stop-motion animated brains that "blow up real good" when shot by rifles? What is this film standing next to Spirits of the beehive (1973) in the Criterion catalogue?

And while Equinox (1971) has a very heavy fan base, was it really worth a double-disc treatment, with multiple versions, commentary tracks galore and all manner of ephemera for what is essentially a glorified home movie?

Criterion's MONSTERS AND MADMEN boxed set continues this series of rather interesting release choices. The set consists of two Grade-B, borderline-C science fiction films First Man Into Space (1959) and The Atomic Submarine (1959) and two worthy, if lower-case Boris Karloff vehicles, Corridors of Blood (1958/1962) and The Haunted Strangler (1958). All four have been previously available on other labels. While it can be argued that these films have some trace historical value, they seem unlikely candidates for the much vaunted "Criterion treatment."

First Man Into Space in particular is an example of science fiction at its most mundane. Hot-to-trot Air Force Pilot Dan Prescott (Bill Edwards) is dead set on becoming the titular character. Waving away the warnings of his older, more sensible brother (Marshall Thompson), he barrels his experimental craft too far into the stratosphere. His jet buckles under pressure, and pesky meteor dust gets into his cockpit. Crash landing near a farm, Dan is transformed into an encrusted, cyclopean monster, pillaging the lonely countryside for unwilling animal and human blood donors to slake his vampiric thirst. His Italian "scientist-in-a-skirt" girlfriend Marla Landi expresses concern and the scientific and military communities express polite disinterest ...

Set in the United States but filmed in England, a forlorn stretch of misty moors at one point stands in quite unconvincingly for the New Mexican desert. In an audio commentary, producer Richard Gordon tells film historian Tom Weaver (present on all four discs in this set) says the above mentioned scene brought quite a few chuckles during the film's American premiere. Viewers familiar with this title from TV afternoon broadcasts will be surprised by many dollops of blood and gore that were heretofore previously edited out. In spite of a few distaff scares, First Man Into Space is a dreary affair. It was unofficially remade as The Incredible Melting Man in 1977.

Even less remarkable is Atomic Submarine, a maritime drama set on claustrophobic sets that is jazzed up with the last-minute addition of a flying saucer and a one-eyed monster. After numerous United States submarines are sank without explanation along the North Pole, a special exploratory vessel is called into action. The submarine is commandeered by the militaristic Arthur Franz, who philosophically spars with a pacifist sailor (Brett Halsey), whose scientist father has since left the armed services to further the cause of world peace. Franz and Halsey talk up a storm about the nature of honor, war, peace, science and the military before the monster puts in an eleventh-hour appearance. Ill-fated blonde bombshell Joi Lansing appears briefly as Franz's love interest.

Along with Gordon and Weaver commentary track, a filmed interview with Brett Halsey is included on this disc's extras. Halsey recalls the excitement he had working on the picture, surrounded by many serial western stars and notable character actors, but recalls that costar Franz desperately wanted to be acting in more important projects at the time of Submarine's filming.

The two historical horrors included in the set fare much better. In The Haunted Strangler (aka The Grip of the Strangler), Karloff shines as an obsessed Victorian novelist fascinated by the "Haymarket Strangler," a fiend who strangled and slashed five chorus girls at the Judas Hole cabaret. Convinced that the wrong man was sent to the gallows, Insisting that an obscure medico by the name of Dr. Tenant was actually responsible, Karloff bribes a turnkey to disinter the grave of the hanged man to retrieve the murder weapon. Gripping the scalpel amidst the bones, Karloff is transformed into the grimacing, one-armed strangler, and the killings begin anew. The real underlying reason behind Karloff's interest in the murder case is revealed in a nifty plot twist, and the film turns into a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde variant.

Shot in Karloff's native England, Strangler is very carefully produced in spite of its relatively low budget. Made around the same time Hammer Studios was galvanizing the genre with more explicit gore and sex, Strangler has some remarkable bawdy content. Obviously based on the exploits of Jack the Ripper, Strangler substitutes dancing girls in lie of prostitutes for the madman's victims, That still doesn't prevent one lass from obviously proffering her services to a top-hatted gentleman in the film's opening execution scene, and few will wonder how the film's dancing girls are able to pry expensive jewelry from their wealthy gentlemen fans. Particularly memorable is a scene dissolving from Karloff's grimacing face to a line of girls dancing the can-can, bloomers and legs akimbo. In a further nod towards modernity, while the ostensible "monster" is vanquished at Strangler's conclusion, due to the machinations of a seemingly minor character, evil is clearly triumphant.

Extras on the Strangler disc, is a documentary entitled "King of the Monster," where Karloff's costars recall what a charming old duffer he was. To this reviewer, the most priceless extras are the radio ads. Paired with Fiend Without A Face, Karloff can scarcely hide his contempt for the co-feature by declaring "It's about weird little creatures .. Made by atomic energy ... Loathsome things that kill you by eating your brains!" Indeed.

Ending the collection on a high note is Corridors of Blood, filmed in 1958 but released in 1962. In addition to Karloff shining in a later role, we have a very young Christopher Lee as "Resurrection Joe," a Burke and Hare figure who figures into the film's heated narrative. Karloff stars as Dr. Bolton, a kindly surgeon in 1840's London who insists that there are infinitely more humane ways to treat patients than tying them down and severing their limbs with unclean kitchen knives. He begins a series of experiments to perfect a crude form of anesthesia, using himself as a guinea pig. In the process, he eventually winds up an addict, dependent on increasing amounts of opium and laudanum. He's eventually suspended from his practice, and becomes increasingly reliant on the highly criminal activities of the Seven Dials Tavern, who provide freshly murdered bodies to the medical establishment for research ....

Director Darren Aronofsky declared his Requiem for a Dream (2000) a horror film, where "addiction was the monster." Only nominally a horror film, Corridors of Blood presents us with a scenario where addiction -- and the corrupt society of 19th Century England as a whole -- is the monster. Karloff, who had played countless evil doctors, outcasts of society intent on raising the dead must have been aware of the irony inherent in his role in Corridors of Blood -- a "good doctor," highly regarded by the establishment who plunges filthy knives into squirming, screaming patients. One wonders if thoughts of his frequent costar, Bela Lugosi, who battled his own substance abuse issues were that far from Karloff's thoughts.

All four discs in the set boast superior transfers and more extras than any viewer would want or even need. In summation, while one questions some of Criterion's eccentric choices for preservation, no one can fault their flawless presentation.

a very fine release.......2007-02-25

This release by the Criterion Collection contains four films.

The disc and spine numbers are differend and I will be numbering them by the spine number for this review.

The films are

First Man into Space, The Atomic Submarine, The Haunted Strangler, and Corridors of Blood.

"First Man into Space" is about a Navy test pilot who desires to be the first man into space and leaves the atmosphere during a flight only to become a monseter.

The special features are Audio commentary by producer Richard Gordon and writer Tom Weaver, interviews with director Robert Day and actress Marla Landi photo galleries of production photos, and theatrical trailers and radio spots.

"The Atomic Submarine" is about a submarine that investigates some disapperarences in the Arctic only to encounter an alien spaceship.

The special features are: Audio commentary with Alex Gordon and Tom Weaver, a gallery of production photos, an interview with actor Brett Halsey, and the theatrical trailers and radio spots.

"The Haunted Strangler" is about a writer (Boris Karloff) who believes a man was wrongly convicted and hanged for multiple murders but begins to lose his mind.

The special features are Audio commentary by Richard Gordon, Tom Weaver, and Alex Gordon, interviews with Robert Day, Jan Read, Jean Kent, and Vera Day, theatrical trailers and radio spots, a gallery of production photos and deleted scenes.

"Corridors of Blood" is about surgeon (Boris Karloff) who theorizes that patients can have painless surgery. He begins to experiment with different substances such as nitrous oxide and opium to see if they numb pain but beocmes addicted to them.

The special features are deleted and extended scenes cut by the censors, Audio commentariey by Richard Gordon and Tom Weaver, interviews with Robert Day, Francis Matthews, and Yvonne Romain, theatrical trailers and radio spots, and a gallery of production photos.

Each of these films are good and "Corridors of Blood" was my favorite.

This is a fime set of films and I highly recommend it.

man, tough crowd.......2007-02-13

wow, people are not giving this set enough credit. These films, while not the best Karloff films, or the best examples of the genere, are all entertaining. The karloff films are much better than people are making them out to be. The atomic submarine is my least favorite, due to the sheer cheesiness of the film, but its still a fun watch.

But, the commentaries ON ALL FOUR FILMS is what makes this set. Informative, interesting, a great listen.

If the fourth film was another sci-fi film of the same quality of the other three films on this set, instead of atomic submarine, it would have been 5 stars.

if you like classic horror and enjoy good commentary tracks, buy this set.

The criterion edition of fiend w/o a face is also highly recomended.

Average customer rating:

You must buy this IMMEDIATELY!
first man into space
first man into space a 50s gem
A movie I will never forget.
Slept with the light on for a week!!!

First Man into Space
Starring: Marshall Thompson , Marla Landi , Bill Edwards (IX) , Robert Ayres , and Bill Nagy
Director: Robert Day
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Sci-Fi | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Science Fiction | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: 6305079730
Release Date: 1998-06-17

Amazon.com

The early reels of First Man into Space should delight fans of the Mercury/Sputnik era in rocket technology... though it may delight fans of low-budget '50s sci-fi even more. A small manned rocket, launched from a jet cruising at high altitude, manages to poke its nose up about 250 miles above the earth---thus making its cocky, reckless pilot the (you guessed it) first man into space. Unfortunately, weird cosmic debris clings to the spacecraft when it crash-lands, and also to the astronaut: he's now covered with a layer of scaly, sparkly space rock. To put it in technical terms, the returned pilot is categorized as "a great big lumbering deformed monster." He's lumbering around a rocket facility in New Mexico, and the monster-pilot's brother (played by the always sober, always reliable Marshall Thompson) must find the thing before it kills again. Oddly enough, once the cheesy space-flight FX wear off, First Man into Space turns into a competent and surprisingly thoughtful thriller; give this movie some points for at least trying to emphasize the science in its fiction. --Robert Horton

Description

A cocky test pilot takes his experimental aircraft higher than anyone has ever flown before--and he is bombarded by cosmic rays and crashes without a trace, until a mysterious string of vampire-like killings occur.

Customer Reviews:

You must buy this IMMEDIATELY!.......2006-11-07

A guy gets shot into space and returns to Earth as a crusty, cockeyed spazzbo... and he spends the whole movie stumbling around and bumping into things. Pure genius... if you need sleep, BUY THIS MOVIE NOW!

first man into space.......2005-09-25

the fiend without a face producers strike again with this somewhat less successful but stillpretty creepy sci-fi/ horror hybrid. like fiend this starts slow but builds to some really scary moments.

first man into space a 50s gem .......2005-05-03

I remember seeing this film a a young boy and it helped hook me on Sci Fi for life. 50s rockets and a space plane right out of the newsreels of the time coupled with a risk taking pilot, responsible older brother who is his superior officer and the beautiful scientist who they both want make for a great movie. The science and horror are blended into a believable tale of ambition gone wrong as a disobeyed order to stay below the threshold of space so the pilot can be the first man into space leads to a hideous fate. By doing so he passes thru a cosmic cloud that covers the ship and him in a protective reflective dust which insulates both him and the ship from the atmosphere. What follows is a mystery as to what happened to the pilot when the ship re enters the atmosphere and what is causing the mysterious slasher type murders that have their victims drained of blood leading to a typical 50s climax where a noble act ends in tragedy but gives future pilots a new safety element to continue into space.

a real gem of a film cheaply but professionally done. dont pass this one up.

A movie I will never forget........2004-12-29

I saw this movie when I was 8 years old. It was a double feature with "Old Yeller". I never had seen any scary movies before. Like some of the other reviewers, this movie scared the crap out of me. I had nightmares for several weeks and refused to walk alone down the long dark hallway to our bathroom at night. After all these years, the memory of what the monster looked like is still fresh. Now that I have seen the whole movie again, it was fun to relive all the chills it gave me so long ago.

Slept with the light on for a week!!!.......2003-12-01

This film caused me nightmares when I was a child (after it was run on television). I have never forgotten seeing this movie -- nor have I forgotten sleeping with the lights on for a week -- even though I am now 50 years old. Several Internet movie database websites list this film as "suitable for children." I DON'T THINK SO; unless scaring the crap out of your children is your goal?

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