It's Alive! / Year 2889

Rating:
Summary: dreadful in every respect
Review: I happen to like b movies; I admit it. I'm quite willing to overlook the low end nature of many of these films for the sake of entertainment. Roger Corman's sci-fi quickies from the 50's and 60's come to mind., but while Corman's efforts were often greater than the sum of their parts, these two turkeys have absolutely nothing to recommend them. Wooden acting, shoddy production values and leaden pacing add to the misery for both flicks. "Year 2889", by the way, is a note for note remake of Corman's 1955 film "The Day the World Ended". I suppose a fairer comparison might be to Ed Wood's so terrible it's funny "Plan nine from outer space", but while that movie is good for a few unintended laughs, these two films are the cinematic equivalent of novacaine.

Rating:
Summary: Words can't describe this mess......
Review: If any of you are familiar with Larry Buchanan(from MST3K for starters),then you know he did Attack of the the Eye Creatures,but these 2 films are just as bad,if not worse(if that's possible!).The first movie "It's Alive!" only has 2 scenes of the monster and that's it! The flashback is way too long and could've been summed up in 2 sentences at least.The second feature is a little better and the creature you see alot more,but still,there are no thrills,no suspense-nothing!!..The best way to view these films is to hand these over to MST3K and let them do the rest!!!...Bad movies? Sure,but no fun at all to sit through.......

Rating:
Summary: A Larry Buchanan Double Threat
Review: Oh man...yesterday I 'treated' myself to a mini Larry Buchanan film festival and I am now suffering from hangover like symptoms this morning. I thought it kind of odd that I should watch these two terrible movies on Oscar night, a night when Hollywood celebrates its' best films.

Anyway, Azalea Productions, which worked with American International Television, a subsidiary of American International Pictures (AIP), was sort of a dumping ground for AIP's younger stars that lost some of their sheen. Azalea's productions where beyond cheap, and mostly produced for TV, turning out such schlock as The Eye Creatures (1965), Zontar the Thing from Venus (1966), among others. Larry Buchanan, director of Mars Needs Women (1967), was in charge, and pretty prolific. Retromedia presents two of his more memorable (or forgettable) telefilms here.

It's Alive (1969) stars once popular Disney star Tommy Kirk, who appeared in films like Old Yeller (1957), The Shaggy Dog (1959), and Swiss Family Robinson (1960), but once he became older, lost his appeal towards casting directors and was forced to dwell in movie hell. The plot for this movie is basically a young New York couple, the Sterns, gets lost in the Ozarks, meets Wayne Thomas (Tommy Kirk), a paleontologist working in the area, who directs the Sterns to a nearby house in that they may get some gasoline and make it back to civilization. The secluded house belongs to a man named Greely (Billy Thurman), who also runs a sort of dinosaur park with wild animals that he's captured over the years. He's got snakes, wildcats, monkeys (where the heck did he capture monkeys in the Ozarks?) and something lurking in the caves behind his house, his prize possession. Seems Greely found a prehistoric creature, and feeds the occasional lost traveler to his 'pet'. Wayne comes by to check up on the couple, and Greely knocks him out, and throws him in the cave with the Sterns. Greely also has a housekeeper of sorts living with him, Bella, who, it turns out, was in a similar situation as the young couple a few years ago, and Greely kept her to make meals, clean house, etc. We spend a great deal of time hearing her story and how she tried to escape in what had to be the longest flash back I've ever seen, but since she's relating the story to the couple and Wayne, it seemed utterly pointless to let it go on so long, as we knew she didn't escape. Obviously padding to fill out the 80 minute run time. Anyway, stuff happens, and we actually only get to see the creature for like five minutes, but I suppose that was a good thing as we had already seen it in a previous Azalea made-for-TV film, Creature of Destruction (1967), and the suit hasn't been holding up none too well. This mess finally comes to a close, with the screen displaying The End? I'm serious, they put a question mark after the words 'The End' as if to warn us that someone, one day, will revive these characters, or, at least the plot. Poor Tommy Kirk...

The second film in this festival of pain is called In the Year 2889 (1967), and deals with survivors of a post-nuclear world. This film stars another Disney alum and 50's TV child star Paul Petersen, who many may remember as Jeff Stone on the Donna Reed Show. Seems Captain John Ramsey (Neil Fletcher) has spent a number of year building a home in a secluded valley, one perfectly suited to protect him, his daughter, and her soon to be husband from post nuclear radiation. It has something to do with lead in the cliffs and a lake with an internal hot spring. Anyhow, this secluded valley isn't as secluded as we were led to believe, as various individuals begin to show up. First a young, wayward couple, then Steve (Paul Petersen) and his radiation poisoned brother, and then finally a local rancher/moonshiner, played by Billy Thurman. The captain gets irate, as he had only planned provisions for three people, but now has to deal with seven. He soon has something else to worry about as it's discovered mutants are roaming the valley, eating various game, and tensions within the house begin to grow, developing into a real power struggle. Will the survivors be able to fight off the mutants and keep from killing themselves in the process? Will humanity as we know it disappear from the face of the Earth, or will these people be able to save it from the brink of extinction? To be honest with you, I stopped caring about five minutes in...maybe sitting through the first feature wore me down.

The picture quality was decent on these two films, but wear was noticeable. Both look as if they were shot on 35mm film, and there are plenty of tedious voice-overs. The production quality is non-existent, but I wasn't expecting a lot anyway. There are two special features, one being a piece with Paul Petersen, talking about his experiences in the industry, who he got started and such, and a little of how he ended up in this dog. He also goes on about his cause of helping child stars of past and present avoid the unpleasant experiences he went through being chewed up and spat out by a once uncaring Hollywood system. There is also a nifty photo gallery of Paul Petersen including stills of himself, and pictures of his various projects including records and books. Not a bad release of some truly awful films, good for a few laughs...and I have to say, Billy Thruman, a veteran of many a Buchanan film, was kind of fun to watch, especially in It's Alive.

Cookieman108

Rating:
Summary: A Larry Buchanan Double Threat
Review: Oh man...yesterday I 'treated' myself to a mini Larry Buchanan film festival and I am now suffering from hangover like symptoms this morning. I thought it kind of odd that I should watch these two terrible movies on Oscar night, a night when Hollywood celebrates its' best films.

Anyway, Azalea Productions, which worked with American International Television, a subsidiary of American International Pictures (AIP), was sort of a dumping ground for AIP's younger stars that lost some of their sheen. Azalea's productions where beyond cheap, and mostly produced for TV, turning out such schlock as The Eye Creatures (1965), Zontar the Thing from Venus (1966), among others. Larry Buchanan, director of Mars Needs Women (1967), was in charge, and pretty prolific. Retromedia presents two of his more memorable (or forgettable) telefilms here.

It's Alive (1969) stars once popular Disney star Tommy Kirk, who appeared in films like Old Yeller (1957), The Shaggy Dog (1959), and Swiss Family Robinson (1960), but once he became older, lost his appeal towards casting directors and was forced to dwell in movie hell. The plot for this movie is basically a young New York couple, the Sterns, gets lost in the Ozarks, meets Wayne Thomas (Tommy Kirk), a paleontologist working in the area, who directs the Sterns to a nearby house in that they may get some gasoline and make it back to civilization. The secluded house belongs to a man named Greely (Billy Thurman), who also runs a sort of dinosaur park with wild animals that he's captured over the years. He's got snakes, wildcats, monkeys (where the heck did he capture monkeys in the Ozarks?) and something lurking in the caves behind his house, his prize possession. Seems Greely found a prehistoric creature, and feeds the occasional lost traveler to his 'pet'. Wayne comes by to check up on the couple, and Greely knocks him out, and throws him in the cave with the Sterns. Greely also has a housekeeper of sorts living with him, Bella, who, it turns out, was in a similar situation as the young couple a few years ago, and Greely kept her to make meals, clean house, etc. We spend a great deal of time hearing her story and how she tried to escape in what had to be the longest flash back I've ever seen, but since she's relating the story to the couple and Wayne, it seemed utterly pointless to let it go on so long, as we knew she didn't escape. Obviously padding to fill out the 80 minute run time. Anyway, stuff happens, and we actually only get to see the creature for like five minutes, but I suppose that was a good thing as we had already seen it in a previous Azalea made-for-TV film, Creature of Destruction (1967), and the suit hasn't been holding up none too well. This mess finally comes to a close, with the screen displaying The End? I'm serious, they put a question mark after the words 'The End' as if to warn us that someone, one day, will revive these characters, or, at least the plot. Poor Tommy Kirk...

The second film in this festival of pain is called In the Year 2889 (1967), and deals with survivors of a post-nuclear world. This film stars another Disney alum and 50's TV child star Paul Petersen, who many may remember as Jeff Stone on the Donna Reed Show. Seems Captain John Ramsey (Neil Fletcher) has spent a number of year building a home in a secluded valley, one perfectly suited to protect him, his daughter, and her soon to be husband from post nuclear radiation. It has something to do with lead in the cliffs and a lake with an internal hot spring. Anyhow, this secluded valley isn't as secluded as we were led to believe, as various individuals begin to show up. First a young, wayward couple, then Steve (Paul Petersen) and his radiation poisoned brother, and then finally a local rancher/moonshiner, played by Billy Thurman. The captain gets irate, as he had only planned provisions for three people, but now has to deal with seven. He soon has something else to worry about as it's discovered mutants are roaming the valley, eating various game, and tensions within the house begin to grow, developing into a real power struggle. Will the survivors be able to fight off the mutants and keep from killing themselves in the process? Will humanity as we know it disappear from the face of the Earth, or will these people be able to save it from the brink of extinction? To be honest with you, I stopped caring about five minutes in...maybe sitting through the first feature wore me down.

The picture quality was decent on these two films, but wear was noticeable. Both look as if they were shot on 35mm film, and there are plenty of tedious voice-overs. The production quality is non-existent, but I wasn't expecting a lot anyway. There are two special features, one being a piece with Paul Petersen, talking about his experiences in the industry, who he got started and such, and a little of how he ended up in this dog. He also goes on about his cause of helping child stars of past and present avoid the unpleasant experiences he went through being chewed up and spat out by a once uncaring Hollywood system. There is also a nifty photo gallery of Paul Petersen including stills of himself, and pictures of his various projects including records and books. Not a bad release of some truly awful films, good for a few laughs...and I have to say, Billy Thruman, a veteran of many a Buchanan film, was kind of fun to watch, especially in It's Alive.

Cookieman108

Rating:
Summary: Classic Sixties Cult Schlock
Review: Who cares what anyone says negatively about Larry Buchanan's
films. Personally this is good cult movie entertainment. One
cannot properly critique a "cult movie" like mainstream films.
Either you appreciate this art form for what it is or stay with
regular fare. If you like Ed Wood type of filmaking get this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Sixties Cult Schlock
Review: Who cares what anyone says negatively about Larry Buchanan's
films. Personally this is good cult movie entertainment. One
cannot properly critique a "cult movie" like mainstream films.
Either you appreciate this art form for what it is or stay with
regular fare. If you like Ed Wood type of filmaking get this DVD.