'Monster From Green Hell' BD and DVD: Safari Not So Good

 

Film Detective separately releasing the awesomely campy subterranean budget creature feature "Monster From Green Hell" (1957) on Blu-ray and DVD today once more proves that they don't make 'em like they used to. The bonus fun this time extends beyond the criminally blatant use of stock footage to having Jim "Jock" Davis of "Dallas" fame star as stalwart scientist Dr. Quent Brady. Further, Detective includes both the widescreen and full-screen versions of the film. 

On a technical note, "Monster" greatly benefits from the usual but far from typical restoration by Detective. The contrast in the black-and-white images on the Blu-ray version is phenomenal. Being almost literally blown away when inadvertently having the sound bar turned marginally too high was reminiscent of the opening scene of "Back to the Future" when Marty McFly cranks up his amp.

The following CLUES-LADEN promo. from Detective provides a goods sense of the cheesy goodness of the film and of the Silver Age leading-man cred. of Davis. 

Our story begins with Brady sending a literal guinea pig and other critters up in a rocket that can be considered an outer-space version of Noah's Ark. This launch is part of an ongoing research project to discover the impact of groovin' way above the atmosphere before trying to get back to here.

Although it is known that the ship has not landed on Mars or another kooky planet, Brady is uncertain (and initially not unduly concerned) that the craft seems to have landed off the coast of Africa. The concurrent rumors of a horrific monster in the titular region of the Dark Continent allows even the dullest mind to put two-and-two together. 

A combination of a strong sense of integrity and a desire to fight them over there so that we do not need to fight them here prompts Brady to travel to Africa to battle the giant wasps that his research created. This leads to typical filler as our hero and his assembled bunch makes the 450-mile trek from a developed area of Africa to the arena where the action is occurring. 

This leads to the usual love interest, who of course become a damsel-in-distress, and the equally predictable confrontations with the big bad. The related exceptional elements that make "Monster" Detective worthy are that the plan of Brady fails and the ending scenes add something truly special and unexpected ala the final scene of the first season of the original "Lost in Space."

Detective further steps up by including a usual insightful and entertaining Ballyhoo Motion Pictures featurette. This time, film historian/Ballyhoo regular C. Courtney Joyner tells the tale of the career of Davis. This clearly shows the logic behind Davis going from being a B-movie character actor and occasional leading man to becoming the Ewing patriarch. 

The bottom line this time is that "Monster" is a perfect choice for a weekend kiddie matinee, and the Detective restoration does this shouldabeen a cult classic proud.