Genres

Visitors Review

2013-05-07 18:05:00

Do NOT waste your money on this DVD. Phooey!

After all these years, we finally receive an "official" release of Roger Corman's wonderful LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) -- and Jack Nicholson's film debut is thrown in, too! Wonderful! Or so I thought. The disc arrived today, and was sent back today. It's COLORIZED. Yep. And no option for B&W, either. Ya wanna watch LITTLE SHOP, you have to see it with that crappy computer color that makes everybody look embalmed. My new choice for WORST DVD OF THE YEAR. What a MASSIVE disappointment.[...]

Jack Gattanella 2013-05-07 02:52:41

this rare find is completely watchable on one level, almost in spite of itself...

You'd know why you'd want to find this film, as it's the ultra-lowbudget, barely-a-drive-in quickie that features the great JackNicholson in his feature debut at the tender age of 21 (he was amailman at MGM in his previous years in Hollywood). He plays a youthout of control, though also under duress. He's taken a woman and kidhostage, and outside the crowd builds in anticipation as the copsstruggle to find a compromise to get everyone safely out. The film iscomplete with a theme song that just repeats 'cry-cry-cry, cry-babykiller', and in a style that is as polished as a junkyard dog. Thestory itself, by the way, is told in a way that is so simplistic andwith over-acting (or maybe too trying-to-be-realistic acting) that istypical of this kind of un-pretentiously kind of fare. '' But thereason in the end to reach into the recesses of ebay or elsewhere tofind it is to see Nicholson in his early larval stage of a career, andsomehow he does make the work fascinating to watch. Obviously not hisbest by a long-shot, and his first big break in the B-world would comelater in Little Shop of Horrors and even later in Easy Rider. However Idid like how he was keeping his scenes pretty well grounded, keeping tothe situation at hand with all of the confusion and shattered rebellionthat's in a youth of his real age. It's almost like checking out theBeatles when they were still the Quarry Men or something- it's notnecessarily 'good', but you might be surprised at how it's not reallybad either.

2013-05-04 11:31:59

Giant Carnivorous Plants on Demand

You're probably all familiar with the Little Shop of Horrors. After all, its several incarnations over the decades have endeared it to popular culture in a way which few movies ever emulate. If you appreciate the subsequent musical antics of Seymour the Singing Plant, you owe it to yourself to watch this version--the cult favorite that started it all.Plus, you'll get a look at one of Jack Nicholson's earliest roles.Admittedly, the Amazon preview video isn't very informative, but this version of the 1960 classic is in full color for the first time ever, and has markedly improved in visual quality from versions previous, presumably because of the higher standards for something being watched on a high definition computer monitor as opposed to a low-def tube television.

2013-05-04 01:48:29

Some Good News, Some Bad News

When I preordered the Jack to Jack edition, the box did not proclaim LSOH colorization. Upon receipt I considered sending it back unopened. Actually, I'm glad I didn't. Cry Baby Killer is a reasonable entertainment that has quite devious and anti-establishment observations about most of the cast, who represent various factions of society. Though rather stage bound (only three major sets - bar, storeroom, and outside the bar and storeroom), this is overcome with good camera angles and extraneous business from cops, relatives, onlookers, hot dog vendors, and especially the tv crew. I came away considering it a cheap but effective rip/tribute of Billy Wilder's Ace In the Hole/The Big Carnival. And Jack Nicholson's part as a young, inexperienced and confused youth comes accross as young, inexperienced, and confused. Lots to chew on here, such as who is untimately to blame for the situation. On to LSOH, though I loathe colorization, this particular film, being also very stage bound does get some advantage from the color - Audrey Junior looks much more alien all green with cotton candy interior. Audrey Senior and the hooker are better eye candy as well. Would have been a superior package with the B&W LSOH, but I suspect the change was made to challenge the Legends colorized release product. Overall, I'm happy with it.

Danny Blankenship 2013-04-20 08:52:15

A film that's a B movie classic, special because of legendary Jack's first screen appearance and well done at it's time from Roger Corman.

After all these years it's finally a treat to watch this B film classicfrom 1958 "Cry Baby Killer". It's very special because it's Nicholson'sfirst film appearance, and a must see for any die hard fans of Jack.The film is pretty low key and stays simple with it's plot and theacting is straight forward, and Nicholson does good work for a newcomereven though his voice and many words are spoken with a soft slow drawaccent. At it's time Roger Corman really done this film short in timelength, yet the concept and plot of 1958 was a little ahead of it'stime with the hostage taking and media circus developing which would beso common in many later action and adventure films. Nicholson in hisfirst film debut plays loner and rebel type teenager Jimmy Wallace whois defeated in a brawl with thugs resulting in his girl leaving him.Jack's character Jimmy like so many of his later anti-hero typecharacters develops the big chip on the shoulder and the feeling formacho acts takes place. Then Corman's direction pulls out all the dramaand stops when Jimmy is next in a brawl he grabs for a gun panics andshoots, leading him to take cover in a storeroom with a mom and herbaby setting up a long standoff! Good suspense for 1958 is added byshowing police interrogation and media interviews and flashing camerasthe type of circus film lovers would later so commonly see in the 80'sand 90's. So the direction and plot line was for 1958 ahead of it'stime, good job by Roger Corman. All in all nothing great, yet for a1958 film the plot and acting is decently good and a real treat to seesince it's Jack's first actual screen time a must see for Nicholsonenthusiast.

funkyfry 2013-04-20 00:49:07

Entertaining foray into JD/hostage pic

Producer Roger Corman's mark is heavy on this film, so much so that hemight as well have directed it himself instead of TV director JusAddiss. Working from a script by actor Leo Gordon, this film in itsshort 61 minute running time takes us through a sort of "movie of theweek" scenario with a troubled youth (Jack Nicholson, making his filmdebut) accidentally shooting another kid during an argument over a girl(Carolyn Mitchell) and taking a baby and mother hostage.Nicholson was pretty good in my opinion, green as he was. It's notexactly James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause", but neither is thescript and Addiss isn't Ray. I'd say it was an auspicious beginning. Itwasn't all that often that Nicholson even got this much screen time inhis early years, usually he was a supporting actor and at one pointwanted to direct and write. So this is kind of an unusual movie forfans because they get a chance to see him in a real leading role atsuch an early age.Harry Lauter plays the main detective trying to resolve the situation,and his performance is well measured and helps to balance the film'sbasic melodrama. With the crowd waiting around for violence, it's sortof a B movie version of "Ace in the Hole" crossed with "The DesperateHours." Strangely though, while it seems critical of the media/publicobsession with the sensationalism of the incident, the movie shows thecops and reporters in friendly relationships.There's nothing hugely appealing about the movie though, I don't thinkit broke any new ground other than introducing Nicholson. There isn'tvery much story, and everything pretty much takes place in the samelocation, so it feels sort of closed and theatrical. The photographyand sound is professional but uninspired, as is the direction of theactors in general. This isn't a "classic" by any means, but it's worthan hour of my life.

bellybutton1221@yahoo.com 2013-04-02 20:16:07

Waste Of Time

This is really a bad movie, and it could have been so much better.Unless you're a Jack Nicholson fanatic, forget this one. It's his firstfilm, and as such makes some fans want to see it. I was one of those.The story is not a bad one, but come on..let's get real. This comesacross as a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, without the quality.I am also a fan of Brett Halsey, but even that doesn't help. His partin this is so small that you'll hardly notice it.The film starts out without a beginning. Why is the gang so upset withNicholson's character? They beat him up, for no real reason.In a stupid mistake, the screenplay has one hood carry the gun and thedirector forgets which one has it in his possession later on.Two guys are shot, but we never see it happen. Why? We hear shots, andthe injured parties are never seen again. Why? Nicholson's charactershoots in self defense, but he's terrified that they will kill him.Why? The movie drags on and on and on, boring us all to death. By thetime it comes to an end, no one is dead, and we don't care one way orthe other.Nicholson is OK in his debut, but who cares? This is so lame I couldhardly stay awake, and I was hoping that they would shoot the kid atthe end to relieve my boredom.Unless you just have to have everything Nicholson ever appeared inforget this one.

Michael_Elliott 2013-04-02 02:12:56

Great Camp

Cry Baby Killer, The (1958) *** (out of 4) This is somewhat of a Holy Grail for me because I've been dying to seethis flick since I became a fan of Jack Nicholson back in the late 80s.I've been pretty lucky to know people who own rare movies but not asingle one ever had this film and in fact, I never he knew anyone whohad actually seen it. In the film Nicholson (in his debut) plays a hotheaded teen who is upset when the town's tough guy steals his girl.After being jumped, Nicholson gets ahold of a gun, kills the tough guyand then takes another man, a woman and her baby hostage. A tough asnails cop (Harry Lauter) tries to talk him out as the televisionstation and onlookers gather outside. This moral/teenage flick is inthe same vein as Rebel Without a Cause but it stands out due in largepart to being Nicholson's debut. I wouldn't say he gives a goodperformance as he goes way too over the top in a few scenes but you cansee certain trademarks that'll show up in some of his classicperformances. The scenes with him screaming at the crying baby get someunintentional laughs as does a few other scenes but this just adds tothe cult appeal. Since this film is on DVD now I'm sure it will becomea cult classic of the Drive-In teenage films. Producer Roger Corman andscreenwriter Leo Gordon have cameos.

2013-03-26 21:13:27

Amazon Video on Demand

Due to some level of confusion, this Video on Demand is being associated with reviews for an entirely different product being released by Buena Vista Home Video. Well, let me attempt to clear up some of the confusion. Firstly, this VOD is not the same version that appears on the Roger Corman Collection DVD edition of "The Cry Baby Killer".When THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS was originally released, Corman did not see financial prospect in the film after its initial release. As a result, he did not renew the film's copyright, and it fell into the public domain. This became a source of conflict, as the film had gained a strong cult following by the 1980s. In response to a brief popularity of titles that had been converted from black and white to color, Corman authorized a colorized version of LITTLE SHOP, and this became the only version of the film that he actually had any legal entitlement to.The years passed, and colorization faded, largely because the technology of the 1980s was quite poor. As colorization techniques improved, a few companies decided to give the process another go in the early 2000s. These new colorizations were highly praised, so many films that had previously been colorized poorly in the 1980s have been colorized again with better results. The company Legend Films released a new version of LITTLE SHOP, seen here, which had been colorized in high-definition. As this version was gaining momentum, Corman decided to dust off his colorized version and release it as a bonus feature on the DVD The Cry Baby Killer (Back-to-Back Jack Edition). Corman did not include a black and white version of the film, because he owned the 1980s colorized version, and he didn't feel the need to include something that people had already seen.By all accounts, the version of the film available from Amazon Video on Demand is better than the version released by Corman and Buena Vista in every way. Firstly, the picture quality of the Legend VOD is far superior than Buena Vista's, and the colorization is strikingly realistic, as opposed to looking like an altered black and white film. One look at the excerpt, and you can tell that the VOD is NOT the version contained on the Buena Vista/Corman CRY BABY KILLER DVD.The fact that the VOD is being associated with the reviews for the CRY BABY KILLER DVD is not the only mistake. For example, the VOD is listed as The Little Shop Of Horrors (Rifftrax Version), suggesting that it contains a commentary by Michael J. Nelson, presumably the updated version that was recently released on Nelson's RiffTrax website, when, in fact, the VOD that is currently being labeled as being "RiffTrax version" does not contain a "riff track". It is the film only. Confusingly, the VOD for the version containing Nelson's commentary is listed as being simply Little Shop Of Horrors.Amazon has long been the source of confusion for many buyers, particularly in its VOD and MP3 download services, but hopefully I have cleared things up for anyone who is scratching their heads over this. As for The Cry Baby Killer (Back-to-Back Jack Edition), I have to say to those who have reviewed this DVD negatively, that it is not an edition of THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, and that reviews should focus on the merits of THE CRY BABY KILLER. Those that seek a special edition of LITTLE SHOP should stick with The Little Shop of Horrors - In COLOR! Also Includes the Original Black-and-White Version which has been Beautifully Restored and Enhanced!

2013-03-26 15:12:00

What is this?

Okay, first of all, this should be a "Little Shop of Horrors - Special Edition" with "Cry Baby Killer" as an added bonus feature. And "L.S. or H." should be in black-and-white as it was filmed. This is disgraceful, and I hope Buena Vista refrains from messing up any more Corman titles in the future.