All oldies aren't golden, of course. Here, for example, are some pretty dreadful movies but definitely of camp value.
"The Lon Chaney Collection" (retromedia, 1956/1960, not rated, b/w, $19.95, one double-sided disc). Lon Chaney Jr. earned his best reviews in 1939 as simple-minded Lennie in "Of Mice and Men." But he made a lot of low-budget trashy flicks — especially in the last two decades of his life, the 1950s and '60s.
This set is made up of two such films, along with a couple of his TV guest appearances.
— "Indestructible Man" (1956) is a ridiculous B-movie but actually not too bad for its type, the story of a criminal nicknamed Butcher (Chaney) who is executed then brought back to life by a mad scientist. The result is the title character, an indestructible killer out for revenge.
— "Manfish" (1956) is a low-budget thriller about a couple of deep-sea divers in Jamaica searching for buried treasure on their boat, Manfish. They take on a third partner, which eventually leads to murder. Chaney does a variation on his "Of Mice and Men" character (which he did far too often), a nice but dull-witted member of the crew. (End credits say the film's in color, but it's black and white here.)
— "Telephone Time: The Golden Junkman" (1956). This episode of the anthology series is a nice little half-hour about a Greek junk dealer (Chaney) who tries to earn the respect of his educated sons by going to college himself. Chaney is quite charming, and this offers a nice example of what he could do with decent material.
— "Lock Up: The Case of Joe Slade" (1960). This half-hour crime show starred Macdonald Carey as a crusading lawyer for those unjustly accused. Here, Chaney is good as a small-town sheriff who is hiding a dark secret.
Extras: Full frame, featurette, chapters.
" Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster" (DarkSky, 1965, not rated, b/w, $14.98). A cult favorite about Martian women dying off on their own planet after an atomic war, so they send a scientist to Puerto Rico to capture Earth women for breeding, but a NASA robot (nicknamed "Frank") goes on the rampage, and. . . . Well, you get the idea. A misleading U.S. title (a k a "Mars Invades Puerto Rico").
Extras: Widescreen, photo gallery, trailer, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"Creation of the Humanoids"/"War Between the Planets" (DarkSky, 1962/1965, not rated, $14.98). These are two notoriously bad '60s sci-fi thrillers. "Creation" is a talky futuristic yarn about an atomic holocaust leaving so few humans that they must supplement the work force with robots, but then the robots start taking over. "War" has scientists trying to stop Earth from colliding with another planet. (A k a "Mission Wandering Planet" and "Planet on the Prowl.") Dopey, silly fun for bad-movie buffs.
Extras: Widescreen, dubbed in English, drive-in intermission ads, trailers, optional English subtitles, chapters.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com