Watching Monster Madness: The Gothic Revival of Horror from Midnight Marquee Press is very much like meeting up with an old school friend. You’ll talk about old times, reminisce about the fun you had, and tell stories of misspent youth. Then you’ll part ways.
The next time you meet you’ll have the same conversations all over again. It may well still be fun, but fun with a little sadness brought on by familiarity and knowledge you actually have little to really talk about.
This, the third in Midnight Marquee Press’ trilogy of nostalgic releases, rehashes many clips and interviews that you will have seen a hundred times before, and while they’ll make you smile just like that meeting with an old chum, after the film is over you’ll find yourself having wanted more. Nothing in this release is new or revealing, and as such is sadly quite dull. Greater satisfaction can be gained from surfing YouTube (other sites are probably available) as more interesting snippets are readily available, and with Hammer having its own channel, offers considerably more besides.
The interesting thing is that while the DVD sets out to be a trip down the monster memory lane, it quickly turns into a tribute to Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and the home of British horror, Hammer Studios. All this does sound interesting, and is certainly poignant given the recent passing of Sir Lee, but this elongated montage serves less as a historical study of the genre and more as a quickly edited television documentary that tantalises while providing scant insight into the influential studio and its cast of loyal, legendary actors.
This edition of Monster Madness will appeal more to the transient horror, or Hammer, fan. For anyone with greater knowledge of the time period and of the monsters and characters that existed both in front of and behind the camera, this DVD will prove a little tiresome. If you happened across this while channel surfing late one Friday night upon returning from the local public house then you probably won’t turn it off. It certainly isn’t one you would seek out, and as such it’s difficult to imagine who it’s really aimed at or who will actually buy it.
MONSTER MADNESS: THE GOTHIC REVIVAL OF HORROR / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: JEFF HERBERGER / WRITER: A. SUSAN SVEHLA / STARRING: AARON CHRISTENSEN, KITLEY JON, DWIGHT KEMPER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
