"Chosen Survivors" is my favorite here. Classic 70's Scifi. Eleven men and eleven women chosen to refill the Earth after WWIII. Stuck in an underground government facility. Stuck with blood-sucking bats!! And each other!!! Great stuff.
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Movie Reviews
Doomsday Done Right...
Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein | under the rubble | 01/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Another Midnite Movie double feature masterpiece! CHOSEN SURVIVORS concerns a group of eleven men and women chosen (by the government) to be the ones who wait out WWIII. Yep, they get to repopulate the planet! Luckily, our beloved elected officials have thought of everything, sending these folks deep beneath the earth. Once there, they are greeted by a pre-recorded message telling them that the world has been destroyed. Tensions start to build as each person tries to comprehend what has happened. Unfortunately, things go badly, as a massive swarm of vampire bats somehow infiltrate the underground facility, hungry for the red stuff! Richard Jaeckel (Grizzly, Day Of The Animals, The Dark) is the military engineer. Bradford Dillman (Bug, Piranha) is the psychiatrist who just might know something the others don't. Jackie Cooper (Superman 1 and 2) is the slimy corporate executive of the bunch. CS is a nice claustrophobic thriller. THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING is sort of the british version of TARGET EARTH. The movie opens with a train crashing, a plane plummeting from the sky, etc. It seems that some alien force has unleashed poison gas on mankind! Soon, a few survivors find each other and attempt to make sense of it all. Our heroes are hunted by lumbering, annoyingly slow robots. Also, some re-animated zombies w/ eyes like boiled eggs are shambling around. Watch for Dennis Price (Horror Hospital, Tower Of Evil) as a sneaky jerk with selfish plans of his own. Both of these films are quite re-watchable. A terror-ific double bill..."
BATS!! ROBOTS!! RICHARD JAECKEL!!
Stanley Runk | Camp North Pines | 10/29/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Grab that popcorn kiddies and light up that smoke coz we gonna enjoy another fun Midnite Movies Double Feature. Usually with these discs, they try to choose two films with at least a similar theme, but these two are quite different from one another. First on the bill, Chosen Survivors, is a very fun little piece of early seventies drive-in nonsense. It deals with a group of humans hand picked to live in an underground facility in the event of a worldwide war or catastrophe. The idea is to preserve the human race, but you'd think if this was the last hope for humanity, they'd at least pick some hotter chicks(going with Dr. Strangelove's theory) and people who could respond to stress and pressure better. The facility is damn near perfect in every way except the damn bats who have somehow crept in. The survivors have to deal with a swarm of hungry vampire bats that begin to pick them off. Hey, at least it breaks up the boredom. It stars B 70s sci-fi regular Bradford Dillman. We also got Jackie Cooper, who you may remember as Mr. White from the Superman movies. And lets not forget everyone's favorite character actor Richard Jaeckel, who you may remember from The Dirty Dozen and everyone's favorite, The Green Slime. Fun movie and a good time.
Th Earth Dies Screaming tells the tale of a small group of survivors in England(I guess there actually is a bit of a theme here) who band together to fight an alien invasion. The invaders take the form of big clunky robots that electrocute you to death if they touch you. The robots are merely tools of the real aliens who we never see. If that's the biggest threat to Earth, we shouldn't be worried since the robots are extremely slow, clumsy and seemingly blind. A toddler would have no problem escaping these things. How did Earth ever succumb to this? Hell, Don Henley is a bigger threat. Plus, they are able to resurrect the dead bodies and use them also, but they move just the same and are about as threatening as the robots. It was directed by Hammer director Terence Fisher. Fisher should stick to gothic horror coz Sci-fi isn't his strong point. That's not saying the movie's a dud coz it is fun. Two more worthy additions to your Midnite Movie collection."
Don't forget the "second feature"!
Douglas Finton | Oakland, Michigan USA | 03/01/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"It seems like many of the reviewers of this release have concentrated on "Chosen Survivors" in their comments. I'd just like to put in a plug for "The Earth Dies Screaming" as the movie here that I liked better. (Admittedly, an awful title if one wanted the film to be taken seriously).
A movie directed by Terence Fisher cannot fail to be of interest to genre fans. Dumb title aside, the plot is reminiscent of The Day of the Triffids; I actually find this film as good if not better than the 60's version of that. All in all, a sort of Triffids meets Village of the Damned meets Target Earth. And I can't say enough for the demo-quality black & white transfer. I know I'll be returning to this film often, something I can't say about "Chosen Survivors".
If you like 50's-60's sci-fi, do treat yourself to this set! (Four stars for "Earth", two for "Survivors" is what is behind my overall three-star rating.)"
Another great set in the Midnite Movies line
Brucifer | Boston, MA | 08/07/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Earth Dies Screaming and Chosen Survivors may not be anywhere near the greatest sci fi movies ever made, but I have to thank Fox for making them available to rabid horror/sci fi movie fans like me who want to see and own just about everything from the classic drive-in era of the 50s through the 70s. The Midnight Movies line is always well done, with movies picked to fit together as double features, very nice prints of the films (if usually lacking extras like trailers, commentary, etc.), and attractive, suitably retro cover art. This one is no exception - film and audio quality leave nothing to complain about, and they are presented in their proper ratios. Neither film was ever officially released on any home video format, so it's nice to see them available at long last. Of the two films, The Earth Dies Screaming is the better (despite the silly title) in sort of a Night of the Living Dead precursor kind of way, and in keeping with the generally good quality of British sci-fi from the 50s & 60s. I would rather have seen it paired with more suitable 60s Brit sci-fi companions: the rarely seen 1965 Invasion and/or the underrated 1963 Unearthly Stranger (both more in-line with this film), but I don't know if Fox owns the rights to either of those films. As for Chosen Survivors, it's good cheesy fun - kind of TV movie-ish, but with a decent cast and enjoyable premise. Note to Fox: please keep these Midnight Movies coming. And since you released The Quatermass Xperiment and Burn Witch Burn in this series on VHS only just prior to the DVD era, how about Midnite Movie DVDs of those two excellent films?"
Chosen Survivors - Saw it !
D. Oktay | Texas | 08/20/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I saw this movie back in '74 when I was a kid. I remember all the bats and the plot pretty well. They were sent to this bomb shelter to survive a nuclear war, and the shelter was cheap, and the bats got in. The death scenes were cheesy, but effective for the time. I know the ending of the film, but wont disclose it for those who haven't seen it yet. It's complete with babes, and heros, and wild characters. It's definitely a good B-movie night flick!"