Search - Roger Corman Collection (Bloody Mama / A Bucket of Blood / The Trip / Premature Burial / The Young Racers / The Wild Angels / Gas-s-s / X) on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 4/6/2020...

1/5 Rating - The Trip - I don't know what this was but was expecting some 70s fun like Psycho Out but utterly disappointed. Avoid unless you are a fan of Peter Fonda!

This collection is a mixed bag of style

calvinnme | 09/10/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Corman's work generally falls into two categories. The first would be the horror/sci-fi he did in the late 50's to early 60's including his Vincent Price films and those along a similar vein. These don't have anything particularly graphic in them. They tend to be cleverly done B-productions with bigger stars than you would guess. The second group start in the mid 60's and run into the 1970's and can be quite violent. This doesn't mean that they aren't cleverly done. Just don't expect something along the line of Corman's series of Poe films when you sit down to watch "Bloody Mama". "Billy Jack" and "Easy Rider" are more similar to Corman's later films, five of which make up this eight film collection. There are no extras included in this set. The following is a brief synopsis of each included film with ratings by a popular film database. Let me say I think the ratings given for most of the films is way too low. If you like Corman's work you'll likely rate each of these films much higher.



A Bucket of Blood (1959) 6.9/10 - a horror story with an artsy bent featuring an outstanding performance by Dick Miller as the accidental artist.



Premature Burial (1962) 6.4/10 - Ray Milland is obsessed with being buried alive, so he's outfitted his future tomb with all kinds of bells and whistles to insure this won't happen. Vincent Price was supposed to star in this one, but Milland does a great job as the death-obsessed gentleman.



X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963) 6.5/10 - Like "The Incredible Shrinking Man" this film examines what it means to exist. Ray Milland experiments on himself and gives himself "X-Ray vision". As a result he can see past and through all reality. The only problem is that his senses are unable to take in and comprehend what his eyes are seeing - and seeing through - without going insane.



The Young Racers (1963) 3.5/10 - New to DVD.



The Wild Angels (1966) 5.2/10 - I think this film is better than its rating. It's one of the original biker films and I don't think that the film's tagline that paints these guys as just a bunch of violent losers is completely accurate. They do some outrageously pointless violent things, but they are more complex than that. Stars Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern as two of the bikers.



The Trip (1967) 5.8/10 - Written by Jack Nicholson. This is one of the first of the drug culture films of the late 60's, early 70's. The whole movie is basically what an LSD trip looks like as experienced by Peter Fonda's character. In spite of the fact that the plot is thin this film did well at the box office. Very much an artifact of the time in which it was made, but still interesting.



Bloody Mama (1970) 5.1/10 - New to DVD. Here Corman is cashing in on the success of Bonnie and Clyde to tell another familial tale of crime and violence. This family is headed by Ma Barker (Shelly Winters). It also sports some great supporting work by Bruce Dern and Robert De Niro.



Gas-s-s-s (1972) - 3.7/10 - A strange gas kills everyone over 25 in the world. The movie is part political satire and part comedy with a large dose of violence that is likely to make many people queezy. The film works quite well and holds up over time, but it's not your old-fashioned Vincent Price-style Corman film. You'll note the early appearances of some performers who are just getting started such as Ben Vereen, Cindy Williams, and Talia Shire.



My four star rating comes from being a fan of Roger Corman. If you are not, you might want to pay more attention to the film database rating."

Bloody Mama on DVD, finally, at last!!

Big Mike | Bradford, West Yorkshire United Kingdom | 08/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I rejoice at the news of Bloody Mama finally coming to DVD. I am a bit surprised to find that I have to buy a whole set of DVD's to get it, however. Bloody Mama features a very early and memorable performance by Robert De Niro. Shelley Winters is unforgettable as Kate "Ma" Barker. The film is quite tawdry and violent for a film made in 1970. I have always remembered this film for the nearly totally nude scene by Diane Varsi and the other outrageous goings-on. I will buy this and recommend it heartily to others with similar interests. A great and underrated gangster film. The only thing I don't like are the double-sided DVD's. Far to easy to fingerprint or scratch the data side!!"

Great Corman Set Release a Second Volume!

Jackie L. Holstein | MPLS, MN | 09/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This set was decently priced I'm not a fan of the slim line DVD cases but it is ok ... You get a few Films that were OOP until now the two I will mention is THE TRIP and PREMATURE BURIAL, so maybe we will get future volumes and more Midnite Movies double features to bring out many more OOP films again in the future. Cover art etc is made up to look very Grindhouse like which is fine they make good double feature films."