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Released by: Video Kart
Released on: 9/30/2003
Director: Andy Milligan/Straw Weissman
Cast: Hal Borske, Carrie Anita, Michael Lunsford, Elizabeth Mannino, David Gregory, Kelvin Keraga
Released: 1988/1989
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The Movies:
MONSTROSITY
Andy Milligan lensed this low budget reinterpretation of the Frankenstein mythos in 1989, which would make it his last film, and with his name attached as director, it should come as a shock to no one that this is a terrible film.
Set in modern day, well late eighties, California, the film begins with the rape of a pretty young girl who ends up dying in the hospital afterwards. Her boyfriend and a pair of his cronies decide that they'll build their very own Golem to carry out their plans for revenge against the culprits.
Building their creation out of both human and animal body parts, their months of long and tedious dedication to the project eventually come to fruition when their creation, dubbed Frankie, is finally given live. Things get hairy as they try and keep him under wraps and get him to go after the gang of thugs from the beginning of the film, but of course, nothing goes as planned.
Filled with the kind of cheap gore effects that would make H. G. Lewis scoff in disbelief, and a monster running around with a monkey's arm and a giant red afro, Monstrosity is full of every manner of whacked out exploitation element and while it's certainly a terrible film, is still a pretty fun ride for those who are able to appreciate these things.
GRAVEROBBERS
Also known as Dead Mate, Graverobbers was directed by Straw Reissman, and this movie is truly in a league of it's own. Filled with the kind of dialogue bad movie fans can only dream of, this unbelievably amateurish production tells the tale of a small town waitress named Nora quickly marrying a man she hasn't known very long at all named Henry.
As their relationship develops, she starts to feel a little uncomfortable with some of the strange behavior that her husband and his friends seem to be exhibiting. It turns out that pretty much all of the men in the town, including Henry, are necrophiles and she's next on their list of candi-dates!
Once again, terrible gore effects, unconvincing but unintentionally hilarious scenes of man on corpse loving, and oodles and oodles of sleaze appeal make Graverobbers a truly bottom of the barrel effort that had me snickering to myself throughtout for all the wrong reasons.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Both films are presented in their original fullframe aspect ratio and surprisingly enough, actually look pretty good. Yes, some of the colors are flat in a few scenes but a lot of this seems to be due to the lighting rather than the transfer. There is grain and print damage in a few scenes but it's all very minor and both features looked considerably better than I thought that they would, considering their low budget origins.
Dolby Digital Mono tracks adorn both of the discs in the set, and again, much like the video, I was surprised with these tracks. Very little hiss is present and what is there is easy enough to ignore. Dialogue is quite clear and the levels are as well balanced as one would expect them to be given the subject matter.
There are a couple of nice little bonus features accompanying the films. Trailers are included for each one, though I suspect that they were made for these releases. There are also clips from the original silent version of The Golem that are worked into a tie in for Monstrosity. Some text biographies and a couple of Easter eggs are also scattered across the discs.
The Final Word:
Milligan fans, I know you're out there, and if you're reading this then by now it should be obvious that you need this double feature. With the low price point and the decent quality of the discs, it's a no brainer. If you're not a Milligan fan though, it's doubtful that either of these movies will make you one.
