Label: Film Masters

Reissued 4/10/2026

All Baby Boomer Monster Kids hold the science fiction classics of the 1950s in high regard. Major studios put some top resources behind these movies and they delivered world-class thrills, whether on a Forbidden Planet or on This Island Earth, whether 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or on a Journey to the Center of the Earth. A step-down were these same company's second-string sci-fis and the still-smaller movies churned out by some of the era's more enterprising indie producers. At the bottom of the barrel were the flicks resulting from what AIP's James H. Nicholson called "backyard moviemaking": shot on ultra-low-budgets, sometimes partly in the moviemakers' own homes. Logic dictates that these shoe-stringers would be the least admired of the bunch. But in many cases, maybe the majority of cases, Monster Kids don't feel that way at all. Because the bargain basement titles are just so much fun. "One-lung producers" (Sam Arkoff's term for them) threw their thrift-store hats in the monster-movie ring only after dreaming up sci-fi scenarios that could be made for pin money, and then finding yet more corners to cut during production. This Film Masters Blu-ray set celebrates four such all-expenses-spared science fiction sagas and the clever shortcuts taken by their cash-strapped creators. For the first time, all four films in HD are being brought together in one set! Complete with new liner notes, archival special features, and film commentaries, this is your chance to procure out of print releases at a great deal!