Classic SchlockReviewed by SAM, 2009-09-15
Two great scifi films that you love to watch, and at the same time make fun of. Watched these often on Creature Double Features, and now you can own them the same way.
Attack of the Puppet PeopleReviewed by Louis R. Garcia, 2009-09-10
As the title suggests, this one is awful in a good way. Bad acting, horrible special effects, kind of dumb story line. I love "B" movies and this one's definelty on my watch list.
Grade "C" B MoviesReviewed by PM in NY, 2008-01-07
Neither of these movies qualify as "So Bad They are Good". Of the
two, "Village of the Giants" is the more watchable, but not likely
to generate much repeated viewing.
The film follows a gang of groovy teens in 1965, that are after a
super-growth formula invented by a whiz kid with a chemistry set
played by Ron Howard. Once they get the formula, they become giants
and take over the town, and make the square "over 30" adults follow
their rules.
There's not meant to be suspense, like when giant ducks show up at
a gogo club, the clubgoers just see them as groovy, dancing ducks.
Instead, the movie plays for guffaws, like when the camera zooms in
on a giant women as she picks up a regular sized man and holds him
at her cleavage.
The film does capture the music, dancing and fashions of the time,
somewhat like the beach party movies, but these are the bad teens
with more suggestive moves. The guffaws are also sometimes funny.
However, the dancing scenes are way too long. And while the
giantism jokes capture the mid-sixties obsession with bikini's and
are laughable for showing what was once was so risque, is now tame,
after awhile, the one note jokes run dry.
So, although some promise, the film never fully delivers. If
interested, it's worth renting first to see if it's the type of
movie you would want to see more than once. For me, I vote
"no".
"Attack of the Puppet People" takes itself more seriously and
therefore had a chance for good, unintentional laughs. However,
it's just a bad movie. This reverses the "Village of the Giants" by
centering around a scientist that makes people small instead of
tall. Again, the one note plays out rather quickly.
Both movies are strictly for diehard B-movie fans. If you are a
"once in awhile" B movie fan, such as me, there are better B movies
out there to hold your interest while waiting for the laughs.
Get it for Village of the GiantsReviewed by Brian J. Greene, 2007-09-10
This 2-fer is worth it, if not only for Village of the Giants. You get a front seat to the mid-60s Sunset Strip teenage scene, replete with a wild club performance by the Beau Brummels (and as they play, you get Toni Basil doing the monkey and the frug from inside a cage). This movie is about teenagers versus adults, teenagers from an upscale neighborhood versus teenagers from working class families, teenager versus the law . . . And you get a young Ron Howard playing a geeky whiz kid who accidentally creates "goo," a concoction which, when ingested, turns you into a giant. Whacky 60s movie fans will love this one. Attack of the Puppet People is a worthwhile film in its own right - a tale of a creepy and desperate dollmaker who turns anyone who crosses him into one of his dolls.
Size mattersReviewed by mrliteral, 2006-11-24
When you think of the great directors of American cinema, the name
Bert I. Gordon does not come to mind. A creator of cheesy science
fiction B-movies, many of his films dealt with giant animals
(grasshoppers in The Beginning of the End, ants in Empire of the
Ants, etc.) or people (like with War of the Colossal Beast). With
Village of the Giants, he revisits this theme with a twist; Attack
of the Puppet People, however, depicts the reverse idea.
In Attack of the Puppet People, June Kenny plays a new secretary
for a kindly old dollmaker who somehow has created a shrinking
machine. He is sort of like a psychotically delusional Mr. Rogers
who seems really nice but hates having people leave him, to the
point where he shrinks them to doll-size and puts them into
suspended animation. Despite the title, the "puppet people" don't
do any real attacking; instead, they are merely intent on getting
restored to their proper sizes. With low budget actors and effects,
this film is far from great but does have its moments.
Village of the Giants, however, features some big name actors in
early roles, most notably Ronny (Ron) Howard and Beau Bridges.
Veering away from the more "serious" films, this movie is more
comedy that horror. Howard is a preadolescent genius who
accidentally creates a growth formula, which is stolen and ingested
by Bridges and his friends. After becoming giants, they become the
ultimate teen rebels and try to enforce laws against adults. The
effects may be poor, but the movie itself is an amiable bit of a
fluff, more interested in showing teenage girls jiggle to nice but
forgettable tunes than with any sort of coherent plot.
I've always had an affection for Village of the Giants since seeing
it as a small kid (and not since). Like some of the sillier Disney
films (particularly the early Kurt Russell sci-fi comedies), they
don't get better as you get older. They may be deeply flawed
movies, but I still enjoyed them for what they were, so I am giving
them a low four stars; it may be more than they truly merit, but
with these sorts of movies, fun always trumps quality.
