Arrow Video, out now

A quartet of B movies from producer Sam Katzman, tackling zombies, werewolves, atomic mutants and an alien bird.

Once again, Arrow deliver the perfect introduction to a film-maker, presenting a great selection of their work, and including a career-spanning documentary (here by Stephen R Bissette) to contextualise their output.

In Creature with the Atom Brain (1955) a mob boss hires an ex-Nazi scientist to reanimate his dead thugs. In The Werewolf (1956) a car accident is used as an experimental subject to create a vaccine for nuclear fall-out which has the side-effect of lycanthropy. In Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) treasure hunters get more than they bargained for in the search for a cargo of diamonds that went down with a sunken ship, and in The Giant Claw (1957) pilot Jeff Morrow contend with a goofy-looking alien bird.

Every one of these black and white movies looks great with its HD makeover, and they’re all played dead straight, regardless of how daft the monsters are. Arrow’s set includes a 60-page book of new writing, an 80-page art book and two reversible poster reproductions. Each movie has an intro by national treasure Kim Newman and one or two commentaries by genre experts, as well as image galleries and trailers.

Verdict: For B-movies, these features boast decent production values and are a fascinating time capsule of 50s America at the height of its post-war nuclear paranoia. A great introductory set. 8/10

Nick Joy

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