Arrow Video, out now

The first ever collection of works by Bill Rebane, the director of low budget films who managed his empire from a home studio in the wilds of Wisconsin.

The perfect bedfellow for their William Grefe: He Came from the Swamp set, Arrow’s collection of Rebane movies is the perfect showcase for a man whose output is the very definition of cheap exploitation flicks, and yet there’s an undeniable charm to them. The feature-length documentary Who is Bill Rebane? is the best place to jump in, as you may need some context to understand/appreciate what’s going on.

Monster a Go-Go (1965) (AKA Terror at Halfday) is a curious black and white Quatermass wannabe, featuring 7’ 6” Henry Hite as the astronaut who has returned to Earth to terrorise the locals of a small town. Sitting incomplete on a shelf, it was eventually picked up and complete by director Herschell Gordon Lewis when he needed another film to complete a double feature with his Moonshine Mansion. The focus of a MST3K roasting, the movie is all over the place, the new material at odds with what had already been shot. Jumping forwards nearly a decade to Invasion from Inner Earth (AKA Ito) in 1974, this colour movie is more interesting. A tale of UFO abductions and an apocalyptic rapture in a snowy wasteland, this riff on Invasion of the Bodysnatchers is a curiosity about paranoia in a small town.

Sadly, there’s no The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) or The Capture of Bigfoot (1979) in this collection, which  is a shame, because they are Rebane’s best known works. Next up is The Alpha Incident (1978), an over-talky chamber piece about an alien micro-organism, its greatest claim to fame being that it appeared with Star Wars at some drive-ins. The Demons of Ludlow (1983) features murderous pilgrim demons that lurk inside an antique piano / harpsichord. A low rent The Fog, it has the moments of gore that early 80s horror movies craved, but the acting and production values are poor.

In The Game (1984) three bored millionaires gather nine people in an old mansion, and challenge them that if they can meet and conquer their biggest fears, they’ll get one million dollars in cash. A knock-off The House on Haunted Hill, the scariest aspect is the 80s hair, the convoluted plot being non-sensical and the movie genuinely doesn’t know when to end. Finally, in Twister’s Revenge! (1988) three hopeless criminals try to steal Mr. Twister, a talking monster truck with a mind of its own. They make one last attempt using an M60 tank in this Knight Rider rip-off that’s unintentionally hilarious and inept on all levels. This redneck road movie Is equal parts Dukes of Hazzard, Smokey and the Bandit and Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive, but with none of the money and a case full of moonshine.

Verdict: Cheap and cheerful, Bill Rebane’s movies here get the sort of TLC Blu-ray upgrade that no one thought they needed (or deserved), giving us the opportunity to experience another side of film-making away from the big studios. 7/10

Nick Joy

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