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Rating:  - Wretched public domain trash
I love a bad movie, and Lord knows I have sat through my share, but the "Drive-In" title had me expecting campy 1950's fare and what I got is bottom of the barrel 1970's-80's garbage. Mostly unwatchable. Too bad because my hopes were high.
Rating: - Beware, incomplete and heavily censored!!
Why would anyone waste time and money releasing a film on DVD in a form that is confused and incomplete due to heavy editing and censoring?? Such is the case with Savage Weekend. I first saw the film several years ago at a drive-in theater in Georgia. I vividly recall that there were several nude and racy scenes and some fairly graphic violence, as well. Well, if you buy this DVD you can safely play it for the kids because all of the "adult" content is missing!! Also, the picture quality is absolutely dreadful and grainy and looks like it was copied from a very poor quality source; such as a copy made on VHS at home from a poor cable t.v. service!! Maybe one day Anchor Bay or someone else will give this film the treatment it deserves and release it in the original, complete, unedited and uncensored version. Also with decent and clearer picture quality, too. As a fan of actress Caitlin O'Heaney (aka Kathleen Heaney), this DVD is a real letdown.
Rating:  - On a bit of a different note..
Not really going to talk about how "cheesy" some of these films are - "Drive-In Movie Classics" pretty much sums it up and that is what you get.
What I want to do is make a couple of comments about this package of movies that I think many of the other reviewers overlooked:
1 - The packaging of the discs - the package I got consisted of a box with 12 individual cardboard sleeves, each with a single DVD inside. Personally I like this as it seems to have kept the discs secure during shipment. I've bought other multi-disc sets and have never been that impressed with how they were shoe-horned into a single huge clam-shell case. Another thing that I like about the slim sleeves that these discs come in - it makes it really easy to drop one or two of these movies into the pockets of my laptop and/or my portable DVD player case. Also on the sleeves is a short description of each movie - in a very readable 12-pt font.
2 - The number of discs, there are twelve double-sided discs in this collection, with two movies on each side. Why do I think that is important? Mainly because I've bought other sets where a cheaper publisher crammed four movies onto each disc side so as to get 50 movies on five discs. To do that they had to greatly compress the videos which made them have a huge amount of artifacts and pixilation - making them almost unwatchable. The movies on this 12-disc set are of excellent quality, at least as good as possible considering the source material. While there appears to have been some defects in the prints used to make these DVDs (scratches and whatnot) there doesn't seem to be any noticeable additional problems introduced from overly compressing the films to get them on the discs.
This is the third set of videos from Mill Creek Entertainment that I've purchased; I also bought their "Hollywood Legends" and "Cartoon Classics" collections. I must say that I've been very pleased with all three sets and look forward to buying more of their collections.
Rating: - 50 Drive-In Movies of Public Domain Goodness
Drive-In Movie Classics is a collection of 50 movies that have only one thing in common: they are all public domain and as such it is possible for them to be presented in highly affordable collections. I paid $21.99 for my set and that comes down to about 44 cents per movie. The way that movie tickets cost nowadays, you really cannot complain about this collection.
Anyways, here is how I rate the movies in Drive-In Movie Classics:
Excellent:
Absolution
Horror of the Zombies
Night Train to Terror
Shock
Snowbeast
Great:
Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride
Don't Look in the Basement
Island Monster, The
Unsane
Werewolf vs. Vampire Women, The
Good:
Creeper
Creepers
Day of the Panther
Devil with Seven Faces, The
Don't Open Till Christmas
Firing Line, The
Going Steady
Invasion of the Bee Girls
Legacy of Blood
Murder Mansion, The
Prime Time
Slave of the Cannibal God
Spare Parts
Trauma
Women of Devil's Island
Bad:
Beast from Haunted Cave
Black Hooker
Breakout from Oppression
Country Blue
Death By Dialogue
Fiend
Guy from Harlem, The
In Hot Pursuit
I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?
Jive Turkey
Katie's Passion
Lazarus Syndrome, The
Legend of Big Foot
Mad Dog
Mama Dracula
Manipulator, The
Prisoner of the Lost Universe
Rattlers
Savage Journey
Savage Weekend
Throw Out the Anchor
TNT Jackson
Treasure of Tayopa
Twister's Revenge
Vengeance of the Zombies
Voodoo Black Exorcist
Overall, a very good collection that is well worth your time and money.
Rating:  - On a 1 to 10 scale, this collection is rated: 4.1
Drive-in movies are an all but forgotten part of the teenage-dating ritual.
Once upon a time, on Friday and Saturday nights (weather permitting), kids everywhere would head out to their local drive-in theater, ostensibly to catch a double feature. The car would get parked in a somewhat elevated space and a tinny little speaker had to be hung on one of the two front seat windows. After lighting up a dashboard bug coil (to keep the mosquitoes away) then came the quick run to buy popcorn, french fries and Cokes. Finally, back in the car, we'd settle down and wait for the show to start.
When the snack bar commercial started running (usually right around dusk), we all knew that soon the fun would begin! The "Coming Attractions" and a cartoon were followed by the opening credits of the first film. That was the cue for most kids to stop watching that weathered outdoor screen, and begin to watch each other (and then some). In this fashion, we happily managed to ignore some of the strangest movies ever made.
The DRIVE-IN MOVIE CLASSICS 50 MOVIE PACK is the perfect way for those of us old enough to remember what we missed back then (and why!) to finally see exactly what was going on up there on the screen. (To the younger folks who may never have experienced a drive-in theater, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out what your future parents were doing on movie nights.)
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Based on polling numbers from a film resource website, the current average 1 to 10 rating for this box set is: 4.1.
The following alphabetized program list includes individual poll scores, original theatrical titles (where indicated), year of release and country of origin (if other than USA), as well as featured performers.
(6.0) Absolution (UK-1978) - Richard Burton/Domenic Guard
(3.3) Beast From Haunted Cave (1959) - Michael Forest/Sheila Noonan
(3.2) Black Hooker ("Street Sisters") (1974) - Durey Mason/Sandra Alexandra
(5.1) Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride ("The Satanic Rites Of Dracula") (UK-1974) - Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing
(3.9) Breakout From Oppression (Hong Kong-1978) - Fonda Lynn/Alan Tam
(2.8) Country Blue (1973) - Dub Taylor/Jack Conrad
(5.3) Creeper (Canada-1977) - Hal Holbrook/Lawrence Dane
(6.7) Creepers ("Phenomena") (Italy-1985) - Jennifer Connelly/Donald Pleasence (in support)
(4.0) Day Of The Panther (Australia-1988) - Ed Stazak/John Stanton
(2.8) Death By Dialogue (1988) - Ken Sagoes/Laura Albert
(4.6) The Devil With Seven Faces (Italy-1971)- Caroll Baker/Stephen Boyd
(4.5) Don't Look In The Basement ("The Forgotten") (1973) - Bill McGhee/Jessie Lee Fulton
(3.2) Don't Open Till Christmas (UK-1984) - Edmund Purdom/Alan Lake
(3.0) The Firing Line (USA/Philippines-1991) - Rob Brown/Shannon Tweed
(4.4) Going Steady (Israel/W Ger-1979)
(2.4) The Guy From Harlem (1977) - Loye Hawkins/Cathy Davis
(2.7) Horror Of The Zombies (Spain-1974) - Maria Perschy/Jack Taylor
(1.9) In Hot Pursuit ("Polk County Pot Plane") (1977) - Don Watson/Bobby Watson
(4.8) Invasion Of The Bee Girls (1973) - William Smith/Anitra Ford
(2.7) The Island Monster (Italy-1954) - Boris Karloff
(3.2) I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975) - Bob Dishy/Joanna Barnes/Bill Dana/Vito Scotti
(4.9) Jive Turkey ("Baby Needs A New Pair Of Shoes") (1974) - Frank DeKova/Paul Harris
(6.7) Katie's Passion (Netherlands-1975) - Rutger Hauer
(5.7) Lazarus Syndrome (TV-1978) - Louis Gossett Jr./E.G. Marshall
(1.9) Legacy Of Blood ("Blood Legacy") (1971) - Rudolfo Acosta/John Carradine (in support)
(3.9) Legend Of Big Foot (1976) - Ivan Marx/Peggy Marx
(6.0) Mad Dog ("Beast With A Gun") (Italy-1977) - Helmut Berger/Richard Harrison
(2.4) Mama Dracula (France/Belgium-1980) - Louise Fletcher/Maria Schneider
(4.7) The Murder Mansion (Spain-1972) - Evelyn Stewart
(1.9) The Manipulator (1971) - Mickey Rooney/Keenan Wynn
(2.2) Night Train To Terror (1985) - Barbara Wyler/Jamie Scoggin
(5.3) Prime Time ("American Raspberry") (1977) - Paul Ainsley/Royce Applegate/Joanna Cassidy (minor role)
(4.1) Prisoners Of The Lost Universe (UK-1983) - Richard Hatch/Kay Lenz/John Saxon
(4.3) Rattlers (1976) - Sam Chew Jr./Elisabeth Chauvet
(3.9) Savage Journey (TV-1983) - Maurice Grandmaison/Paul Warton/Richard Moll (minor role)
(3.9) Savage Weekend (1979) - Christopher Allport/Jim Doerr
(6.3) Shock (1946) - Vincent Price
(4.9) Slave Of The Cannibal God (Italy-1978) - Ursula Andress/Stacy Keach
(4.0) Snowbeast (TV-1977) - Bo Svenson/Yvette Mimieux/Robert Logan
(5.9) Spare Parts (TV-W Germany-1979)
(2.8) Throw Out The Anchor! (1974) - Richard Egan/Dina Merrill
(4.0) T.N.T. Jackson (USA/Philippines-1975) - Jeannie Bell/Stan Shaw
(5.8) Trauma (Italy/W Ger-1978) - Fabio Testi/Christine Kaufmann
(3.1) Treasure Of Tayopa (1974) - Gilbert Roland/Rena Winters
(3.1) Twister's Revenge! (1987) - Dean West/Meredith Orr
(7.1) Unsane (Italy-1982) - Anthony Franciosa
(3.9) Vengeance Of The Zombies (Spain-1973)
(1.9) Voodoo Black Exorcist (Spain-1973)
(4.7) The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women (Spain/W Ger-1971)
(3.3) Women Of Devil's Island (Italy/France-1962) - Guy Madison
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