Roger Corman was a different kind of filmmaker on many levels. His ingenuity always seemed to be on display as both a director and producer. A perfect example of his ability to think different was when he went to South Dakota in the middle of winter to produce Beast From Haunted Cave with a young Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop) as the director. Instead of just hauling cast and crew out to the Badlands to shoot the film; he made the call to direct a second film. It wasn’t another monster movie. He made Ski Troop Attack which had US troops fighting the Germans in the deep snow. Thus in only five weeks, Corman returned back to sunny Los Angeles with two snow filled feature films. Now both Beast From Haunted Cave and Ski Troop Attack are double featured so you can appreciate what Roger Corman made in a winter wonderland.
Beast From Haunted Cave (1959 – 66 minutes) features a bank robbery near a ski resort in South Dakota that goes really wrong. Alexander Ward (Once Upon A Time In The West‘s Frank Wolff) plans out the heist and brings up Byron Smith (The Little Shop of Horrors‘ Wally Campo) and Marty Jones (Ski Patrol Attack‘s Richard Sinatra) to be his crew. He hires Gil Jackson (Cast Away‘s Michael Forest) to help guide them to a remote cabin after their heist. Gil has no clue that he’s part of a criminal enterprise. Although he’s not sure what to make of Ward’s alleged secretary Gypsy (Sheila Carol) who seems to be flirting with him. Part of the plan to rob the bank is to set off an explosion in a nearby abandoned gold mine with a time bomb. While Marty is positioning the bomb, his date gets killed by a beast (Cycle Savages‘ Chris Robinson). He escapes alive so the crew can pull off their heist. Their escape plan doesn’t prove so smooth since it’s not just the law looking for the robbers, but the beast.
Included on the Blu-ray is the TV cut that runs 72 minutes. This allowed the film to fit in a 90-minute timeslot. You can tell right away at the difference as it features taking of a Polaroid photo of the robber’s target and the ski lift. It’s easy to spot the extra seven minutes of filler. Hellman shot this footage after the film had been made so this still counts as being part of his film.
Ski Troop Attack (1960 – 74 minutes) puts a U.S. Army ski patrol of five soldiers behind enemy lines in Germany’s Hurtgen Forest. Lt. Factor (Michael Forest) is initially assigned to have a reconnaissance mission. Their sneaking around changes when Sgt Potter (Frank Wolff) orders they need to shoot Germans. The allies are under attack and the unit needs to destroy a strategic target. The German troops that are on their trail are led by Roger Corman. Can they succeed in this frozen death zone? Sheila Carol (really Sheila Noonan) returns as a German woman who gets her house invaded by the troops. How does someone make a World War II film in South Dakota on a tiny budget and in 13 days? The secret for Roger Corman was stock footage. He didn’t have to haul in tanks and planes and cast of thousands. He spliced in newsreel footage from the actual war to beef up the action. While it isn’t a perfect mix of black and white film stocks, it does the trick to keep the battles going on the screen. The fact that there aren’t too many World War II films featuring troops on skis, makes Corman’s men on a mission story a bit unique.
Roger Corman’s trip to South Dakota turned out to be a success. He made a pair of films starring the same quintet of main actors. You don’t feel like you’re watching the same movie twice told even with the five familiar faces. They aren’t playing the same characters. Sheila Carol delivers two fine performances. It’s a shame this was the height of her career. What’s also significant is that Corman didn’t just make two frozen monster movies while in the snowy state. He produced a bank heist with a monster angle and directed an army film. He wasn’t making the double feature bill at once. But after all this time, it feels proper to see them back-to-back. Beast From Haunted Cave and Ski Patrol Attack are a fine way to spend a snowy afternoon stuck inside.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic for the theatrical Beast from Haunted Cave and 1.33:1 full frame on Ski Troop Attack. The 1080p transfers of the black and white films look great. This is a lot sharper than when they played night owl theaters on UHD channels for decades. The Audio for both films is DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. These sound so much better than what I heard on various UHF channel showings. The movies are subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary on Beast from Haunted Cave is by Tom Weaver. He gets into how the film was shot in the Deadwood and Lead, South Dakota area. Terry Peak had just opened when the movie was made and is still going today as a ski resort.
Original Trailer for Beast from Haunted Cave (1:38) promises us an orgy that turns into a nightmare of terror at a ski resort.
2023 Re-cut trailer for Beast From Haunted Cave (1:38) uses the new HD footage in 1.85:1 anamorphic.
Photos From the Filming of Beast From Haunted Cave (4:22) includes press pictures.
Audio Commentary on Ski Troop Attack features C. Courtney Joyner and Howard S. Berger. They get into how Corman pretty much made the film on shoestring with the cast and crew from Beast From Haunted Cave. Corman decided to make sure that the Germans wear black pants with their white ski coats so they won’t be confused with the all-white American troops. Their commentary is subtitled.
Hollywood Intruders: The Film Group Story: Part One (16:22) is about Roger and Gene Corman’s production and distribution company that they ran for projects not done with American International Pictures. C. Courtney Joyner gives the early history and how the Cormans ended up in snowy South Dakota for two films. This takes the company up to the release of The Wasp Woman.
2023 Re-Cut Trailer for Ski Troop Attack (1:56) lets us know we’ll be seeing a lot of people shooting gun in snow.
Booklet includes Tom Weaver’s interview with Chris Robinson about playing the Beast and C. Courtney Joyner’s essay on Corman’s war films.
Film Masters present Beast From Haunted Cave: Special Edition. Directed by Monte Hellman and Roger Corman. Screenplays by Charles B. Griffith. Starring Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Wally Campo, Richard Sinatra, Roger Corman, Sheila Carol, Sheila Noonan, Linné Ahlstrand & Chris Robinson. Boxset Contents: 2 movies on 2 Blu-ray Discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: November 12, 2024.
