TERROR IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN/INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE (1959/1962)
Directors: Virgil W. Vogel, Jerry Warren
Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment

Who would have ever thought that any cinematic work associated with hack director Jerry Warren would be eligible for a special edition DVD? Not me! But that's exactly what we have here on this "double feature" disc. First off is TERROR IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN, a Swedish/American co-production from the late 50s that was never shown here. Some years later, it was sold to Warren who retitled it, trimmed it immensely, added new footage, and released it with a 55 minute running time to play at the bottom of a double bill.

In the original film, a glowing spaceship crashes in snow-filled Northern Sweden. A young Swedish geologist and an older American, Dr. Frederick Wilson (I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN's Robert Burton--"I'll never forget his face!"), and Wilson's athletic niece Diane (Barbara Wilson) fly to the location of the ship, which they actually believe is some kind of meteor. We are then introduced to some strange mute aliens who look like they walked off the set of Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL. The aliens unleash a giant, sharp-toothed woolly monster (which the DVD's packaging describes as resembling "a drunken Chewbacca"--enough said). He terrorizes the villagers, stomps on their homes, and makes off with the pretty Ms. Wilson. A brief and rather obscured nude scene with Wilson (or rather her shapely double) is evident in this version, but of course culled from Warren's cut.

When Warren got his hands on the film, he exercised his usual shoddy patchwork, shooting some new footage in California. Giving the film some marquee value, John Carradine appears as the onscreen narrator (he is introduced sitting at a desk and fondling some electrical equipment), chattering a lot of nothing. He also cut much of the running time (adding Carradine's narration over some of the original dialog), re-edited scenes entirely (he disassociated the hairy monster from the aliens), and changed the location to Switzerland! The film had to be expanded for television (this is the version included on this disc), so more footage of unbilled Warren regulars (including THE WILD WORLD OF BATWOMAN star Katherine Victor as Wilson's mom) are featured yapping in some very stationary, uninspired sequences.

As far a quality is concerned, TERROR IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN is superior to INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE, with the source material being in better shape. Aside from some humming in the initial first few minutes, the sound is also much more clear. INVASION's print has some damage in the form of some lines and scratches, but it's also brighter than TERROR, so some dark-lit scenes are easier to make out in this version.

What's impressive and really makes this a special edition, is that Image dug up the producer of the film, Bertil Jernberg, for an in-depth audio commentary. Jernberg (who is interviewed by another gentleman with a heavy Swedish accent) discusses the film in a very serious, proud manner, and remembers a lot of particulars regarding the production and cast. He never mentions any bitterness as a result of Warren's bastardization of the film (which he was lead to believe would be sold to Paramount for distribution!).

There are a number of extras present, including a number of Swedish-themed trailers: THE CATS, LOVE SWEDISH STYLE, MAID IN SWEDEN (with Christina Lindberg), SAPPHO DARLING, SWEDEN: HEAVEN AND HELL, and TO INGRID MY LOVE LISA. There's also two widescreen Swedish short subjects: "Lapland Reindeer Ritual" and "Swedish Teens Run Wild," apparently culled from other features. The best extra is an installment of the never broadcast 1960 Swedish TV show "13 Demon Street.." Host by a scary Lon Chaney (garbed in animal skins), and written and directed by Curt Siodmak. The episode is entitled "The Girl in the Glacier" and concerns an archeologist who falls in love with a woman frozen in ice for years. He becomes so infatuated that it leads to murder and rejection of his wife's advances. Shot in English, the episode has unremovable Swedish subtitles.

There also some humorous liner notes by cult director and fan Frank Henenlotter ("A Jerry Warren retrospective is currently playing in Hell."). Hopefully it won't be long before we see a special edition DVD of Warren's abomination CREATURE OF THE WALKING DEAD. Then again... (George R. Reis)

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