8mm Forum: Ken Films' "The Undead"

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Topic: Ken Films' "The Undead"

Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 03, 2011 11:13 PM

What movie is this taken from?

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 03, 2011 11:18 PM

Brad,

The Ken Films digest is from the 1957 American International feature of the same name. It was directed by Roger Corman.

The artwork is better than the film!

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Pasquale DAlessio
Film God

Posts: 3523
From: Bristol,RI, USA
Registered: May 2010

posted June 03, 2011 11:37 PM

You got that right Doug. I have this film also. The artwork is indeed better that the film. [Eek!]

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 04, 2011 06:24 PM

Apparently it was filmed in an abandoned supermarket within 6 days (typical for Roger Corman) and it's rated as one of his worst. Does the digest improve upon the overall film like some of the Castle digests do (ie: "The Mummy's Tomb")? I imagine the narrative must be hard to follow. Reviewers on line say it's very convaluted and totally incomprehensible.

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Marshall Crist
Master Film Handler

Posts: 300
From: San Pedro, CA USA
Registered: Oct 2008

posted June 04, 2011 06:47 PM

This is regarded as one of Corman's worst? I rather like it and thought it had a following. Can't comment on the digest, though.

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Greg Marshall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 612
From: Nashville, TN USA
Registered: Sep 2008

posted June 04, 2011 07:17 PM

This was one of my first 8mm films I was given as a kid, from my Mom. 50' version, though. I'm sure I played it a few hundred times. Ha.

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Adrian Winchester
Film God

Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004

posted June 05, 2011 07:59 AM

I have the 200' and although I'd probably agree that it's incomprehensible, I'd say it offers a reasonably entertaining 8 minutes of entertainment - and an attractive young lady who's a sufficient incentive to run it!

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Adrian Winchester

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Jim Schrader
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1628
From: Savage, MN, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 05, 2011 04:07 PM

my copy is sound someone took the time to add sound

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jim schrader
"Let's see “do I have that title already?"

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Brian Hendel
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 902
From: New York, New York
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 05, 2011 04:37 PM

Jim - If you ever want to part with your sound-striped print let me know. I'm definitely interested...The film is one of my guilty pleasures!

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 05, 2011 05:42 PM

You should load it on YouTube. I'd be very interested to see how it came out.

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 05, 2011 10:01 PM

Speaking of YouTube, The Undead can be found here.

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted June 06, 2011 10:30 AM

DEFINITELY ...

a cover better than the film. I once saw a 50ft version of this and I must say, "Plan 9 From Outer Space" looked like a well made classic compared to this. (ooooh, what a slam!)

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 06, 2011 10:27 PM

Thanks, Doug! Boy... Am I glad I never shelled out the $5.95 back in the 70's for it. What a piece of ka-ka. The sub-titles don't even match what the actors are saying and I can't even get the gist of what the heck is going on. It's so nice to be able to see these digests on YouTube so we can preview them and decide which ones are worth even a $1.00 bid. At least, for those who did buy it, the box artwork is decent.

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted June 08, 2011 10:36 AM

I've found that subtitles can be mis-matching at times. This is mostly due to more dialogue than can be subtitled, (it would disappear before the reader was done) and so they "sum up" what was said ...

and then, there are the cases where the actor said ...

" I will eat your flesh "

and the subtitle says ...

" I want to buy a Volvo. "

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 08, 2011 10:49 PM

Osi, this is definitely the case with the KEN silent editions. However, CASTLE actually matched up the dialogue pretty acurately in the titles I have. Some of the COLUMBIA titles aren't bad ("Cash & Carry" with the Stooges is the best I've seen). This "The Undead", though, never hits the mark throughout the entire digest. I was able to watch most of it on YouTube as part of an old "MST3K" episode, but the down side is that the final be-heading scene has been excised (not that I'm hot to see some pretty girl have her noggin lobbed off, but it is a critical story element) along with some other incidental footage leading up to the end.

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Lee Mannering
Film God

Posts: 3216
From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006

posted June 09, 2011 03:44 AM

When I was a kid we used to act out our own voice overs for the old std 8 50ft shorts using school pals and a cassette recorder which was great fun. Wonder if anyone else used to do this when they were young?

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted June 09, 2011 01:36 PM

Oh LEE!

Your a man after my own heart! I was famous (and notorious) for adding what I felt was proper dialogue (with voice impersonations and all) to many a film.

The last example?

The Arnold film "Collateral Damage" ...

There is a scene early in the film when Arnold is taking a shower with his son in the film, (slightly creepy, at least to me) ...

at the end of the film, as son runs up to the victorious Arnold is supply the dialogue (in Arnold's way of speaking ...)

... "Come little boy, let's take a shower!"

I swear, I had at least half of that packed audience howling with laughter!

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Michael O'Regan
Film God

Posts: 3085
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Oct 2007

posted June 09, 2011 01:52 PM

THE UNDEAD is a title I always wanted from the back pages of FM, back in the 70's, just because of the fantastic cover.

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 09, 2011 06:42 PM

The cover, I agree, is one of the best KEN's graphic department created. Too bad, what was in the box didn't measure up. Many of KEN's graphics look like a nine-year old created them with crayons. Some of the early A&C boxes from CASTLE were also quite inferior, as well. In the 70's, CASTLE really stepped it up. The box art from the late 60's and up were truly wonderful. COLUMBIA did a nice job with most of theirs, too.

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