Beast from Haunted Cave is a horror/ thriller from 1959 directed by Monte Hellman (Cockfighter, Iguana and Waiting For Godot), from a screenplay by Charles B Griffith (Little Shop of Horrors, Death Race 2000 and Barbarella), and produced by the Corman Bros, Roger and Gene (Night of the Blood Beast, Attack of the Giant Leeches and Premature Burial). This was the first movie that Hellman and Roger Corman would make together, Corman would keep Hellman in his employ over the next fifteen years. The film stars Michael Forest (who would go on to voice act on dozens of well-known anime titles including The Castle of Cagliostro, Paprika and Ninja Scroll to name a few), Sheila Noonan (The Incredible Petrified World, Ski Troop Attack and Bucket of Blood), and Frank Wolff (Once Upon A Time in the West, Death Walks on High Heels and Cold Eyes of Fear).

This new Blu-ray from Film Masters features a newly restored 4k scan of the movie taken directly from original 35mm archival material, and offers two separate prints of the movie, the 65-minute theatrical version and the extended 72-minute TV version, for the purpose of this review I watched the longer 72-minute TV version.

Beast from Haunted Cave tells the story of a group of gangsters, led by Alexander ward (Frank Wolff) who trigger an explosion in an old mine as a diversion while they break into a vault to steal some gold bars. One of the gang, Marty (played by Frank Sinatra’s cousin and Corman regular, Richard Sinatra) heads up to the mine with barmaid Natalie (played by Linné Ahlstrand) with the intent of laying the charges, which he does, but not before he runs into the beast (played by Chris Robinson). Marty manages to escape but Natalie is killed. Unsuspecting local mountain guide, Gil (Michael Forest) who has been hired to take the gang up to his remote cabin in the woods is kept out of the way on the ski slope with Alexander’s girlfriend, Gypsy (Noonan) while the robbery takes place. Once the rest of the gang arrive, they set off for the cabin. The plan is for the gang to be picked up by plane, however, when the plane is delayed by the weather conditions things started to go awry. Gil becomes suspicious of Alexander and the gang and there’s a feeling that they’ve been followed.

Beast from Haunted Cave is an enjoyable, if cheesy horror/ thriller, typical of Roger Corman’s oeuvre. The cast is decent, if unremarkable and the creature itself looks pretty impressive for the time and budgetary constraints. The newly restored 4k print is impressive, in fact the film looks better than it has any reason to look. Alongside the two versions of the movie, we get an audio commentary from film historian Tom Weaver, and filmmaker Larry Blamire, a remastered trailer and a new trailer cut from the restored film elements.

Interestingly, there is a second disc of material that adds a great deal of extra value to this set featuring a HD print of Ski Troop Attack, which was filmed by Corman at the same time and in the same location to keep down costs. This second disc also features an audio commentary for Ski Troop Attack with C. Courtney Joyner and Howard S. Berger, and Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story Part 1. A documentary on Roger and Gene Corman’s production and distribution company. The set is rounded out with a nice booklet featuring a bunch of stills and a couple of essays from Tom Weaver and C. Courtney Joyner.

Overall, this is a lovely set for a B-movie classic, crammed with loads of great bonus materials across two discs. If you’re a fan of Roger Corman movies, this is probably the definitive release for this particular title, and if you’re not a fan of Roger Corman movies, why not? Seriously though, there’s a lot to like here and Film Masters have given it the all-star treatment. Corman and Hellman made a lot of great low-budget movies together and this remains one of my personal favourites.