Blue Steele: Terror Creatures from the Grave

The real scary thing is that someone released a film in this condition!  Today's film is Terror Creatures from the Grave, a film with a hyphen on the Title Card, but not anywhere else on the DVD.  There are a number of problems here, but the horrible presentation on this DVD is a big one.  I have one actual film from this same collection- Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women- and it's a decent transfer.  This is one of those 'We ripped the old VHS' transfers- boy, does it show!  The film itself is an interesting one, but you have to really dig through this mess of bad video and audio to get to it.  Even then, the movie makes some major missteps.  To find out what muddled joy you can dig out of this DVD, read on...

In a precursor to the now-standard Opening Kill Trope, a man is killed by mysterious means in an Alley.  This decent effect- as much as you can see- is the high point of the film.  Enjoy the remaining 80 minutes, folks!

 The plot involves a Lawyer visiting a Gothic estate in regards to the father's will.  The problem: the father supposedly died a year earlier!  Dun dun blurry!

If you think that this movie is exciting (bad print or otherwise), check out this scene where our hero listens to an audio recording by the allegedly-dead guy.  Give that machine a close-up!

When people in the nearby Village start dying, our hero goes to investigate.  What will he find?

Whatever it is, it's too late for this guy.  He's screwed.

Finally, they check on the coffin that's supposed to hold the father and, big shock, it's empty.  Dun dun snooze!

As it turns out, the guy is actually alive and has his own Igor-analog.  This would be interesting if I wasn't half-asleep from this film's slow pacing and the terribly-damaged soundtrack.

For his big plan, he brings the people he killed earlier back as zombies that carry 'a plague.'  It all has to do with the house originally being a Hospital.  The problem with all of this...

They never show the creatures.  This is the best you get.

 To top it all off, it starts raining and that apparently stops the creatures.  Yeah, it's that sudden and jarring.  The End.

I review this for you mostly as a warning.  I really considered not reviewing this film, to be honest.  Even though I took a dozen Screen Caps for a review, I was still pondering just skipping it as of two days ago.  Ultimately, I realized that some people might stumble across this Alpha Video release and rent it for either a laugh or to uncover a hidden gem.  This film is neither.  To be fair, a big problem with this movie is the transfer.  I know that I've harped on that a lot, but it's impossible to ignore.  Imagine if your favorite movie- whether it's King Kong, Casablanca, etc.- was only available on a cheap VHS rip from a company that releases only Public Domain films.  Would you still like them as much?  Aside from that big issue, the movie itself has a nice, Gothic charm.  That's really all of the nice stuff that I can say.  The rest of the film is slow, slow, slow.  When it finally gets to its pay-off...it's a bit of a cop-out.  On the plus side, I saved myself from getting this in Project Terrible from Maynard sometime in 2013.  Take us away, film tease...

Up next, a much better film with Steele and an obscure Slasher to boot.  Can this Slasher be all about character and make me care?  Stay tuned...