Public Domain Horror Films

[Calenture]

Recently I found some (allegedly) Public Domain films on the net. Probably others are aware of them, but most of the links I've seen so far have been to You Tube. I've never been able to download those films to my computer.

This site allows you to download. Various qualities are offered for Cable or dial-up users. Note that not all the films have free download links. Now I have to find a way to convert
MPEGs to MP3s so that I can put them on DVD. I was always rubbish at making DVDs on computer!

Recommended for Dem is The Brain that Wouldn't Die. Man brings wife's severed head back to life.

Why?

Link to the horror films directory: Public Domain Horror Films

This post comes with a "download at your own risk" caution. We all know film download sites have a bad rep., and I've only recently found this one.

[sean]

There's a few there I may look at (haven't seen 'Things to Come' for a while) , though I'll probably watch it via the 'net rather than download it, just in case. Thanks for the link, Rog!

[Calenture]

Found this little gem at Free Public Domain Movies. It's a 1961 take on The Most Dangerous Game, with a touch of the Karloff/Lugosi Black Cat (dead woman floating in a fish tank).

Unfortunately I haven't yet managed to make a playable DVD of it. Can't find a way to make DVD-compatible files. Yet.

This FLV Player Download is genuinely free.

Or the excellent KM Player Download recommended to me by Demonik way back is genuinely free and plays stuff other players won't. It can also create a DVD-compatible AVI file if it's in a good mood and I grabbed the above picture with it.

Film details are below. The free version isn't colour as stated here, so am seriously considering buying this one!

The various free versions are here.

The flv file is poor quality but works (right-click on it and select "save as" to save to desktop). The wmv (Windows Media file) is best available. Realplayer can't run the mp4's for me.

"Bloodlust" (1961)
In this horror flick, two beautiful young girls are defenseless against the deadly ancient crossbow!

A crazed hunter kidnaps people and turns them loose on his private estate, where he hunts them for sport

By Lawrance M. Bernabo
The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota; Amazon.com:
"Bloodlust!" is a 1961 film from director Ralph Brooke, who is telling his own twisted version of Richard Connell's short story "The Most Dangerous Game."

The popular story of a big game hunter hunting men was first film in 1932 with Joel McRae and Fay Wray being hunted by Leslie Banks, and before Brooke got around to his version was remade as "A Game of Death" in 1945, again as "The Most Dangerous Game" but as a 7-minute short in 1953, and as "Run for the Sun" in 1956 with Richard Widmark and Trevor Howard.

In the post-"Bloodlust!" era we have had "Woman Hunt" in 1975, "Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity" in 1987, "Deadly Prey" in 1988, and "Lethal Woman" in 1990, as suddenly the story take a decided turn from violence to sex. Suddenly, "Bloodlust!" looks pretty good in comparison, especially if you are into campy remakes.

The story begins with a pair of couples out for a charter boat ride (Oh, no: this film anticipates "Gilligan's Island!"). The captain spots an island he has never seen before and promptly passes out.

So his passengers decide to go visit the island where Johnny Randall (Robert Reed), falls into a trap. Pete Garwood (Eugene Persson), Betty Scott (June Kenney), and Jeanne Perry (Joan Lora) get Johnny out of the trap just in time to be confronted by Dr. Albert Balleau (Wilton Graff) and his gun bearers.

He invites them back to his home, where stuffed animals and trophy heads are the major item of decor. He engages his visitors in the sort of polite conversation where everything has a double meaning and his guests start to have a clue. Eventually the truth is revealed: Dr. Balleau likes to hunt human beings and has a special room where he displays his trophies captured forever as they were at the moment of death.

Graff plays the part like he was Orson Welles pretending to be Vincent Price. If you like your crazy men to be totally calm, cool, and collected, then this is your guy, although the approach really wears thin. Reed is clearly the only competent actor in the bunch and I can see why being in this movie did not hurt his career as he went on to "The Brady Bunch" and then tried to live the role down in things like "Rich Man, Poor Man."

The grizzly tableaus are a pretty good touch to the general camp, and there is a scene where one of the doctor's henchmen is getting things ready for the newest tableau where the idea will turn your stomach even if the visuals do not. The common denominator between the two features on this disc is that the women in these horror films really know how to scream.

Although "Bloodlust!" received the "MST3K" treatment in Season 6 (which is available with the short "Uncle Jim's Dairy Farm" on VHS), it is a solid B-movie providing a few chills amidst the camp. You can also see it as part of a double bill with "Atom Age Vampire" thanks to the wacky folks at Killer Creature Double-Feature. So you can go with "Bloodlust!" by itself, or you can track down versions with the added goodies.

Robert Reed : Johnny Randall
June Kenney : Betty Scott
Joan Lora : Jeanne Perry
Eugene Persson : Pete Garwood (as Gene Persson)
Walter Brooke : Dean Gerrard
Lilyan Chauvin : Sandra Balleau

Director: Ralph Brooke
Writers: Ralph Brooke & Richard Connell

Producer: Ralph Brooke
Audio/Visual: sound, color

[allthingshorror]

Not exactly public domain - but the best freebie film site I have come across to date:

www.filmschatten.blogspot.com

It can sometimes be a bit of a tempremental site - but it has some of the best cult films I've ever and never seen.

Enjoy!