Plot: What’s it about?
In a most impressive effort, a team of astronauts has been packed into a rocket and sent to the moon, to explore and gather data about the terrain. The five brave explorers manage to survive the journey and land on the moon, where they begin their trek and scout out the location. The crew travels into the dark side of the moon, where they stumble upon a massive cave, but they have no idea what lurks within the cavern’s depths. Inside the cave, the explorers discover they can breathe without their equipment, so they ditch the suits and move deeper into the recesses. Soon they run into a buried civilization, whose members greet them and supply rations to them. It seems as though these beautiful female beings have good intentions, but as the astronauts soon learn, there is darkness behind their gorgeous exteriors…
If you’re a lover of low rent sci/fi, then this disc is one you simply have to own. I know there’s a wealth of low budget sci/fi out on our beloved format, but Cat-Women of the Moon is one of the all time worst. The acting is bad, the writing is bad, the production values are bad and in the end, this one is just plain bad. But when a film is this bad, it has the chance to be humorous and in this case, that is most certainly the case. The poor dialogue is so poorly penned that you have to laugh, while the cheese laden set pieces will have you in stitches. And the special effects…these have to be seen to be believed. This was even remade in the form of Missile to the Moon, which was also a very low budget, laughable production. Now I know these kind of movies have a limited audience, but I give this disc a strong recommendation, as genre fans will be in heaven with Cat-Women of the Moon.
As you can imagine, this movie doesn’t have much in terms of even decent performances, but I do want to mention one of the cast members. Although her work here isn’t impressive in the least, at least Marie Windsor looks good and in that respect, she shines here. Windsor was in a plethora of better films and proved to be a solid performer, but you wouldn’t be able to guess that from Cat-Women of the Moon. Other films with Windsor include Support Your Local Gunfighter, Hurricane Island, Mail Order Bride, Salem’s Lot, Freaky Friday, and The Girl In Black Stockings. The cast also includes Victor Jory (Mackenna’s Gold, Papillon), William Phipps (The Snow Creature, Messenger of Death), Sonny Tufts (Serpent Island, The Seven Year Itch), Carol Brewster (Rosemary’s Baby, Untamed Woman), and Douglas Fowley (The Girl Rush, Red River Shore).
Video: How does it look?
Cat-Women of the Moon is presented in a full frame transfer, which retains the film’s intended aspect ratio. I was surprised with how clean and consistent this presentation was, but some flaws do surface to lessen the experience, though not much. The source print looks very clean and shows minimal wear, which is a real shock to me. The contrast is smooth and well rendered here also, which ensures a good level of detail and sharp overall picture. I saw a couple pulses in this transfer, but they were slight and not a serious issue in the end. When you consider the age and nature of this film, this is a more than effective visual transfer, much better than expected.
Audio: How does it sound?
There’s not a lot to discuss here, as the included mono track handles the basics, but little else. But in fairness, this film doesn’t need much audio power and as such, no real complaints can be forged in the end. I did detect a few instances of distortion, due to the age of the materials, but not enough to be worried about. The music (by Elmer Bernstein), sound effects, and dialogue all seem in fine form here, although never too sharp or dynamic. But then again, how much can you expect from a low budget sci/fi flick made in 1953?
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the film’s theatrical trailer.
