Seriously, a double bill with TEENAGE FRANKENSTIEN on DVD would be dream come true! Now that I finaly have WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS on "Official" DVD this is my new "holy grail", this would complete my CDF collection of movies.

A very, very good question joehead. I believe that these movies are involved with some kind of legal dispute that has prevented them from being released. I don't know the details, but it seems like it was discussed here (or possibly at the old board?) in the past. You're right about the fact that these movies would make for a perfect double feature DVD (just like they made for a perfect pairing on CDF). It's kind of like how "The Amazing Colossal Man" isn't available because of (I believe) Samuel Arkoff's wife, so there's no official DVD with the perfect double feature of "The Amazing Colossal Man" and "War of the Colossal Beast" (another classic CDF lineup). Instead we have to make do with the double feature of "War of the Colossal Beast" and "The Spider" ("Earth vs. the Spider"). Who'd have thought that these cheap-o, underappreciated and supposedly "bad" B-movies could cause so much legal trouble. Imagine how little would be available to us if it weren't for the fact that so many of them are in the public domain?

Good points Col. Manning, all of this legal stuff bites, why woudnt she (Arkoff's wife) give the ok to these releases! I forgot about "The Amazing Colossal Man" and "War of the Colossal Beast" as double-bill, chalk that up as another for the "holy grail"!

It's actually the wife of Arkoff's former partner James H. Nicholson (Susan Hart, star of DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE) who's holding up the releases of several key AIP titles. Word is that she's holding out for more money than anyone wants to offer for them. Darn shame.

Thanks for the clarification Mark. I hate to state something I'm not sure about, but figured someone bettter informed than myself would show up if I was mistaken. I can understand wanting to get a nice payday (even if the movie IS her husband's legacy and not hers per se), but it's a shame that titles like this aren't made available to the fans because of, dare I suggest...greed.

I can see some honest business person (yes, I certainly know that the other side could be just as greedy, but bear with me) seeing a market for a movie like "I was a Teenage Werewolf" and deciding to try to get the rights. The movie's probably just been sitting around for years without Mrs. Nicholson even being aware of it (or her ownership of its rights). He says, "Hey, I liked this admittedly bad movie as a kid and would like to release it on DVD for like-minded people. I'kll give you (x amount) for the rights." Her response? "Well I didn't even know about this movie, but if you're interested in releasing it I'm sure you're willing to pay two or three times what you already offered me for it. No? Well then I'm sure someone else will." Meanwhile we all sit around waiting for the movie...

Yes, this is only an imagined conversation in my mind. It could just as easily be a case where the people seeking the rights really were trying to rip off Mrs. Nicholson. Most likely it's a combination of the two. Either way, it's now 2009 and we still don't have any reason to expect seeing movies like this on DVD any time soon. And of course, "Werewolf" also has Michael Landon going for it. While this might make it more marketable, it also means that it's price is sure to be higher than a movie like "I was a Teenage Frankenstein" (not to mention the fact that they might also have to deal with Landon's estate in addition to Nicholson's) .

Funny to think that they quickly made these movies on the cheap as a way to make a quick buck filling drive-in screens, and now a half-century later these lightweight cheapies are causing so much trouble because of people hoping to make a few bucks off of them...

it is down to greed and i dare say most likely hers. the reason i say that is because ok if someone made her an intial unfair offer she could certainly turn around and bring it to someone else to put out. there are lots of dvd companies that would like to have these films in their aresnal. the irony is if she waits too long they may well fall into public domain and then she won't make a cent.

Good point astroal. If that does happen, at least we can say her greed wasn't fulfilled AND we will finally be able to watch the movie (even if,as a PD title, it's not as high quality as a major distributor might have been able to make it)!

I've seen the VHS edition of Teenage Werewolf on eBay going for upwards of $30. I just picked up The Amazing Colossal Man and War of the Colossal Beast on eBay for $6. I'll convert both to digital.

I got a VHS of the MST3k "The Amazing Colossal Man" VERY cheap from eBay a while back. I'd like the movie by itself, but I certainly don't have any problem watching the MST crew talk over the movie!

that was quite a funny episode as i recall

It sure was! And I had actually never seen it before getting the tape, so it was practically like watching a brand new episode to me!

IWATW is on youtube oddly enough. Watched it last week.

It's amazing what can be found on YouTube sometimes. A lot of times when I can't find something available from Netflix, eBay or other online sources I'll end up finding it on YouTube and watching it in those 10 minute chunks! With all the delay in getting "Teenage Werewolf" on legit DVD I suppose that YouTube (or an "unofficial" DVD of course) is the way to go for the time being...

I watched Teenage Werewolf on youtube this morning. I didn't want to work anyway!

While "unofficial" copies of "Werewolf" can be found pretty easily from the usual sources (I got mine from a vendor at the Rock And Shock show in Worcester last October) while we (im)patiently wait for an official release, another option is to get the MST3K version here:

http://www.cupandblade.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_31_42&products_id=183