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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Starlite Drive-In Theater: Madmen of Mandoras & The Devil's Hand (2006)

Rating: 1 Star (out of 4)

'Brain' in 'Hand'

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Starlite Drive-In Theater: Madmen of Mandoras & The Devil's Hand on DVD

For some reason, BCI Eclipse saw fit to rescue these two horrible movies, and transferred them both from high-quality source materials. The first, Madmen of Mandoras (1963) is perhaps best known as They Saved Hitler's Brain. The disc includes the original version, plus a re-cut version with new footage attached. The second film, The Devil's Hand (1962) is about a guy who dreams of a beautiful woman, sees her likeness in a doll and winds up involved with a voodoo cult. The worst thing about both films is the fact that the bulk of them feature people in rooms, talking and talking. The main draw here is that the disc gives the viewer the option of playing each film with the "drive in experience," i.e. with ads for the concession stand, trailers and cartoons before each feature. These items have not been re-mastered and come from terrible, public domain elements. Only die-hards or masochists need apply.

DVD Details: Apparerntly, an early version of the DVD packaging was released: pairing Madmen of Mandoras with Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster, but this edition was canceled and replaced with this current version, including The Devil's Hand.

Starring: Walter Stocker, Audrey Caire, Carlos Rivas, John Holland, Bill Freed, Linda Christian, Robert Alda, Ariadna Welter, Neil Hamilton, Jeanne Carmen
Written by: Steve Bennett, Peter Miles, Jo Heims
Directed by: David Bradley, William J. Hole Jr.
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 135 minutes
Date: October 15, 2006