A pact with Satan!  A pop-eyed sea monster!  The lurid artwork for this fairly obscure 1961 horror double bill looks like adult fare, with a naked she-devil riding a centaur, and a giant claw hefting a typical female victim above the briny Caribbean,  🎶  or Carribbe-an Sea!  🎶  They form an anti-blockbuster Filmgroup drive-in release, and Film Masters gives them extras to appeal to both aficionados of the fantastic and the beer & wisecracks party crowd. Each film comes in a choice of Aspect Ratios, so no fighting on this one — the collectors will have to argue about chapter stops.

Devil’s Partner + Creature from the Haunted Sea
Blu-ray
Film Masters
1961 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 Academy / Street Date January 16, 2023 / Available from Film Masters / 29.95
Starring: Edgar Buchanan, Ed Nelson, Jean Allison, Richard Crane, Spencer Carlisle, Byron Foulger, Claire Carleton, Brian O’Hara, Harry Fleer, Joe Hooker; Antony Carbone, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Robert Towne (Edward Wain), Beach Dickerson.
Directed by Charles R. Rondeau, Roger Corman

Film Masters continues with its Blu-ray double bills of shows from the ‘Filmgroup’ corral, Roger Corman’s independent production-distribution company. One of the Corman ‘Puerto Rico’ pictures, the second feature Creature from the Haunted Sea is a comedy experiment displaying the offbeat humor of writer Charles B. Griffith. The bill topper Devil’s Partner is related to the Corman clique through actor Ed Nelson, art director Daniel Haller and composer Ronald Stein. It’s a straight supernatural horror fable about a man who sells his soul.

As with the earlier Filmgroup double bills, Film Masters has taken the time to appoint its presentation with a selection of worthy extras. Devil’s Partner really needs ’em, as there’s not much written about the picture.

Devil’s Partner
1961 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 Academy / min. / The Devil’s Partner
Starring: Edgar Buchanan, Jean Allison, Richard Crane, Spencer Carlisle, Byron Foulger, Claire Carleton, Brian O’Hara, Harry Fleer, Joe Hooker, Ed Nelson.
Cinematography: Edward Cronjager
Production Designer / Art Director: Daniel Haller
Film Editor: Howard Epstein
Original Music: Ronald Stein
Screenplay by Stanley Clements, Laura J. Mathews
Produced by Hugh Hooker
Directed by Charles R. Rondeau

As we discover in the extras, producer Hugh Hooker is the father of the noted stunt supervisor and director Buddy Joe Hooker. This reviewer remembers seeing their 1958 show The Littlest Hobo in a theater when it was new, at age 6 or 7. Buddy Joe played the lead under the name Buddy Hart. Hobo’s success likely helped launch the weird horror effort Devil’s Partner. (The film’s actual on-screen title bears no ‘the.’)

The possible Roger Corman connection here seems to be the ambitious actor Ed Nelson, who got the Z-grade sci-fi picture The Brain Eaters into gear the year before, and was clearly looking to get somewhere. Although his name is stuck at the tail of the cast list, Nelson is the film’s main character. With his sharp looks he can play charming / sinister quite well. In some angles he resembles Kirk Douglas, but without a cleft chin.

Upstart independent pictures of this era could have some odd credits. Former East Side Kid Stanley Clements (Bad Boy) was one of the screenwriters, and the name-challenged cast is topped by the dependable Edgar Buchanan. More Corman personnel show up — designer Daniel Haller, mainly. The weak link would seem to be director Charles R. Rondeau. What good ideas are in the script are tamed by a plodding pace, and blocking that looks like budget TV work: slow action in 3-walled sets, mostly filmed at a medium distance. When in a demonic state, Ed Nelson distorts his face like a wild animal.  Rondeau’s camera just sits back in static shots that do nothing for the dramatic tension.

Nick Richards (Ed Nelson) shows up in Furnace Flats and finds that his Uncle Pete Jenson has died under mysterious circumstances. The locals at first distrust Nick, because Pete was so feared and hated. Pete had been friendly only with his neighbor Nell Lucas (Jean Allison), and gave her milk from his goats. Everybody takes to Nick right away — Nell’s father, Doc Lucas (Edgar Buchanan), Sheriff Tom (Spencer Carlisle), soda fountain lady Ida (Claire Carlton), and even the town drunk ‘Papers’ (Byron Foulger).

Gee, it’s so hot here in Furnace Creek, but Nick never perspires!”

But Nick is hiding a dark secret. Nell’s fiancé David Simpson (Richard Crane) owns the local gas station. Through diabolical incantations, Nick causes David’s dog to attack him, mauling his face badly. Nick steps in to help by running the station in David’s absence, but David goes dark and bitter because he’ll be scarred, and is soon plaguing Nell with jealous accusations. Other deaths and attempted deaths follow, using a cow, a horse, and a snake. Sheriff Tom decides that something is wrong when Nick finally gives himself away.

Devil’s Partner starts rather well, with its rustic deal with the Devil. Unfortunately, it takes 70 minutes for the cast to figure out what we’re told in the very first scene. Nick’s real identity is also no surprise, leaving our only source of puzzlement the mystery of why Pete/Nick has made such a horrifying — and short-term — deal, for so little gain. Instead of some fabulous reward, Pete is given the opportunity to fumble a very limited super-power. The mechanics of the transformations are a bit shaky as well. Why does he turn himself back into the old creep Pete?  Is it because Papers spilled the goat’s blood?

At least they didn’t do a ‘Cow Attack’ scene.

The Corman clan had made a mess of an earlier ‘animals attack’ Sci-fi effort, Beast with a Million Eyes. The attacks here are competently filmed, especially for a production that looks like TV-grade work. Also professional are the Larry Talbot-like dissolved makeup transformations, and David’s nasty facial scar. There’s not much action or violence on view, but Rondeau does stage some creepy goat-sacrifices, seen in shadows on the wall. Nick’s hex-casting at first has the quality of the unseen conspiracy in Rosemary’s Baby. Halfway into the picture, we wonder why these Texans haven’t rushed to the telegraph office, to summon Dr. Van Helsing to perform an Exorcism on Furnace Flats.

The Good vs Evil angle is soft-pedaled, with Nell’s crucifix making only a subtle comment in the final scene. Poor Old Pete made the worst deal ever with The Devil, who appears incarnate in scene one but doesn’t bother to personally collect Pete’s soul. The finale misses another opportunity as well. The assembled survivors witness a supernatural transformation and a Biblical-grade healing miracle as powerful as anything in Ben-Hur. Yet they register no reaction at all. It’s not easy to impress Texans, they say.

Veterans Edgar Buchanan and Byron Foulger are excellent, and Jean Allison is appealing when the script lets her be. If you close your eyes, Spencer Carlisle’s sheriff sounds exactly like familiar actor Hugh Beaumont. Richard Crane only seems angry, lending the disfigured David little sympathy. When his bandages are removed at the end, we almost expect to see a very different face.

The show’s 40-minutes are stretched out by lax pacing, unnecessary exposition and too many full entrances and exits. A big plus is Ronald Stein’s eerie music score, which uses a Theremin-like instrument that musicologist Randall Larson identifies as an ‘electronic oscillator.’  The unsung performer is the Sheriff’s little dog, which shows attitude and spunk while hitting perfect cues, uncovering all of Nick Richards’ secrets.

The source isn’t named in the disc notes, but Devil’s Partner appears scanned from prime original elements in very good condition. If it’s really a rescue from a release print, we’d be very surprised. The picture looks fine throughout, including the Day For Night scenes. We can’t place the rural locations, which might be on the road to Simi Valley, or to Castaic, or somewhere out by Ontario-Fontana, where The Brain Eaters was filmed.

The best extra is a short interview with Roger Corman, who gives slightly new answers to some of the questions about his Filmgroup movies. Also present is a lengthy Ballyhoo documentary, a part three of The Filmgroup Story. Like the first two installments, it’s mostly quick coverage of Roger’s more independent pictures, with little hard information on Filmgroup itself.

The Monster Party Podcast reconvenes for a full audio commentary. The ‘gang’ maintains its party atmosphere, but there’s also a lot of recitation of actors’ credits, with limited comment to what is transpiring on screen. I was hoping to be schooled a bit about hexes, as we weren’t sure we understood the full mechanics of this particular Deal with the Devil.

Coming out of Devil’s Partner our main reaction is surprise: the poster promises crazy sex-obsessed demon lovers, or a mythological apparition of the kind seen in Hammer’s The Devil Rides Out. We instead get one healthy-looking black stallion — part of a centaur.

One product placement scene centers on an old-fashioned Coke machine, the kind that dispensed glass bottles. That takes us back to childhood memories of crossing the desert in cars without air conditioning. Ice cold Cokes that CLUNKED out of the machines were a reward for behaving on long car trips, at desert gas stops with names like Baker, Needles, and Searchlight.

Creature from the Haunted Sea
Blu-ray
Film Masters
1961 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 Academy / 60 + 74 min.
Starring: Antony Carbone, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Robert Towne (Edward Wain), Beach Dickerson, Robert Bean, Esther Sandoval, Sonia Noemí González, Edmundo Rivera Álvarez, Blanquita Romero.
Cinematography: Jacques Marquette
Monster costume: Beach Dickerson
Film Editor: Angela Scellars
Director additional TV scenes: Monte Hellman
Original Music: Fred Katz
Location Management: Kinta Zertuche
Associate Producer Charles Hannawalt
Screenplay by Charles B. Griffith
Produced and Directed by Roger Corman

An off-the-wall comedy experiment by Roger Corman and Charles B. Griffith, Creature from the Haunted Sea shows the producer-director shooting a complicated farce on the fly. The improvised crime/monster mash throws together some cheerfully silly ideas that almost gel: did Roger want to make a Final Statement on the fading ’50s monster craze?  ‘Winging it’ in Puerto Rico, the prolific filmmaker extended two Filmgroup pictures into three, re-using his reliable actors Antony Carbone and Betsy Jones-Moreland, with the future screenwriting star Robert Towne performing under the alias ‘Edward Wain.’ Eccentric crew members get a chance to mug in minor roles. Corman seems to have organized the show as an afterthought, paid for it out of his pocket and let the chips fall where they may. The on-location stories for this one are legend.

Screenwriter Griffith had by now fashioned at least two films ‘derived’ from Key Largo and To Have and Have Not. This retread really doubles back, with a literal Cuban caper and a main character parody of Humphrey Bogart. Griffith writes as if in a fever caused by reading too much Mad magazine. It’s clever, silly, and its satirical edge almost saves it.

Frequent voiceovers prevent the absurdities from falling into total disarray. Charter boat captain Renzo is actually a deported mobster. He and gun moll Mary-Belle Monahan (Antony Carbone & Betsy Jones-Moreland, fresh from Last Woman on Earth) agree to help two Batista generals flee the wrath of Cuba’s new dictator Fidel Castro. The generals bring along a handful of soldiers and box of gold stolen from the Cuban treasury.  With his goofball henchmen Pete and Happy Jack (Beach Dickerson & Robert Bean), Renzo plans to murder the Cubans, place the blame on a legendary sea monster, and keep the loot. But the scheme is upset when a real monster appears and starts picking off passengers one by one.

On that framework hang 50 silly gags, about 30 of which are amusing due to good comedy playing by Carbone and Jones-Moreland. A fussy hardboiled voiceover narration introduces Renzo’s assistant Sparks Moran (Robert Towne, also back from Last Woman on Earth). Sparks is actually secret agent XK150. Towne does his best to put life in Griffith’s deadpan humor: after a particularly corny line of dialogue, he and Carbone frequently flash hipster smirks and ‘whatever’ gestures. Some gags fall flat and a few hit the funny bone square-on. Viewing this movie as kids, we gave the goofy voiceovers careful attention, hoping to understand a Big Joke that never really arrives. We decided that this very early ’60s-hipster spoof was hilarious mainly because it flattered our egos:

‘Not everybody gets this humor, but I do!’

Some jokes work too hard yet are still funny. Sparks eavesdrops intently at a closed door listening to Renzo outline his crooked scheme … only to confess via voiceover that he can’t hear a thing. Corman doesn’t belabor his ‘stupid Cubans’ jokes, even as he gives them names like ‘Mango’ and ‘Tostada.’  The generals are only mildly lecherous. The entire post-revolution setting goes nowhere, as does the context of corrupt Batista loyalists fleeing Fidel.

Characterizations don’t come sillier than Beach Dickerson’s brain-dead hit man. Pete’s animal noises attract the local woman Mango (Sonya Noemí), and they fall madly in love. Was this intended as a parody of corny white adventurer / native beauty romances?  The ridiculous pair serenade each other with enthusiastic bird and animal calls. They’re a Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald duet, only with squawks and roars from the sound effects library.

After a viewing or two, the ad-hoc Creature costume begins to look endearing, like an aquatic muppet that graduated from cookies to human flesh. The filming is so rushed that cameraman Jacques Marqette can’t always get his focus right. We really have to hand it to Jones-Moreland and Carbone, nailing their characters and keeping the show from falling on its face. Robert Towne can’t really hack his part, and is mostly carried by his leading lady. After his Puerto Rican trilogy, did Corman realize he couldn’t wing things quite so loosely?

Film Masters calls Creature from the Haunted Sea a bonus feature, but it’s much better known than the main event. Its presentation is given the same level of attention, starting with dual versions. The theatrical cut (60+/- minutes) is cropped nicely to 1:85. The added flat cut is the adapted TV syndication version, padded to 74 minutes with extra scenes shot years later by Monte Hellman. A new prologue adds a full 6 minutes on its own.

A quality disclaimer card is unnecessary, as the transfer on view is actually quite satisfying. This being the first time we’ve seen the show intact and widescreen, is also a big plus. A comparison demo shows how damaged the source print was; the disclaimer implies that the problems are due to the film’s Public Domain status, when the real issue is that Roger Corman didn’t properly protect his printing elements, or lost track of them altogether. Film Masters’ reference to ‘original 35mm film elements’ could mean anything in 35mm.

The label invested in a Tom Weaver commentary for this title. Weaver leans heavily on ‘guest player’ readings from his extensive actor and filmmaker interviews. He also includes welcome new interview material from producer-director Roger Corman and his production associate Kinta Zertuche, a smart-sounding lady with a good memory. They conjure memories of heat and bugs in Puerto Rico, shoddy rooming accommodations and being stranded at the airport at 2 a.m.. The participants seem to cherish their adventure time with Roger, if only to have great complaint stories. Weaver’s notes fill us in on the true filming order of the Griffith-Corman comedy trilogy. Creature was hung up for a couple of years until Corman decided not to sell it as a comedy. When hipster monster fans saw the silly animated dragon in the main titles, did they think, “Oh boy, another laugh riot like Little Shop of Horrors”, or did they resent the bait & switch ‘serious’ ad campaign?

The trailer included (original and over-cut) is schizophrenic as well, with ‘horror!’ text titles floating over goofy comedy material. The photo images on the IMDB show that Corman generated lobby cards from a photo shoot completely unrelated to the movie, with a woman in a bra and a guy in a striped sailor shirt.

Film Masters’ Blu-ray of Devil’s Partner + Creature from the Haunted Sea is a much-desired collector’s item. It’s quite a treat to hear Tom Weaver ask Roger Corman directly if he housed his cast and crew in a decrepit ‘Villa’ to save a few dollars. Corman’s diplomatic answer would earn him a ‘not guilty’ from any jury. Knowing the quality of accommodations outside of big hotels in places like Puerto Rico, I imagine that Corman probably got his people the best he could find . . . without surrendering to hotel rates.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Devil’s Partner + Creature from the Haunted Sea
Blu-ray rates:
Movies: Devil’s and Creature: Good, with reservations
Video: Devil’s: Excellent; Creature: Good +
Sound: Devil’s: Excellent; Creature: Good
Supplements:
Devil’s Partner:
Audio commentary by The Monster Party Podcast: Larry Strothe, James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, Matt Weinhold
Ballyhoo featurette Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story Part 3
New interview Roger Corman, Remembering Filmgroup
Recut trailer
Creature from the Haunted Sea:
Commentary by Tom Weaver, Roger Corman, Kinta Zertuche and Larry Blamire
Restoration comparison
Original trailer and re-cut trailer.
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One Blu-ray in Keep case
Reviewed: January 6, 2024
(7057part)

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Here’s Joe Dante on Creature from the Haunted Sea: