Reportedly filmed for $50,000 – and looking like it was made for half that much – Cremators is most notable for the appearance of Maria DeAragon as its shrieky heroine. DeAragon's most memorable role, as described in a short interview feature included on the Spooktacular disc, was as Greedo, the nasty alien shot (first) by Han Solo in Star Wars. Now there's a role worth putting in the old resume!
Retromedia's boxed set is packaged with all the garish lettering and monster movie mag graphics that you'd expect in a collection like this. As with the best exploitation promo fare, many of the images you see appear nowhere in the movies, though the Trash-O-Rama set does feature a nice image of the Creature of Destruction on its front. Of the three discs offered, I tend to favor Blood Vision, in large part because two of its '60s-set entries have a better fashion sense then the cheapies produced in the '70s and '80s.
Still, Mad Monster Rally contains its share of amusing moments, provided you don't (like me) watch too many in a single weekend. Sit through too many of these dogs in a row, and you might find yourself screaming at the teevee set, "I want production values!" You know you're in trouble when you turn off the DVD, and one of SyFy Channel's Saturday nite features starts to look promising.
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