Cinema had to scramble when a new invasive species called
television sprouted up in the 1950s. Big budget production companies dealt with
the new threat by making the kinds of big, boisterous, Technicolor epics
television could never match. Small budget companies countered with cagey
gimmicks, such as 3D, Aroma-rama, and Emergo. More practical, slightly less
desperate, and certainly more enduring was the practice of renting two films
for the price of one to theaters. Thus, the double feature was officially born.
Movie goers could buy one ticket to take in a pair of AIPs like A Bucket of Blood and The Giant Leeches, a pair of Hammers
like Dracula, Prince of Darkness and Plague of the Zombies, a European
art-horror like Les Yeux Sans Visage matched
with a schlocker like The Manster, or
an odd couple like Rosemary’s Baby and
The Odd Couple.
Bryan Senn’s new book “Twice
the Thrills! Twice the Chills!” Horror and Science Fiction Double Features, 1955-1974
pays tribute to the double-decade year period when creepy, kooky double
features ruled matinees. This thick volume is not quite a film guide—the
entries on each double-bill are way too long and way too loaded with production
information. It’s not quite a history—only a 12-page introduction and brief
paragraphs prefacing each entry deal with double bills directly. Whatever it
is, it’s a ball. Senn does what a topic such as this deserves. His synopses,
historical details, and choices of anecdotes are consistently entertaining and
a sufficiently sarcastic, reflecting the fun of scarfing down a bucket of
popcorn while devouring delightful crap like The Brain That Wouldn’t Die and sneaking out of the theater before
having to suffer through Invasion of the
Star Creatures. His cheeky critiques are spot on, and when he and I
disagree, he makes totally fair arguments for his points of view. Sometimes his
jokey comments are sheer corn, but that suits the atmosphere of B-grade
merriment too. The package is nicely illustrated with B&W images of lobby
cards, posters, and press-book pages. Maybe it’s no longer easy to hunt down an
actual double feature in your local theater, but “Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills!” is such a blast that it will
likely inspire you to host one in your own home.
