'Camp Classics': Movies so bad they're good

When I was a kid, growing up in the 1950s and '60s, B-movies — whatever the genre — were a staple of the drive-ins I often attended, first with my parents, then as a teenager with friends or dates.

Occasionally, these low-rent pictures still hold up today as terrific little films. But more often they look pretty silly, often falling into the "camp" category: hokey, ridiculous, often poorly acted and shackled with low-budget — or no-budget — production values.

And yet they retain a certain entertainment value, since they are often nostalgic and even more often unintentionally humorous.

There's also a puzzling fascination that something so awful could actually make it to the theater screen.

So it is with most of the "Camp Classic" titles gathered in these four box sets, each with three films and all released in DVD stores this week.

Some of the choices here are a bit surprising — a little better than their inclusion with the others might suggest.

But most do not disappoint. Or rather, they do disappoint. Which is the point.

• "CULT CAMP CLASSICS 1: SCI-FI THRILLERS" (Warner, 1957-72, not rated, color and b/w, three discs, $29.98). These science-fiction films are all fairly famous among buffs, and one gives top billing to Zsa Zsa Gabor!

— "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman" (1958, b/w) is a particularly goofy, defining example of "camp." This distaff version of the 1957 film "The Amazing Colossal Man" (who was 10 feet taller) has a wealthy, hard-drinking, bad-tempered woman (Allison Hayes) growing to enormous proportions after an alien encounter, then going after her cheating husband. Everything about this film is hopeless, and there are some very funny moments.

— "Queen of Outer Space" (1958, color) highlights Gabor, who is prominent on the poster (which is also the DVD box cover), but she's not the title character. Space travelers (led by Eric Fleming) land on Venus, which is ruled by women; men are outlawed. Truly zany, with borrowed sets and costumes from such better films as "Forbidden Planet" and "World Without End."

— "The Giant Behemoth" (1958, b/w) is a virtual remake of "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" (from the same director, Eugene Lourie), with a reawakened dinosaur this time stomping through London. Special effects by pioneer Willis O'Brien ("King Kong") aren't bad, considering the zero budget.

Extras: Widescreen, audio commentaries, trailers