Tom Bagley

This week's Video Vulture takes a look at a few worthwhile films and TV shows that have yet to receive a DVD release.

• Batman (TV series) (1966-1968): Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na...BATMAN! While Adam West's campy performance as the caped crusader in the feature film Batman (1966) is available on DVD and Blu-Ray, the 120 episodes of the beloved TV series are not. Each week gave young viewers two episodes to watch, the first of which always ended with a cliffhanger. Then everybody would have to wait until the next day to find out how the Dynamic Duo managed to escape from getting lowered into a giant blender by The Joker, or whatever. Famous movie stars dressed up as ridiculous villains, the camera angles went wonky whenever the bad guys turned up, and every fight was accompanied by onomatopoeic sound effects spelled out on screen. (“BAM!” “WHOOSH!” “PAF!” “SOCKO!”) The series stands as a marvel of straight-faced silliness.

• The Green Slime (1968): Another wacky theme song and another prime example of ’60s camp. This American/Japanese co-production (made by the director of Battle Royale) assembles a crack squad of brave, stupid astronauts to intercept a giant asteroid before it collides with Earth. The operation is a success, but the intrepid heroes fail to check their space suits for little smears of alien slime before coming back inside. Back onboard the rocket, the slime grows and changes into a bunch of runty rubber monsters with electrified tentacles. Goofy chaos ensues. Just as fun as it sounds.

• Island of Lost Souls (1932): The first and best adaptation of H.G. Wells's novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, this film is still creepy after almost 80 years. Charles Laughton is memorably cruel as the whip-cracking mad scientist Dr. Moreau, a maniac obsessed with the idea of “civilizing” the wilderness by changing animals into near-humans. The terrified creatures obey Moreau's laws without question, knowing that vivisection awaits them if they resist. Watch for Bela Lugosi as the most-evolved “Sayer of the Law.” Any potential DVD release was probably derailed by the laughable 1996 remake starring Val Kilmer, David Thewlis and, most memorably, Marlon Brando with an ice bucket on his head.

• Hellzapoppin' (1941): They don't make ’em like this anymore. Come to think of it, they didn't make ’em like this ever. This movie is flat-out bonkers. Based (loosely) on a wacky, plotless Broadway show, Hellzapoppin' plays like a live-action version of the weirdest cartoon you've ever seen. The entire cast slides into hell while trying to finish the opening number. Characters argue with the producer, the writer, the projectionist running the film (Shemp Howard) and the audience. People's clothes fly off for no reason. An invisibility spell goes wrong, causing a pair of legs to run around the set, pursued by a floating torso. A hunter shoots at a bear in the middle of a musical number, causing the bear to comment “Ha. You missed me. You need glasses.” A dog reacts by saying “Imagine that — a talking bear!” At the end, the producer is so enraged by how the film turned out that he shoots the writer (Elisha Cook Jr.). Unconcerned, the writer takes a sip of water and springs several leaks.