Jan-Gel, The Beast From The East / The Beast Returns (DVD)

Conrad Brooks is the Gielgud of bad movies. -- The New York Times

A 50,000 year-old monster caveman, Jan-Gel, is thawed from its icy Arctic grave and stalks the residents of backwoods West Virginia! With a belly as large as his unearthly appetite, the hideous creature roams the countryside, emitting a blood-curdling cry that heralds death, doom and destruction. A teenage girl is kidnapped by the monster and the locals fear the beast may have something other than murder on its mind! Conrad Brooks may be the only man that can save her. In The Beast Returns, Conrad is back on the trail of the elusive beast, who seems to defy death. Jan-Gel takes refuge with a band of gypsies who use the creature to aid in their robbery spree.

Filmed on home-video equipment, the Jan-Gel films are a loving tribute to the legendary Edward D. Wood, Jr. Conrad Brooks, a player in Wood's stock company, appeared in Plan 9 From Outer Space, Jail Bait and Glen or Glenda? Brooks takes on the Jan-Gel project as writer, director and producer with the same gusto and enthusiasm as Wood himself.

• horror