Promoted as a "Reviewing Service Free From The Influence of Film Advertising", HARRISON'S REPORTS was a weekly newsletter that was "devoted chiefly to the interests of the exhibitor", which meant it was not a typical Hollywood fan magazine that pandered to the studios for exclusive access to the stars and lots of free media in the form of stills, photos and other studio hype.
It was edited and published in New York from July 5, 1919 until September 1, 1962 by P.S. Harrison, who at one time had a column in MOTION PICTURE NEWS. In its 44-year run, HARRISON'S REPORTS printed more than 17,000 feature film reviews over more than 2,200 issues.
The year 1958 saw a bumper crop of science-fiction/horror thrillers that was unprecedented. It seemed like a week or two didn't go by without a new double-bill of something gigantic along with something hideous hitting the theater screens and, especially, the drive-ins. HARRISON'S REPORTS enthusiastically included these films in its pages.
Today's post features reviews from a pair of sci-fi thrillers from HR's August 16, 2016 issue, one with people shrunk to the size of puppets and one with a man who expanded into a giant monster. ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE (aka WAR OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE) and WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST were both released on June 18, 1958, by American International. Accompanying the reviews are a set of promotional stills from ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE and a lobby card set from WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST.
