THE ARENA (1974)

 It's kinda weird seeing 70s Pam Grier in ancient Roman times but compared to some of her fellow female gladiators here she does come off as the most kickass of the bunch. This is overall an odd mashup of 2 different genres, the Italian peplum(complete with many scenes directed by Joe D'Amato himself and featuring Rosalba Neri, Paul Muller, Salvatore(THE BEAST IN HEAT) Baccaro and many other familiar eurotrash cinema faces in big roles.) and the Roger Corman(who produced this) women-in-prison flick with Grier and Margaret Markov(who had previously been paired up in the classic BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA). There's also some clear inspiration from SPARTACUS. You get lots of sword-fighting and female-on-female violence. Decent time-wasting midnight movie. AKA GLADIATOR WOMEN(re-release title) and NAKED WARRIORS(re-edited cut video title). 

DEATHSTALKER (1983)

  This 80s sword & sorcery epic is seemingly influenced by CONAN THE BARBARIAN which came out only a year earlier but I saw it before CONAN and it was in fact the first movie my family rented back when we first bought a VCR in the 80s. Full of boobs, butts, rape and quite a bit of gore this is clearly not a family movie but as a young teen I sure dug it. Not having seen it since those days I must say it really holds up as a great example of 80s exploitation brought to us by Roger Corman's New World Pictures. You get a pig-headed warrior, evil wizardry, arms ripped off, multiple decapitations, mud wrestling, a fight-to-the-death tournament and lots of hot ladies showing off the goods including Barbi Benton. 

 There were 3 sequels with the last one being in 1991 and I don't remember anything outstanding about any of them. There are also various movies which used scenes from this in them because that's how Corman rolls. The 2 BARBARIAN QUEEN films with Lana Clarkson are also kind of sequels to this except the character she plays has a different name. A remake of this was recently announced which is supposed to simply be titled BARBARIAN.

This Norwegian VHS gives us the title STALKER: THE WARRIOR KING and features a totally different character on the box cover!:

THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)

 In this last entry in the Roger Corman-directed Edgar Allan Poe series from AIP studios Vincent Price wears some snazzy shades and pines for his dead wife and then gets remarried and becomes a hypnotist. There's lots of ghost shenanigans and a naughty black cat and Price acting like a koo-koo nutbird which is his specialty. I'm not sure if I would rate this one all that high up in the series (PIT AND THE PENDULUM and TALES OF TERROR are my 2 favs) but they're all enjoyable enough for a look at by Price fans. 

THE PREMATURE BURIAL (1962)

  It's hard to watch this one with the knowledge that it was originally going to star Vincent Price and not imagine it would have been improved by his presence. That's not to say that Ray Milland doesn't do a good job it's just hard for anyone to top Price in these Roger Corman directed Edgar Allan Poe adaptations and that inevitably leads to some minor disappointment while viewing.    

 The story itself deals with a guy(Milland) whose family has a history of being buried alive so that's his greatest fear. Guess what ends up happening to him?

 This was the 3rd Corman/Poe film and the only one not to star Vincent Price. 

Corman's Poe adaptations:

1960 - HOUSE OF USHER

1961 - THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM

1962 - PREMATURE BURIAL

1962 - TALES OF TERROR

1963 - THE RAVEN

1963 - THE HAUNTED PALACE

1964 - THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH

1964 - TOMB OF LIGEIA

                                                 Known in France as THE OBSESSION:

Weird British double feature where everything is rated X!

MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR (1954)

   This 50s monster b-movie is the first one produced by Roger Corman. It's never really been one of my favorites due to most of it being really slow and talky but it does have a goofy one-eyed squid (that I guess in the movie is supposed to be a giant amoeba). Unfortunately we only really get to see this monster briefly up until the very end when he battles a one-man submarine to the death.Corman would go on to produce and direct a zillion more goofy movies and director Wyatt Ordung wrote the legendarily trashy ROBOT MONSTER a year before this so he's OK in my book.  

                  The VHS cover gave our monster another eye and a nifty deep-sea diving suit!:

T-BIRD GANG (1959)

  Well at least this is a short film. Promoted as a juvenile delinquent movie this is pretty much a straight up gangster flick about a guy going undercover into a criminal gang(who happen to ride around in a white T-bird) to find out who killed his dad(a security guard) during one of their earlier robberies.  I viewed this after watching HIGH SCHOOL BIG SHOT(both produced by Roger Corman around the same time and I would guess they probably played together at drive-ins) and found it a bit inferior and a letdown from film.   

HIGH SCHOOL BIG SHOT (1959)

  So just about everything bad that happens to everyone in this movie can be blamed on 1 female character(Virginia Aldridge, who was in mostly T.V. stuff) and her terrible manipulative charms. It's a pretty simple plot about a nerd who gets taken advantage of and goes down the wrong path and since it's the 50s we have to learn that crime doesn't pay before it's all over. Besides the anti-crime message it has a pretty downer ending for the 50s. So for that I give it props and recommend this one for some gangsters vs. juvenile delinquent thrills.

 I own this in a DVD set of Roger Corman flicks. Corman was the executive producer who financed the production.

 Originally released on a double bill with T-BIRD GANG(another Corman deal).

The story here is apparently an adaption of Stanley Kubrick's THE KILLING which came out 3 years earlier and I really need to watch one of these days.      

GUNSLINGER (1956)

  This is a pretty standard 50s western but there are a couple of reasons I watched it. Firstly it was directed by Roger Corman who would go on to be the most influential person in exploitation and also arguably mainstream cinema for many many years. Secondly it was on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000, so I got a couple of chuckles to alleviate whatever boredom crept in while viewing. The plot deals with the wife(Beverly Garland) of a murdered sheriff who takes on her dead hubby's job. This story element does seem fairly progressive for the 50s but they do make sure and throw in a love interest(John Ireland) so things don't get too feministy for audiences. Allison Hayes(best known as that giant gal in ATTACK OF THE  50 FOOT WOMAN) plays Garland's arch-nemesis and this gives us a classic catfight between the 2 beauties. Not the best Corman-directed flick for me since I'm more of a fan of his stupid monster movies.

 

                                    Known in Italy as THE MERCENARY OF DEATH:

CARNIVAL ROCK (1957)

  This one's a pretty early Roger Corman-directed teen epic involving just what the title says, a carnival that has some rocking' acts play. The Platters are the biggest names featured but being a big fan of rockabilly myself I really dug seeing Bob Luman & His Shadows. The film itself is a weird mix of highly melodramatic scenes dealing with the owner of the carnival(David J. Stewart) losing his business along with his girlfriend and boppin' parts with teen dancing and bands tearing it up. It's all really drawn-out for such a shallow story so unless you really dig 50s music give this a pass. 

GAS! OR IT BECAME NECESSARY TO DESTROY THE WORLD IN ORDER TO SAVE IT. (1970)

 This starts off as an apocalyptic end-of-the-world deal with a gas that kills off anyone over 25. It's really more of a spoof of youth culture of the 60s and a satirical look at the stark generation gap back in those days though. It's also really a big disjointed mess. Roger Corman is the director here, but apparently AIP re-edited things quite a bit which pissed him off and caused him to leave and start his own company, New World Pictures, shortly after this. There's lots of dumb hippie stuff in this film, you get Shirley(Cindy Williams) from the LAVERNE & SHIRLEY tv show in a very pregnant state, Edgar Allen Poe as a biker is a sort of narrator, Bud Cort from HAROLD & MAUDE shows up, there's a football team that rapes and pillages, Country Joe & The Fish play a gig(while all looking older than 25), lots of hippie gibberish ensues and there's a silly peacenik ending. Unless you're really nostalgic for the 60s this one is pretty skippable. AKA GASSSS 

MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)

 

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 Vincent Price hams it up as a Satanic prince in this AIP Edgar Allen Poe adaptation. Directed by Roger Corman, who is known for working as cheaply as possible, this one actually has some pretty good-looking production values since it was filmed on location in England. That "try the wine" guy from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, Patrick Magee, has a pretty big role as a jerk who ends up in a gorilla suit getting his just rewards and the personification of death makes a few appearances kind of like in that DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY/BILL & TED style. 

 The story itself is a blending of 2 Poe stories which is more than some of the AIP Poe-inspired films were and probably one of the best.  

            Released in Germany as SATANAS: THE CASTLE OF THE BLOODY BEAST:

BOXCAR BERTHA (1972)

 This seems to be one of those Martin Scorsese-directed films that doesn't get brought up much when people talk about his career. That's kind of a shame because, even though it's not my favorite of his filmography(TAXI DRIVER? MEAN STREETS?), it's still a pretty amazing film for being so early in his career. Made for producer Roger Corman's AIP studios to obviously cash-in on the success of  BONNIE AND CLYDE from a  couple of years earlier, this definitely has the Corman-feel to it throughout most of it's run time up until it pulls out all stops and gives us a super bloody ending scene which includes multiple gory shotgun wounds and even a crucifixion! This ending wallop foreshadows the one in TAXI DRIVER though things seem even bleaker here under the depression-era circumstances. Worth checking out instead of any of that more current junk Mr. Martin has put out. Also as a bonus you get to see Barbara Hershey very nude if that's your thing and in what I'm thinking is a rare occurrence David and his dad John Carradine get to act opposite each other in at least one scene.




                                        Known in Italy as AMERICA 1929:

and in Germany as THE FIST OF THE REBELS?: 

WOMEN IN CAGES (1971)

 Somehow I never saw this Pam Grier-starring women-in-prison flick until now. It's part of the Roger Corman-produced, Filipino-made prison epics series which follows THE BIG DOLL HOUSE and was then followed by THE BIG BIRD CAGE. In comparison to those two it's definitely of lesser quality but still sordid and sleazy enough to entertain fans of these lowbrow efforts. You get multiple shower scenes, Miss Grier exposes her lovely assets, wanton lesbianism, bumbling attempted murder hijinks and there's a sorta gang-rape ending. It's also interesting in that you get Grier in a villainous role instead of her usual spot as the tough prisoner. While the direction, under Gerardo de Leon, is a bit lacking and he's no Jack Hill  you could do worse in the sleazy thrills category so give it a pervy look. AKA BAMBOO DOLL HOUSE and WOMEN'S PENITENTIARY III
 Apparently Quentin Tarantino took Pam Grier's character's name, Alabama, for his main female character in TRUE ROMANCE.

A recycled poster design from THE BIG DOLL HOUSE:

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1960)

 There have been quite a few versions of this Edgar Allen Poe story filmed over the years starting way back in 1928. This is the first in a series of director Roger Corman's adaptations of various Poe tales and it stars Vincent Price as a real creep who seems to be holding his sister hostage in what seems to be a haunted house full of ghosts of their ancestors. For the most part it's a real talky and pretty dull affair all the way up until the ending. Price does raise things above what they would otherwise be but even with someone being buried alive and the big climax this is still one of my least favorite things starring Mr. P. Corman, being the cheap guy that he was, would reuse some of the fiery special-fx shots that end this film in some of the other 7 films that would follow in the series. PIT AND THE PENDULUM still remains my favorite of the bunch.  AKA HOUSE OF USHER

Some other USHER'S:
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER - 1950 (Made in England)
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER - 1979 (TV-movie with Martin Landau)
REVENGE IN THE HOUSE OF USHER 1983 (Spanish Jess Franco production with Howard Vernon)
THE HOUSE OF USHER - 1989 (A British/U.S./Canadian co-production with Oliver Reed)



                                         Italian title THE LIVING AND THE DEAD!:

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S THE HAUNTED PALACE (1963)

  Even though they put Poe's name in the title this movie is actually sort-of based on an H.P. Lovecraft story(THE STRANGE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD). And even though it stars Vincent Price and has Lon Chaney, Jr. in a big role, it's probably one of my least favorite in the Roger Corman Poe series. Price is great as usual as a guy who gets burned at the stake for feeding girls to a demon that he keeps in his castle/"haunted palace"-pit and then gets revenge a hundred years later through his descendant. It's all pretty basic from horror films of this era and there isn't really anything all that unique about this one except for, of course, seeing Chaney and Price together in their only team-up so at least that's something for old horror star fans. If that doesn't seem exciting to you then skipping this one is probably a good idea.  

THE TERROR (1963)

 Slow-moving Roger Corman-directed AIP horror flick that has that classic feel. This is mainly due to Boris Karloff's presence as a brooding Baron who has secluded himself in his seaside spooky castle but there's also a witch, a young Dick Miller as Boris' servant, a face-meltdown, a bird that eats eyeballs right out of your head and enough other creepy elements to make this one watchable. There's also some twists at the end which make it worthwhile. Jack Nicholson does an OK job as a bewitched French soldier before growing his hair out and heading off to make all those great biker flicks later on in the 60s. The plot itself is just a variation on Edgar Allen Poe stories which Corman had already made(HOUSE OF USHER and PIT AND THE PENDULUM) and which are actually better movies so go watch them first.
 Francis Ford Coppola helped shoot this and it's been claimed that it was all shot in 4 days but apparently that was just the scenes with Karloff.
 Being in the public domain this movie is in just about every cheap-ass horror DVD set out there right alongside NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
 AKA THE CASTLE OF TERROR and THE HAUNTING(released-to-TV-version)




There's a bunch of shitty-artwork VHS releases of this:

Here's one from my collection:

DEATHSPORT (1978)

 Since the movie DEATH RACE 2000 is so amazing and this is sort of a follow up to that you will be in for a serious disappointment watching this. DEATH RACE has social commentary, great acting jobs, ridiculous characters and pedestrians getting mowed down by absurd race cars. This is a stupid sci-fi/post-apocalyptic mess with barely a plot. It's not really a sequel and David Carradine isn't playing Frankenstein like he does in the original but according to producer Roger Corman this is part 2 even though the stories have nothing to do with each other. If you have a fetish for seeing Mr. Carradine half-naked maybe this will be a good time. Most of the film is made up of motorcycles being driven in the desert, Richard Lynch (that guy who played a bunch of villains throughout the 80s) acting sinister and fights with plexi-glass swords and ray-guns that make people disappear. The actual DEATHSPORT game isn't even the main focus of the film. The only bright spots are a couple of nude scenes featuring Claudia Jennings and a Penthouse Pet (Valerie Rae) but this doesn't really make up for the overall crappy spectacle.


Death Sport Trailer 1978 by filmow

LAST WOMAN ON EARTH (1960)

 Not a sequel to THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, although they probably made a cool double-feature at some point, this is basically a drama about a love triangle that uses an end-of-the-world/sci-fi backdrop to set everything into motion. It's probably the least science-fictiony sci-fi movie I've ever seen and I'm sure that has to do with it being directed by Roger Corman and the budget and locations being kept to a bare minimum. It does start out in an arena where a cockfight is going on, which should piss off any animal lovers watching, and from there takes us around Puerto Rico where Corman made a handful of films around this time. In fact this movie was apparently made as an afterthought during the making of CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA and that's not hard to see although I think this is overall a more interesting movie to watch than that stupid monster on the loose crapfest. There's actually some social commentary on the family structure, manliness and society in general which I can't help but think only appears more clearly looking back through the lens of time. I can see why this one is rarely mentioned though since it's pretty atypical of Corman's films at the time and if you're only looking for something wacky to laugh at stick with his creature features.

The version I saw recently in a theater was colorized but it was originally in black & white which I think looks better:

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (1955)

 I know there was a big stupid Hollywood movie that used this title with Vin Diesel and a whole string of dumb sequels to that in recent times but since I couldn't care less about any of that I figured I would watch the original 50's exploitation version. Produced by the legendary Roger Corman I always envisioned this film being about racing cars and while that's a big part of the ending most of the film deals with a kidnapping/hostage situation. For a movie shot in 9 days it tells a decent enough story and works well for a super low-budget 50's drama. The stock-footage action/racing scenes are integrated pretty good and the acting by John Ireland and Dorothy Malone is way better than you would expect from a film like this. Also historically this is the first movie by the company that would go on to become AIP so if you're a real exploitation cinema fan it's hard not to give this one at least one viewing.

TEENAGE CAVEMAN (1958)

 The great Roger Corman himself directed this story of a rebellious young caveman, played by a pretty young but not young enough to be a convincing teenager Robert Vaughn, who asks a lot of questions, which is something your apparently not supposed to do in caveman times. There's a cool twist ending that sorta foreshadows what happens in PLANET OF THE APES and unlike most movies made in the 50's it has a fairly bleak outlook on things by the end. I dug it for what it was even if it does get a little preachy in parts.
 AKA OUT OF THE DARKNESS and I WAS A TEENAGE CAVEMAN(this was used when it was originally released on a double-bill with I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF) That classic scene of an alligator with a fin glued to it's back fighting a big lizard that's supposed to be two dinosaurs fighting from JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is used here as well as a quick shot of THE SHE CREATURE.
 This was remade(sorta) by Larry Clark in 2002 for Showtime and not personally being a big fan of that director's work I can't imagine it would be worth seeking out.



This also possibly inspired this goofy rock-a-billy tune: