While the Corman films featured on MST3K are a far cry from being masterpieces, not everything he was involved with was irredeemably bad schlock. Some of the schlock he produced was reasonably good, or at least could qualify as guilty pleasures. So the question is which Corman production(s) do you like? I personally enjoy Death Race 2000 for its darkly humorous tone.
So many to choose from, but I will have to go with “Pit and the Pendulum” and genuinely creepy little horror outing starring Vincent Price.
What’s your pick?
Please keep those suggestions coming!
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A Bucket of Blood is a funny dark comedy, which nicely captures the beatnik era. Great Dick Miller performance too.
The Raven had a goofy, comedic vibe to it that I enjoyed. And the Masque of the Red Death was also an interesting take on the classic tale. But personally I think one of his most effective films was Piranha. Yes, it was a Jaws rip-off, but it was actually one of the BETTER Jaws knock-offs. It still holds up, even today, although the film does have that classic late-70’s feel to it.
The original Little Shop of Horrors was on a couple of weeks ago, and I watched it. It still charmed me as much as it did when I first saw it.
And the Vincent Price Edgar Allen Poe adaptations. Love them.
Little Shop of Horrors (“He was playing with matches!”) is good. Also, House of Usher.
Will, you took the comment right out of my mouth. Bucket of Blood is probably the one Corman title I can watch, and enjoy.
Just last night, we were streaming Death Race 2000, all so my husband could hear his favorite joke again: David Carradine is talking about blowing up the president, and takes his glove off, only to reveal an explosive device implanted in his hand; he says, deadpan, “It’s a hand grenade.” Yup.
All of the Poe stories and The St. Valentine Day Massacre.
“Battle Beyond The Stars” is one of my favorite movies.
The screenplay was written by John Sayles. He took “The Seven Samurai” and put everything in space-ships.
Also it has a classic Corman all-star cast with Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard and John Saxon as the Inter-Stellar Warlord.
Art direction was by James Cameron.
If you can find the Paul Kantner album “Blows Against the Empire”, There is a drawling by Grace Slick that was the inspiration for Richard Thomas’s Space-ship. . .all I can say is someone had Mother issues.
I bought the special edition DVD with audio commentary by Corman and Sayles.
Corman used stock footage of the space-ships in other movies in the eighties.
‘Fall of the House of Ushur’ i don’t know why but it really sticks out in my mind.
The Raven hardly feels like a Corman picture. It’s one of the two movies that stars a trio of Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff. It also has a very young Jack Nicholson in it. It’s not quite as good as the other trio movie these three did together (Comedy of Terrors, which also has Basil Rathbone. but is not a Corman movie), but it’s not bad at all.
I have to second “Pit and the Pendulum”! I saw that movie, believe it or not, in school in 8th grade, as part of our studies of Edgar Allan Poe. It creeped (and still creeps) the ever loving HECK out of me. The terrifying torture chamber, the still screaming corpse of Elizabeth found frozen as she tried to claw her way out of her coffin, and Vincent Price… all stuff I’ll never forget. It was one of the creepiest films I had ever seen, and it’s still a favorite of mine to this day. I remember being quite shocked a few years later when I discovered that it was a Rogar Corman film. For some reason I couldn’t fathom that the guy behind It Conqured the World and Attack of the Crab Monsters could make such a competent and creepy film! Live and learn I guess!
Oh, and nothing against Attack of the Crab Monsters! My mom of all people, the same woman who breaks glass in Canada with her screams anytime she sees something with six or more legs, loved that movie when she was a kid!
I’ll second “The Raven” — the “hand magic” duel was mesmerizing to this 12 year old (who saw it at the theaters in first release) and afterwards I got the comic adaptation of it which was even better done (better special effects work in the comics ).
As an adult I think the Seven Samurai/Magnificient Seven rip-off, “Battle Beyond the Stars” is actually a film I really enjoyed (although it has not aged well – the blu-ray of it is particularly quaint).
I am a big fan of Little Shop of Horrors. The Rifftrax version is good, but I prefer it untouched. I had a picture of Jack Nicholson reading the “Pain” magazine as a desktop background for the longest time. This suited me just fine at the time. :thunder:
Well, actually, I like a fair amount of Corman movies.
Including the aforementioned Poe movies and “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre”, a couple of others are “Von Richtofen and Brown” (a pretty good WWI movie with John Phillip Law as the Red Baron) and “The Intruder” (a serious movie about Southern racism in the early 60’s, with Shatner in a powerful turn as a race-baiting demogogue).
That sort of balances out all the lousy movies he did.
I am a genuine fan of It Conquered The World. Despite the Venusian Pickle Monster, it’s a great cold war paranoia flick with great performances from everyone.
Does Sharktopus count? ;)
I really should watch those Vincent Price movies of Corman. A dull Vincent Price movie is probably an impossibility, even for Corman.
Masque of the Red Death is pretty phenomenally hokey in parts, but its third act is fantastic. Big fan of how he incorporated Hop-Frog into it. The actor who plays Hop-Toad (as he’s called in the movie) has such a stage presence that he makes me think of Peter Dinklage.
I love watching The Raven and quizzing people with: “Quick! What part of the poem is that?”
Especially during the Vince/Boris showdown, while Lorre is drinking.
It Conquer the World
Attack of the Crab Monsters
The Terror
The Pit and the Pendulum
She Goddesses of Shark Reef
Masque of the Red Death
Monster from Ocean Floor
Creature from the Haunted Sea
A Bucket of Blood
Little Shop of Horrors
And of course, Wasp Woman.
Perhaps the earliest film I remember seeing as a small child was The Raven. Lorre as half Raven just did leapfrogs thru my little brain. I still adore the film. It’s a genuine classic.
I could make a very large list of Corman films I love. Still, I think the ones on MST3K are rightfully there for a reason. But I couldn’t imagine The Raven being Mystied. I wouldn’t like that too much. Vincent Price should never be mocked that way. Or Danny Kaye. I love those guys and they brought excellent to whatever they were in even if the overall product was lacking.
I can think of a certain Corman production that premiered on SyFy not so long ago… If Eric Roberts is in it must be good, right? *sigh*
@2 – But personally I think one of his most effective films was Piranha.
Technically, that was Joe Dante’s second film (after being promoted from New World’s trailer department), with script by John Sayles.
I personally enjoy Death Race 2000 for its darkly humorous tone.
Corman only x-produced Death Race 2000 for director Paul Bartel but screenwriter Charles B. Griffith had already done the trilogy of “comedy” Corman-directed scripts–Little Shop of Horrors, A Bucket of Blood, and Creature From the Haunted Sea–that were more satirical than you expected them to be going in.
@15, 16: The Poes aren’t hokey (Corman said in commentaries that he’d wanted them to be his big-budget Technicolor “A” pictures, as the B-double feature market was drying up near the 60’s), and are pure Price up there with House of Wax and Dr. Phibes.
And Masque IS visually amazing, although a bit nasty, as “satanic orgies” were starting to find their way into B-horrors, House of Usher brings the original Poe tone, even Vincent doesn’t have his cool mustache, and Tales of Terror (part of the “funny” Price/Lorre trilogy) is probably the closest all-star mix of the original Poe stories.
Ask most critics for a list of the best Corman-directeds, though, and apart from the Price Poes, you’ll see a consensus for Ray Milland in “X: the Man With the X-Ray Eyes”. (Or Corman put it on the commentary, “Greek tragedy at the drive-in”…If you haven’t seen it, you’ll find out why.)
If you’ve ever heard Roger Corman on his DVD commentaries, he wasn’t a “loser” or a “cheap 3-day huckster” as the name-blaming MSTings want to portray him–He was simply hired to think up a picture to go with a title, and bring it in ahead of schedule and under budget. That takes creativity, and he was allowed to use it.
I have to say, Galaxy of Terror is one of my favourite movie to watch. It’s such an unabashedly, insane good time, just leaving good taste in the dust, I love it.
What? Do love for Gunslinger (that Corman can really empty out a frontier town)
or Teenage Caveman with 30 something teeanager Robert Vaugan. Vaughn’s
comment on the flick in Wikepedia:
“Lead actor Robert Vaughn has stated in an interview that he considered it to be the worst film ever made. The film was later featured on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.”
The Poe movies of course, and the original ‘Death Race 2000’ which he produced.
I won’t lie – I LOVE Roger Corman – his Poe films, especially “The Raven” (Peter Lorre steals that movie, every scene he’s in), “Masque of the Red Death” (could you imagine what that film would look like on Blu-ray?), “Tomb of Ligeia” (“I will ALWAYS be YOUR WIFE!”), and “Pit and the Pendulum” (though I wish they’d re-dub it with Barbara Steele’s real voice – IT’S NOT TOO LATE!) – and I still love “It Conquered the World” (you’ve gotta admit, good or bad movie, that monster’s ICONIC) and “Attack of the Crab Monsters.”
There isn’t much from Corman that lacks any redeeming quality to me. A lot of his movies have that dreary pall over them or a pathetic cheap quality, annoying non-actor performances, etc., and that can be a chore to get through. But all films are some sort of history, capturing some part of the spirit of the times they were lensed. I’ll always be interested enough in that aspect not to really hate any film, aside from, e.g., the most repugnant porn and exploitation and the most cloying and intolerable of family fare.
Yeah! This is a good topic. Corman gets his fair share of bashing on this website (some of it is warranted, mind you) but it is easy to forget that he’s made a couple decent pictures himself and produced a boat-ton more.
First, my favorite directorial works by Mr. Roger Corman: Little Shop of Horrors (1960) is a fun movie (with a great remake, too) and I too enjoy the Poe/Price films, specifically The House of Usher (1960) and Masque of the Red Death (1964), as I’ve not seen the rest of them (might have to get around to that..)
Second, my favorite Corman PRODUCTIONS (of which, there are a lot more, because Corman had an eye for talent and for letting that talent produce what they wanted, as long as it came in on time and at budget): TARGETS (1968, Peter Bogdanovich), COCKFIGHTER (1974, Monte Hellman), DEATH RACE 2000 (1975, Paul Bartel), PIRANHA (1978, Joe Dante), HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (1980, Barbara Peeters), GALAXY OF TERROR (1981, Bruce D. Clark), FORBIDDEN WORLD (1982, Allan Holzman), and HOUSE (1986, Steve Miner). [NOTE: Corman in uncredited on Humanoids and House, but he did ex. produce them). I also have a soft spot for CARNOSAUR (1993, Adam Simon) which I haven’t seen for something like 15 years, so maybe that’s just nostalgia speaking.
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IT’S CORMAN WORLD, WE’RE JUST LIVING IN IT!
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SHAMELESS PROMOTION: click on my name up there and go to my movie review website and check out my review for Death Race 2000 from last month. It’s groovy.
“The Little Shop of Horrors,” easy. It is incredibly witty. Jonathan Haze and Mel Welles should’ve gone on to MUCH bigger things, like Nicholson did.
It’s hilarious that Michael J. Nelson–whose own claim to fame is a no-budget comedy with terrible special effects, imaginatively tossed-together sets, amateur actors, and scripts that regularly dip into sexist and/or racist humor (“ironically” of course)–holds Corman in such sneering contempt on the Rifftrax of “Shop.” I love MST3K and I am a Mike fan, but for God’s sake dude: recognize.
@28 – Rifftrax didn’t set out to do Little Shop, this was back when they were on Legend Films’ dog-leash, and Legend wanted to trot out the usual free Public-Domain suspects for cheap colorization. The RT folks just assumed they were brilliant enough to riff anything handed in front of them, that anyone they were riffing probably “deserved” it, and that picking on a name was a “funnier” running-gag than picking on a line or a scene.
(And if you want to get into William Castle discussions, House on Haunted Hill wasn’t that bad a cheap public-domain movie, either.) :)
The Intruder. A 1962 film about a crazy racist (William Shatner) mixing it up in a Southern town. Written by Charles (Twilight Zone) Beaumont, directed and produced by Corman. A bit heavy-handed perhaps, but a very sincere, frank and gutsy film about crowd manipulation. Shot guerilla-style in Charleston and East Prairie, Missouri during the thick of the civil rights movement. The production was shut down by townsfolk who objected to an anti-racist picture being made in their town. Corman. Shatner. Gutsy and ahead of its time. Who knew?
I watched Tales of Terror recently and found it quite good. The Black Cat short story was very enjoyable.
@29 (EricJ)
I agree with you about William Castle. OK, his movies aren’t masterpieces, but they sure are fun. I just wish I could’ve seen them during their original releases, with all the gimmicks included. Castle may not have been a great filmmaker, but he was a top notch showman.
I really liked “X–The Man with X-ray Eyes”. Stephen King, in his book Danse Macabre, gave it such a positive review that I ended up renting it out of curiosity. The movie takes a truly nasty turn at the end, I kinda wish Mr. King hadn’t given it away.
“The Little Shop of Horrors” has a Jack Nicholson performance that I find so much fun to watch. I can just imagine how much fun young Jack had playing the part….
The original Piranha (1978) was a great movie. My date and I saw it in the theater and loved it so much we went to see it again. Matter of fact, I think we went to see it two more times.
I was delighted when it came out on DVD and now I own it and can watch it anytime I want. I would love to see Rifftrax or Cinematic Titanic get a hold of that movie.
Personally, I don’t know why Corman gets such a bad rap. But I’m probably basing this on my love for his Poe movies, which are downright sumptuous compared to, say, ‘Teenage Caveman.’
Of his films riffed on MST3K, I’d have to say my heart belongs to ‘Swamp Diamonds.’ It’s like seeing what passed for sleazy and edgy in your grandma’s day.
#33 Depressing Aunt – I too saw ‘X’ because of Stephen King. But I think because he gave away the end, it sounded good. Though not as cool as it would’ve with the rumored original ending. :pain:
My first choice is “Not of this Earth.” This film was also made in 1958, paired with “The Attack of the Crab Monsters,” and fed into the Communist take over paranoia of the day. Paul Birch plays the antagonist, an alien with the power to burn one’s brain, if the subject was unfortunate enough to look into his eyes. Since he is an alien, he needs human blood to live on this earth. Even though, his time is limited. He hires a nurse played by Beverly Garland, to take care of his needs and from time to time entices various people to come to him to die. Saw it first in the sixties (that’s 1960’s, Tom) and then not until I was able to buy it a few years ago. It still holds up, or at least I think so.
My wife would like to second “The Wasp Woman.” It is a highlight of her year when it comes up in the rotation.
Rachel @#36, now that you mention, I do remember reading about that in his book. That would’ve been totally creepy!
Didn’t see it mentioned yet, but I always enjoyed Frankenstein Unbound. It was a nice re-imaging of a horror standard.
I’m also probably alone on this, but The Wild Angels is pretty good for a biker film, but I liked Hellcats, so what do I know…
Forman also produced a weird hippie post-apocalypse move called Gasssss, which makes a nice triple bill with A Boy and His Dog and Idaho Transfer…
@ #30- Yes, The Intruder is my favorite Corman film. I also riffed the entire film- and, if anyone is interested, I can share that.
Not every film made in the 50’s was “red scare paranoia propaganda”, you know. Of course you do.
Msties have a very knee-jerk reaction to the films and people presented on the show, they automatically assume they are bad and deserves hate. It doesn’t help that today’s “nerd culture” is all about hating things more than enjoy what you enjoy.
By the way, EricJ: shut up, just shut up!
The Undead is actually a pretty good picture.
Of non-MSTed ones, “The Terror” (1963).
I am glad to see that there are those on this thread that echo what I’ve thought for a while now about Corman. Like any filmmaker, his catalog has ups and downs, something fun and something slow. Not all of it is garbage. Thanks to Shout Factory’s recent excellent Corman Cult Classics DVD series, I’ve been able to dive a little deeper into his stuff and have been pleasantly surprised. That newer documentary, Corman’s World, was pretty good too although I could’ve stood for it being an hour or two longer.
Others have already mentioned some of my faves that he directed or produced or both: Little Shop Of Horrors, Bucket of Blood, Fall of the House Of Usher, Piranha, Death Race 2000, his other Poe pics, Not Of This Earth, Attack Of the Crab Monsters.
I’ve also liked Rock and Roll High School, Creature From Beneath The Sea, Hollywood Boulevard, Grand Theft Auto, and Galaxy Of Terror. Not everything a work of art, but at the very least I was entertained and didn’t walk away feeling that I had been ripped off.
His budgets forced creativity under fire with casts and directors that were hungry enough to show what they could do. Not everything was a winner. Viking Women and the Sea Serpent is one of my all time slogs to get through even with riffing, yet Gunslinger doesn’t bore me, go figure. But Roger gave an outlet for many and entrance for all, and his pictures didn’t end up completely sucking wind in spite of the odds.
His Poe adapted and influenced movies are some of his best. Masque Of The Red Death, Pit And The Pendulum, and The Raven are all quite well done. The original Little Shop Of Horrors is campy fun.
@43 – I’ve also liked Rock and Roll High School, Creature From Beneath The Sea, Hollywood Boulevard, Grand Theft Auto, and Galaxy Of Terror. Not everything a work of art, but at the very least I was entertained and didn’t walk away feeling that I had been ripped off.
Roger Corman was executive producer at New World during the 70’s-80’s, so they’re technically not “his” films, any more than anything made at MGM in the 30’s was “a Louis B. Mayer film”.
Hollywood Boulevard was Joe Dante’s first film, and Rock & Roll HS was Allan Arkush’s first film–Arkush had also started out in New World’s marketing department, and as he tells it, he’d spent days having to come up with a new ad tagline for their Ron Howard car chase comedy, and then one morning, had an inspiration: http://www.trailersfromhell.com/trailers/387
@41
“It doesn’t help that today’s “nerd culture” is all about hating things more than enjoy what you enjoy.”
Really? It’s *all* about that? No sincere enthusiasm at all? None whatsoever?
Have you ever met a modern Dr. Who fan, or even a fan of modern-era superhero movies? Or Harry Potter fans, for that matter?
I don’t care for any of those franchises, but I most assuredly have encountered many, many people who are deeply earnest and un-ironic fans of them. If you haven’t seen this, it’s probably because you haven’t been interacting with them.
I personally find both irony and sincerity wherever I can, even in the same sources in many cases. I love old 50’s monster flicks, and I can see both honest nostalgic value at the same time I see dated, absurd ideas and beliefs. I think that even most good stuff isn’t above a little riffing, and most bad stuff at least has some moments of respectability here and there.
I generally agree with you about EricJ, though. ; )
More on-topic, I haven’t seen most of the films mentioned, except for Fall of the House of Usher. I had no inkling that was a Corman film; it was pretty decent, mostly in the buildup – I felt the climax was a bit weak compared to the setup. Pretty true to the story, though, and I don’t see that often enough when literature gets translated into film.
The only other “Corman” film I like is one he arranged to distribute in the U.S. . . . so not technically “his” per se. But it was Godzilla 1984. :yes:
Heck, I could make a list.
Attack of the crab monsters
Every Edgar Allen Poe movie he did with Vincent Price (that I’ve seen)
The Little Shop of Horrors
A Bucket of Blood
The Intruder, with William Shatner (a very powerful film for those of you who haven’t seen it)
X:The man with x-ray Eyes
Not of this Earth
The St Valentine’s Day Massacre (not the most exciting movie ever made, but it looks very professional, and you can tell he had a budget.)
His worst movies were some of his very early ones, back when he had no money. He got much better as the years went on, and his talent probably peaked in the 60’s with all of his Gothic films. Death Race 2000 is great, but I was mostly just listing ones he personally directed, or else I’d probably spend 10 minutes listing other great ones he produced.
I kind of liked “The Undead”. At least it had a plot I was remotely interested in. Also the twist ending with Quintus losing his chance to back to the 20th century is clever.
To be honest…I have never really been a fan of Corman’s films…(I even preferred the 1986 version of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS to his original version)…all his film are all pretty riffable..but, if I would choose one, I would pick one of his non sci-fi films, like GUNSLINGER.
Give me Swamp Diamonds. Hot girls. Sleazy dialogue. Touch “Touch I thought I heard her callin my name!” Connors. A YMCA swimming pool and real footage really shot in my real home town of New Orleans.
Also Corman and his crew dared to film in the swamps long before Southern Comfort decided to make all swamp dwellers into blood thirsty sadists. Its more Amos Moses than Deliverance and for that I thank you Roger.