Tag Archives: roger corman

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“Lady Frankenstein” (1972) – Debauched Baroness

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Either you will find this enjoyable or feel revulsion at its sordidness. Here is a version of “Frankenstein” that elaborates on the general tale and ends up pouring on excessive violence and twisted themes.

Dr. Frankenstein is practicing his favorite past time, namely, sewing together bits and pieces of dead bodies and reanimating the resultant corpse. Into this unnatural environment is the arrival of Frankenstein’s daughter, returned from university. She has an admiration for her father’s studies and wants to prolong his legacy by doing a bit of body stitching herself. Never mind that she is a bit afflicted with her own mental issues and a raging libido. After her father is destroyed by his own patchwork being, his daughter uses what she learned from dear old dad to affix her handicapped husband’s superior brain in the strong, flawless body of a half-witted servant who hangs around the castle and to whom she is madly attracted.

In the meantime, Frankenstein’s monster runs amok around the countryside, dispatching and murdering townsfolk. Anxious to build her own Perfect Man, Lady Frankenstein doesn’t give the rampaging monster much thought but first wants to fulfill her own creative, corpse building ambitions and take time to praise the great work of her father. Oh yeah. And jump in and out of the sack. lol.

This picture clearly borrows from Hammer Films and their reliance on gore and sexy women and the Italian Horror cycle which proliferated in the 1970’s. Roger Corman pitched in some money to make sure this travesty got completed and his New World Pictures distributed the film in America. Noted actor Joseph Cotton shilled for a paycheck in this bungle.

See also: “Horror of Frankenstein”, “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein”.

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“Fall of the House of Usher” (1960) – More or Less Poe

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This is one of my favorite entries from the Edgar Allen Poe cycle that director Roger Corman engaged in during the 1960’s. Granted some of the special effects appear a little two dimensional and there is the perfunctory dream/nightmare sequence experienced by one of the film players that is shot with color filters and diffusion to capture a horrific pre-waking stage but, in this instance, the effect is very strong and effective.

Vincent Price appears as Roderick Usher who inhabits a mansion on a gloomy stretch of land with his sister, Madeline. There is a malignancy that holds sway over the house, the family and the property. A history of corruption, madness and barbarism seems incorporated into the Usher bloodline. Roderick and his siter are merely carrying on this malaise through their rapidly advancing physical and mental ailments.

Madeline’s beau, Philip, appears at the Usher doorstep to escort his beloved away and off to married life. Roderick refuses to permit this as he fears his sister will succumb to her infirmities if “ushered” away, as it were. Therein lies a majority of the story’s conflict: a war of wills and sanity between the three central characters.

Very cool interior sets and a magnificent Price performance make this a worthy viewing experience even if the story doesn’t exactly conform to Poe’s short story.

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“The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961) – Corman, Poe, Price, Camera/Filter FX Combo

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We sadly mark the passing of exploitation giant, Roger Corman: a tireless, budget minded producer/director who was creatively involved in some very memorable science fiction, horror, western and action genre pictures. Many of these movies have become classics and provide a blueprint of how to manufacture films quickly and cheaply without sacrificing all quality. I will reference “A Bucket of Blood” (1959) as being one such example of a low budgeted, though engaging story of a homicidal “artist” who finally runs out of luck. A very engaging movie.

It was in the 1960’s that Corman turned his attention to adapting (sometimes very loosely) some of the works of author Edgar Allen Poe.

“The Pit and the Pendulum” contained many elements of mood and directing that were reflected in his later Poe adaptions. We see a lot of swirling fog, cobweb infested dungeons, weird, distorted camera angles and lenses, colored filters engulfing the images, and dream/nightmare sequences that reflect the tormented minds of some of these films’ characters.

The resultant proceedings here are enjoyable but terrifying. Vincent Price truly turns in a twisted performance!

Seek this one out.

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The Fire Still Burns: Vincent Price Movies That End With The Set Being Torched.

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This is a trifle of a segment but I noticed recently while binge watching some Vincent Price scarefests that a lot of his films conclude with a purging fire breaking out and ridding the story of some of the evil situations and characters thus far encountered. Maybe it was a favored conclusion for director Roger Corman who concluded “The Fall of the House of User” (1960) and “The Haunted Palace” (1963) in such a fashion. It certainly is a flamboyant way to conclude a movie with the set catching fire and falling down into flaming pieces! Price or another actor invariably gets buried beneath a loosened beam or some similar fire engulfed material. It appears this method of demise began with Price’s mad sculptor getting immolated at the conclusion of “House of Wax” (1953). Corman didn’t direct that one but may have gathered inspiration from it.

Well, that’s all I’ve got. Go check these films out and luxuriate in the cleansing fires!

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“Day The World Ended” (1955) – The Struggle Is Only Beginning

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Produced and directed by genre icon Roger Corman, this is an interesting premise of a group of survivors of a nuclear holocaust randomly seeking shelter from the toxic elements in a mountainside residence. The home is populated by a father and his daughter. He is ex-military and foresaw this day of calamity coming and stocked his place with weapons, food and water – for three people. The uninvited guests will prove to be a burden on the limited supplies. Along with the wandering humanity, the hills are populated with mutated monsters that were once men. None of the survivors is sure if the radiation is making them sick and shortening their lives or not. Doubt and paranoia run deep as the people in the house jockey for control and the mountain monsters start to stray close to the house looking for fresh meat.

This movie was remade in 1967 as “In The Year 2889”. I must say that I enjoyed the remake better. It is literally a note for note copy of the original but doesn’t seem as repetitive. I mean how times can the characters in “Day” talk about not going into the radioactive fog (The Light….Hehe!). At only 80 minutes in length, that topic seems to be done to death.

This is an otherwise good Corman production and is recommended.

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A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959) – ART CAN BE MURDER

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This Roger Corman produced and directed film is a treat. There is a quasi-comical air about the proceedings as a lot of the action takes place in a Beat Generation inspired coffee house where poets and musicians alike share a performance stage, hang out and spout off in exaggerated artistic fashion. In the midst of this “Cool” cafe trundles waiter Walter Paisley, a loner who aspires to be creative and wants something more out of life than just busing tables for the rest of his life. Walter buys a packet of clay and tries his hand at sculpting in his seedy apartment. He becomes quickly frustrated when his efforts don’t yield anything worthwhile. To add to his frustration, the landlady’s cat has gotten itself stuck in his wall. Walter tries to create an opening in the wall for the cat to escape through but the knife he is using accidently impales and kills the cat. In order to hide his mistake, Walter decides to cover the cat’s body with his newly acquired clay complete with the protruding death knife. The result is better than he expected. Impressed by his own handiwork, Walter brings his new “sculpture” to his workplace to be shared and displayed and prove that he has artistic talent too. Walter’s work is immediately praised and allotted a degree of respect. His fans want to know what else Walter is working on and want to see it! The attention he receives is intoxicating. Walter will give the public what it wants!

Walter doesn’t have to wait long to be freshly inspired with a new sculpture as he is tailed home by an undercover cop who works the cafe looking for illicit drug activity. The cop thinks he sees Walter involved in a drug deal and follows Walter home one evening. One thing leads to another and in the ensuing altercation, the cop is killed and Walter covers his body with the clay in the apartment. The new work gets his fanbase even more excited for more works of genius from the former busboy turned Artiste. Walter has found his Muse: Murder.

Nice work by Corman to turn this movie from a satirical view of the Beats and their approach to Art into a rather unsettling essay about a quickly unravelling mind whose artist ruse is concealing a rabid, maladjusted psychopath. Probably Dick Miller’s best role.

action, action adventure, Horror, science fiction, science fiction films

DICK MILLER, R.I.P.

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Sadness at the passing of great character actor Dick Miller.  A wise cracking, world weary, dependable presence in many horror and science fiction pictures including “The Terminator”, “The Howling”, “Gremlins” and an early starring role in the Roger Corman directed “A Bucket of Blood” which is linked to here.  Macabre in the extreme, “Blood” is the tale of a destitute artist who turns his fortunes around and becomes the darling of the local Art crowd after he adopts a shocking new change to his sculpting style.  Can you guess how?  A twisted, enjoyable romp made back when Miller was younger and fresher and not his more recognizable, grizzled self.  Miller was 90.

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THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961)

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Creepy interpretation by Roger Corman of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum.  Richard Matheson scripted this adaptation.  Vincent Price adds his diabolical presence.  Love the creaking of the pendulum as it winds its way down toward the intended victim.  Part of Corman’s Poe cycle of film adaptations.  Nice 60’s horror atmosphere.