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Posted: |
Aug 18, 2024 - 11:43 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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SUBURBIA follows a group of disaffected teenagers from Orange County, California, all of whom have awful parents and smelly clothes. The crew is known as "TR" for "The Rejected," although in many cases, they did the rejecting—as in, they bailed on their families because (A) they were molested, (B) mommy was a drunk, or (C) consumerism, like, sucks, man. So, the TRs all live in an abandoned town house on the nasty side of the tracks, where wild Dobermans roam free, cops have no power, and anarchy is king. Well, "anarchy" in the sense that the TRs steal cold-cuts from local homes and say words like "vibrator" when they harass a weekend garage sale.
Writer-director Penelope Spheeris was inspired to make the film after seeing a lack of release for her first film, the punk documentary THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION (1981). Owing to her time spent around the punk scene, she took inspiration from stories and incidents she had seen or heard, when writing the script for SUBURBIA.
SUBURBIA was turned down by all the major studios and about 30 different potential investors because it was perceived as being too depressing. Eventually, Spheeris caught the attention of Bert Dragin, a furniture magnate from Cleveland. Dragin agreed to put up half the money for the $500,000 film, and Roger Corman financed the rest.
Spheeris said, "Roger made biker movies and exploitation movies and that sort of thing, so luckily he wanted to do the movie because he felt this might be the new wave. But, you know, he didn’t really interfere too much. It was mostly that he wanted me to have that scene up front where the kid gets nuked by the dog." In a 2010 interview, Corman said that “[Penelope] told me the storyline. I gave her a few minor notes, but essentially that was Penelope’s job from start to finish. I thought she did an excellent job.”
By the time the film was completed in July 1983, Roger Corman had sold his company New World Pictures and set up New Horizons. Based on research that included tests at drive-ins in Dayton, Ohio, it was decided to release the film in limited engagements during 1984. Spheeris was unhappy with the money that was doled out for the film’s publicity and marketing by the new owners of New World.
Alex Gibson’s score and four punk songs were released on an Enigma Records LP. The album was re-issued on CD by Restless Records in 1990.
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Posted: |
Aug 19, 2024 - 1:11 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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The warrior DEATHSTALKER (Richard Hill) is traveling through the countryside when a witch gives him a mystical quest to recover three magical items – a sword, an amulet, and a chalice. He acquires the sword from Yoda-like imp “Salmaron” (Augusto Larreta), who reveals himself to be a thief cursed by the witch. The other two items are known to be in the possession of “Munkar” (Bernard Erhard), an evil sorcerer who is holding a tournament for the best warriors in the land. The winner will become inheritor to his throne. Deathstalker removes the curse from Salmaron and the thief agrees to accompany Deathstalker on his journey. One night, along the way to the tournament, the pair meet “Kaira” (Lana Clarkson), a defiant female warrior who joins the group on their journey. At the castle, they will meet “Princess Codille” (Barbi Benton).
Roger Corman’s Palo Alto Productions produced the film, which was shot in Argentina in October 1982. It was Corman’s last production for New World Pictures before he sold the company in January 1983, and it was his attempt to cash in on the success of 1982’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN. James Sbardellati (using the name John Watson) directed the film, which the new owners of New World released in September 1983.
Óscar Cardozo Ocampo’s score has not been released. DEATHSTALKER was produced for only $457,000 and was a big success at the U.S. box office, grossing $11.9 million.
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Posted: |
Aug 19, 2024 - 10:26 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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With the success of DEATHSTALKER at the box office, Corman decided to continue making sword and sorcery films in Argentina. Next up was the generically-named THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS. In a distant galaxy lies the desert planet of Ura, which has two suns. There, two rival warlords of a village, “Zeg theTyrant” (Luke Askew) and “Bal Caz” (William Marin), constantly fight against each other in a battle over the only wellspring in the village of Yamatar. The mercenary “Kain” (David Carradine), who was once a member of a now extinct ancient order of holy warriors known as the Homeraks, arrives at the town and announces that his skills are for hire to the highest bidder. Kain finds out that “Naja” (María Socas), a beautiful sorceress and former priestess of the same order as Kain, has been taken captive by Zeg, who pressures Naja into forging the magical Sword of Ura, which he wants to use to rule the land. Naja inspires Kain into saving her and helping the village people.
According to screenwriter William Stout, director John Broderick asked him to write a sword and sorcery screenplay based on Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai film YOJIMBO, which he did, then rewrote it to distance the story from that original. After several rewrites, Broderick took the script and shopped it around. Several years later, Stout was surprised to hear that Broderick was making a film based on that script, but without Stout's name on it and without paying Stout. Calling up the executive producer, Roger Corman, Stout managed to remedy that situation and get a story credit on the film. However, upon watching the finished product, Stout was further surprised to see that Broderick had reverted much of the script to more closely follow its inspiration.
According to David Carradine's book Spirit of Shaolin, it was clear before production started that the film was going to be a version of YOJIMBO, and Carradine writes that he talked about it with Roger Corman:
“The Warrior and the Sorceress was essentially a remake of Yojimbo, the samurai movie by the great Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa. I called up Roger and told him I loved the script; but what about the Yojimbo factor. Roger said, "Yes, it is rather like Yojimbo." I said, "It's not like Yojimbo. It is Yojimbo." Roger said, "Let me tell you a story. When Fistful of Dollars opened in Tokyo, Kurosawa's friends called him up and said 'You must see this picture.' Kurosawa said, 'Yes, I understand it is rather like Yojimbo.' 'No, it's not like Yojimbo, it is Yojimbo. You have to sue these people.' 'I can't sue them,' he responded. 'Why not?' 'Because,' Kurosawa confessed, 'Yojimbo is Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest.'" I went for it.”
Whether or not Corman told that story to Carradine, it’s not true, as Kurosawa and Toho Studios did in fact successfully sue Sergio Leone.
Broderick quit during the editing of the film after a fight with Corman (which erupted because Broderick had gone two weeks over schedule), meaning the editing was finished by two teams in two different countries. "It's a little uneven", said Carradine of the film.
In January 1983, Roger Corman sold New World Pictures and formed Millennium Films, releasing a few pictures under that banner in 1983. But Corman says people struggled with the name "Millennium" – "nobody could spell it, nobody knew what it meant" – so he changed it to New Horizons by early 1984.
New Horizons released THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS in September 1984. Sources give varying budgets for the film, ranging from $80,000 to $400,000. It grossed $2.9 million at the U.S. box office. Louis Saunders’ score has not been released.
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Posted: |
Aug 19, 2024 - 3:15 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Corman’s next sword and sorcery film was BARBARIAN QUEEN, which starred Lana Clarkson as “Amethea,” a survivor of a Roman raid on a small village. The whole siege happened on her wedding day, and her betrothed, “Argan” (Frank Zagarino), is now in the clutches of the Romans. Amethea teams up with two other beautiful female escapees, “Estrild” (Katt Shea), and “Tiniara” (Susana Traverso), to infiltrate the city walls and recruit some gladiators to help on their quest to rescue Argan and Amethea’s younger sister “Taramis” (Dawn Dunlap).
BARBARIAN QUEEN was filmed in Don Torcuato, Argentina by director Héctor Olivera as part of a nine-picture deal between Olivera's Aires Productions and Roger Corman. In March 1985 Corman announced he would establish a new distribution "cooperative," Concorde Pictures, where producers could get relatively cheap distribution from Concorde in exchange for contributing to the company's overhead.
The film was released in April 1985. The film was scored with music previously written for Corman films by Christopher Young and James Horner.
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Posted: |
Aug 20, 2024 - 11:22 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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After being kicked out by their drunken mother, “Cookie” (Melissa Leo) and her younger brother “Tim” (Randall Batinkoff) are STREETWALKIN’ in New York City with nowhere to go, when they meet “Duke” (Dale Midkiff), who Cookie immediately falls for. He feeds them and gives them a place to stay and carries on with Cookie as though he loves her. Soon enough we find that Duke is a top pimp in the area, and Cookie is working the streets, looking a lot more grown up than the crying, terrified child we first met at the Port Authority. Tim is in school, but spends the rest of his day hanging out with the nicest and most motherly bunch of hookers you could ever wish to meet. After a spat that turns physical with another of his girls, “Heather” (Deborah Offner), Duke pretty much leaves her for dead in their apartment. Cookie comes home and finds her, initially unaware that Duke was the one that had beaten her. She takes her to the hospital and after realizing the obvious, looks to change pimps and starts working for “Jason” (Leon Robinson).
In addition to being Melissa Leo's first feature film, STREETWALKIN” has a few other familiar faces, including Julie Newmar and Antonio Fargas. It was also the film debuts of Khandi Alexander and Greg Germann.
Director Joan Freeman conceived and co-wrote the film with her husband Robert Alden, who also served as the film’s producer. Freeman and Alden spent three months researching the vice worlds of Boston, New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., and spent time with pimps and prostitutes. Freeman reportedly went so far as pretending to be a prostitute so that she could get herself arrested. Under the protection of vice officers, Freeman posed as an innocent, out-of-town girl, to see if she would be recruited by pimps. She used the frightening encounters with the pimps for her script. After completing the screenplay, Freeman approached Roger Corman to fund the picture, but with her only experience being in television documentaries, Corman was uncertain if she could work with actors.
To prove herself, Freeman, with Alden’s help, created a twelve-minute drama, at their own expense, and recruited actor friends to star in the short. The resulting film, Brainwash, was about a girl kidnapped by a cult. It convinced Corman to back STREETWALKIN’. Corman agreed to let Freeman shoot the film on location in New York--the first time he had done so. STREETWALKIN’’ was filmed in twenty-five nights, using a non-union crew to produce the picture for under $2 million. Corman called the movie "an honest look at prostitution. It's wrong, it's not glamorous, it's a dirty, dangerous business."
The film originally received an [X] rating due to violence, but after this was edited, the film was given an [R]. The uncut version is available on video unrated. In March 1985, Roger Corman announced he would establish a new distribution "cooperative," Concorde Pictures, where producers could get relatively cheap distribution from Concorde in exchange for contributing to the company's overhead. STREETWALKIN’ was the first film released by Concorde Pictures. It opened on 17 May 1985 in around eighty Los Angeles-area theaters. The film’s score, by Matthew Ender and Doug Timm, has not been released.
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Posted: |
Aug 21, 2024 - 12:00 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Roger Corman’s involvement with SHADOW PLAY began way back when his company was still called Millennium Pictures. Filming on the supernatural mystery didn’t begin until November 1984. In the film, eight years after the apparent suicide of her fiancé who fell from the top of a lighthouse, playwright “Morgan Hanna” (Dee Wallace-Stone) still finds herself haunted by dreams of his final moments. Suffering from a persistent case of writer's block, she receives a letter from Jeremy's widowed mother, “Millie” (Cloris Leachman), to come pay a visit to her island home, where Jeremy died. Upon arrival, she's also kept company by Jeremy's brother, “John” (Ron Kuhlman), and old friend “Zelda” (Susan Dixon), who tells her that Jeremy's room has been kept exactly the way it was since he died. Morgan becomes motivated to channel her grief into a new play, but she soon experiences sightings of Jeremy in random places and finds her writing being influenced by a spectral presence and a voice saying things like "Ride with me through the glass"-- while John vehemently argues that it's all in her mind.
SHADOW PLAY marked writer-director-producer Susan Shadburne’s theatrical directorial debut. Shadburne spent two years taking the screenplay through five drafts and raising capital with her partners. Locations included Seattle and San Juan Island, WA, Portland, OR, and New York City. The cast and a contingent of locals were all investors in the film, which cost a reported $2 million. When the film was finally released in 1986, it was a flop at the domestic box office, grossing less than $150,000. Jon Newton’s score has not had a release.
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Posted: |
Aug 21, 2024 - 3:42 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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New sorority pledge “Beth” (Angela O'Neill) is having a hard time adjusting to life in her new sorority house, which seems to be linked to some horrible nightmares triggered by the move. Her three sorority friends and fellow new arrivals “Linda” (Wendy Martel), “Sara” (Pamela Ross), and “Tracy” (Nicole Rio) are taking everything far more in stride, with a focus on making out, partying, and modeling the most audacious fashions around. But Beth is distracted even more when she starts uncovering repressed memories involving the slaughter of her entire family -- in a house that looks a lot like the current one. Before you know it, a psycho's escaped from the nearby insane asylum (perhaps due to the psychic link he shares with our heroine) and sets his sights on a SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE, with Beth's pals and their beaus set up on the chopping list.
The film was directed by Carol Frank, and financed by Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures based on the success of THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE (1982), on which Frank had served as director Amy Holden Jones's personal assistant. Michael Wetherwax composed and performed the synthesizer score for the 1986 film.
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Posted: |
Aug 22, 2024 - 11:57 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In STRIPPED TO KILL, while hanging out on skid row posing as homeless people, “Detective Cody Sheenan” (Kay Lenz) and her partner, “Heineman” (Greg Evigan), witness a stripper being set aflame by a maniac and tossed off a bridge. They're unable to save her, but Cody is talked into delving further into the club where the victim worked: Rock Bottom, a seedy strip club run by “Ray” (Norman Fell). Cody lands a permanent gig as a dancer after winning an amateur night contest, giving her the perfect cover to match wits with a maniac intent on picking off the strippers one by one.
STRIPPED TO KILL marked the directorial debut for Katt Shea, a veteran drive-in actress from films like PREPPIES, PSYCHO III, and BARBARIAN QUEEN. The film was inspired by a visit Shea and her husband and writing partner Andy Ruben made to a strip club. She took the idea to Roger Corman. Corman liked the basic idea but questioned the believability of a scene in which a man went undercover as a stripper. Shea brought in a female impersonator to see Corman and had him describe having done exactly that. "He [Corman] turned every shade. He was purple by the end. But then he said yes," recalled Shea.
Corman didn't like the first two-hour cut of the film and forced his way into the editing room where he made several changes that brought the film’s running time down to 82 minutes. John O'Kennedy’s score has not been released. While the 1987 film was moderately successful in theaters, it was a huge hit upon its home video release. Corman ordered a sequel, and Shea directed STRIPPED TO KILL II: LIVE GIRLS, which was released in 1989.
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Posted: |
Aug 22, 2024 - 10:55 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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The success of 1983’s DEATHSTALKER led to a sequel, 1987’s DEATHSTALKER II, in which John Terlesky took over the role from Richard Hill. In the new film, Deathstalker runs afoul of the imperious “Sultana” (Toni Naples), and she wants to settle the score. He is approached by princess-in-disguise “Reena the Seer” (Monique Gabrielle) who tells his fortune and promises him riches if he will follow her lead. Where she leads him is into a lot of trouble involving assassins, zombies, and Amazonian women—led by the Amazon Queen (Maria Socas)—who want to put Deathstalker on trial for his womanizing (in the form of a wrestling match to the death with “Gorgo” (played by real-life female wrestler Queen Kong, aka Dee Booher). Meanwhile, magician “Jarek” (John LaZar) is trying to track down Reena because the evil double that he has installed in her place (Gabrielle again) is bonded to her and needs human flesh and blood to maintain her appearance. Jarek and Sultana agree to help each other capture the Deathstalker and Reena.
The film was directed by Jim Wynorski, who also came up with the story and acted in a bit part under the name Arch Stanton. This was the last sword and sorcery movie that Roger Corman produced in Argentina during the 1980s. Wynorski reused sets from the previous films, and said "The sets were pretty much trashed by the time I got there, ‘cause I think I was the last guy to use them before they got torn down." Wynorski said the producer, Frank Isaac, was "very upset" because they kept changing the original script: "finally he got so angry about it he called Roger Corman, and Roger Corman’s family came down and Roger watched [the] dailies and said, 'This is fine, keep going'". Chuck Cirino’s score was released by BSX in 2008.
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Posted: |
Aug 23, 2024 - 10:09 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II was a sequel to the 1982 original. The new film finds “Courtney” (played by Crystal Bernard), the younger sister from the first picture, the only sane survivor of the original killings. Unfortunately, while she might be sane, she's still plagued by nightmares of that fateful night in which so many teenage girls were brutally murdered. Rather than sit around and dwell on it, however, she decides to take the other members of the band that she's in to a condo for the weekend to rock out and hang out with some hunky guys.
While Courtney is there, she has horrible dreams of her sister locked away in a mental hospital, but this doesn't stop her from at least trying to have fun - that is, until the killer from the first movie appears reincarnated as a rockabilly guy (Atanas Ilitch) in a fringe leather outfit with a drill guitar. He runs around and sings bad rock songs and shouts off bad one-liners and kills a bunch of people.
Deborah Brock wrote, produced, and directed the 1987 film. In order to get word out about his presence on set, without arousing his suspicions, the cast and crew would use the code name "Jennifer" when referring to executive producer Roger Corman.
The $500,000 film received a token theatrical release, opening in Los Angeles, on 16 October 1987, before being issued on home video soon thereafter. Nevertheless, it grossed $1.3 million during its theatrical run. The VHS tape was one of the top sellers at the time it was released and even won a coveted Gold Videocassette Award.
Michael Monagan's song "Don't Let Go" is actually the film's theme song as it was filmed under the title “Don't Let Go...: Slumber Party Massacre II.” The title was shortened to the more exploitable SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II after production at the insistence of Roger Corman. Richard Cox’s score has not been released.
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Posted: |
Aug 24, 2024 - 11:32 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Roger Corman personally produced the original BIG BAD MAMA (1974), which starred Angie Dickinson as widow "Wilma McClatchie," a tough single mother who is forced by circumstances to lead her two daughters into a life of crime. They quickly become outlaws on the run, picking up partners along the way, and traveling to different states, pursued by the law.
Thirteen years later, Corman also produced the purported sequel, BIG BAD MAMA II. He chose Jim Wynorski to direct and co-write the film. Angie Dickinson reprised her role as Wilma, with two new actresses playing daughters “Billie Jean” and “Polly.” Since the events of the first film are never referenced, this film is probably more accurately described as a reboot. In the film, the evil local land baron forecloses on Wilma's place, and she and her daughters must leave and begin their life of crime. Reporter “Daryl Pearson” (Robert Culp) witnesses their heist of a bank, and helps them become folk legends by writing a story about them.
The estimated production costs were four times those of the 1974 film, which back then were variously estimated as being between $400,000 and $750,000. This prompted Corman to enter a financial partnership with MGM/UA Entertainment, although they are not mentioned onscreen, and the film was released by Corman’s Concorde Pictures. Chuck Cirino’s score was released by BSX in 2019.
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Posted: |
Aug 25, 2024 - 11:41 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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On a remote planet with multiple suns, daylight is constant, and rumors of rare instances of NIGHTFALL are enough to send the leaders into a panic. Believing that society collapses each time darkness falls, the people look for guidance to their greatest scientist, “Aton” (David Birney), whose efforts to gain insight are thwarted by both the physical temptation of “Ana” (Andra Millian) and the religious Nightfall fervor of zealot “Sor” (Alexis Kanner), who recruits Aton's wife “Roa” (Sarah Douglas), only to strap her down and have her eyes pecked out by a falcon to become a new mystical co-leader. As the inevitable darkness approaches, will it cause a permanent shift in their society?
In 1941, a teenaged Isaac Asimov published one of his earliest key works, a novella called Nightfall about the effects of a massive change in perception on a remote society on a distant planet. Highly influential and acclaimed, it has most recently inspired the film PITCH BLACK and its sequels, as well as legions of science fiction writers. No one attempted to actually film it until 1988 when Roger Corman’s wife, Julie Corman, snapped up the rights for a production to be shot in the Arizona desert.
Brought in to write and direct was Paul Mayersberg, who wrote the screenplay for THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH. However, this film version did not closely follow Asimov's story, and all the names were changed. Asimov was never consulted in the making of the film and completely disowned the finished film when it was released. Frank Serafine’s score for the 1988 film has not been released.
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Posted: |
Sep 3, 2024 - 10:29 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In TWICE DEAD, the Cates family are left a dilapidated mansion by their great uncle, which comes in handy since the head of the household, “Scott Cates” (Tom Bresnahan), is in the process of going bankrupt, and they don’t have anywhere else to go. The house had been swindled out of the possession of a famous stage actor, “Tyler Walker” (Jonathan Chapin), by their great aunt, who Tyler was obsessed with (so much so that the guy had a mannequin in her image that he liked to play house with, a lot), and subsequently killed himself rather than leave. And now he haunts the place.
Bert Dragin directed and co-wrote the film, which was shot in 6 weeks. David Bergeaud provided the unreleased score.
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Posted: |
Sep 4, 2024 - 11:57 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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The worldwide success of 1988's BLOODSPORT, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, generated a resurgence in the production of martial arts films. Roger Corman, always eager to capitalize on another film’s success, entered the genre with BLOODFIST, which he decided to personally produce. To find his next star, Corman instructed his staff to survey martial arts publications' fighter rankings, where the name of Don "The Dragon" Wilson came up. Unsure if he even had the right contact information, Corman left a message on one Don Wilson's answering machine that said "Hi, my name is Roger Corman. If you're the Don Wilson that's the kickboxing champ, I'd like you to come in and read for my film."
Wilson had no idea who Corman was, but he came in, and after only reciting a handful of lines, Corman informed him he was hired. Wilson's contract was initially for two pictures, and stipulated that he would work on the first for a weekly salary of $1000 (or $1200—sources differ). However, another article says Wilson made between $80,000 and $90,000 for the film. According to Van Damme, Corman first tried to sign him, but Van Damme felt that Concorde productions were not up to his standards.
Although he had no directorial experience in the genre, Terence H. Winkless had co-written a script for Roger Corman's brother Gene in the 1970s, in which kickboxer Joe Lewis was to have played a cyborg engineered by Chinese radicals to kill a Nixon-like U.S. president during a martial arts demonstration. That film was cancelled due to Lewis' other commitments. Winkless was offered the directing job on BLOODFIST after other Corman prospects bailed on him, and was given just one day to sign on.
After producing a number of films in the Philippines in the early 1970s, Corman returned there for production of BLOODFIST. Filming lasted thirty-two days in total. Corman was a mostly hands-off producer, but he did show up in the editing booth and suggested a few changes. Even though they were often limited to trimming a few frames, Winkless found that they all improved the scene, which was a testament to Corman's experience.
To hype BLOODFIST's release, Concorde printed on the film's poster a disparaging quote from World Kickboxing Association president Howard Hanson—whose light heavyweight title was held by Wilson—reading "Don Wilson would kick Van Damme's a-- in one round!" Corman also challenged the Belgian to a fight with Wilson for $100,000. Wilson conceded that this was a publicity stunt orchestrated by Corman, but nonetheless accused Van Damme of misrepresenting himself as a former world champion, and asserted that the Belgian would be no match for him in real life. Van Damme brushed off the challenge, scoffing at the low purse in comparison to what he stood to make on his upcoming films, and pointing out that the challenge was unfair as he had stopped competing in 1980 to focus on his cinematic pursuits.
Various sources have given the 1989 film’s budget as anywhere from $200,000 to $1 million. The film had a domestic gross of $1.8 million. Sasha Matson provided the unreleased score.
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Posted: |
Sep 5, 2024 - 10:31 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Roger Corman officially returned to the director's chair for the first time in nearly 20 years for 1990's FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND. In 2031, scientist “Dr. Joe Buchanan” (John Hurt) is developing a kind of disintegration beam that has the side effect of causing severe weather conditions and holes in time. Buchanan winds up back in the days of Victor Frankenstein (Raul Julia) and also encounters Percy Shelley (Michael Hutchence), his girlfriend, Mary Godwin (Bridget Fonda), Lord Byron (Jason Patric), and an intelligent if homicidal monster (Nick Brimble). The servant Justine (Catherine Corman) has been accused of murdering little William Frankenstein, and Victor refuses to save her by telling the truth about the monster.
Corman took on the directing job at the urging of his former employee, Thom Mount, who served as one of the film’s producers. Corman requested and received $1 million when he accepted the job in 1985. To get a strong script, Corman looked to known writers including Wes Craven and Floyd Mutrux to craft something original, before ultimately having F.X. Feeney adapt Brian Aldiss' 1973 novel “Frankenstein Unbound,” with input from Corman himself.
The picture was filmed in Italy, including in Milan and around Bellagio, and took about 7 weeks to shoot. The film was originally budgeted at $6 million, but nearly doubled to $11 million four years later, thanks to a split of domestic and international distribution rights between Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. The film’s release was delayed for six months, reportedly because of a dispute between Fox and Corman over the length of the final cut and whether the film met the studio’s expectations.
BSX released the score by Carl Davis in 2013. FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND was a bomb at the domestic box office, grossing just $335,000. It would prove to be Roger Corman’s final directorial effort.
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BARBARIAN QUEEN II: THE EMPRESS STRIKES BACK was the made-for-video sequel to 1985’s BARBARIAN QUEEN. This time, Lana Clarkson played “Princess Athalia,” a character not unlike her “Amethea” of the first film. The Princess falls on hard times when her father's kingdom is hijacked by the evil “King Ankaris” (Alejandro Bracho) and his snotty bitch-in-training daughter (14-year-old Cecilia Tijerina). After Athalia refuses to hand over her magical scepter of power, she's imprisoned, but easily escapes, something she inevitably repeats throughout this tale. Athalia then manages to fit in among the peasants by impressing them with her wrestling skills, so much so, that she's able to rally a female militia to battle the forces of the king’s henchman, “Hofrax” (Roger Cudney).
Joe Finley directed this 1990 film, which was shot primarily in Mexico. Stock music from Christopher Young was used to score the film.
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Posted: |
Sep 7, 2024 - 11:21 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE III was the last of the series. The film tells the story of a bunch of girls, led by perky “Jackie” (Kelly Christian) who like to play volleyball, and decide that when their parents go away, they should have a slumber party. At first, the boyfriends show up, just to joke around and scare the girls, who seem only too comfortable to hang out in their skimpy outfits. But soon the joke turns out to be all too real as someone in the house starts murdering people with a giant drill.
The film was directed by Sally Mattison and written by Catherine Cyran, making the SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE trilogy the only slasher series to have not only all female directors, but all female writers as well. Mattison admitted she hated horror films and only took this one when offered by Roger Corman because it was the first opportunity for her to direct a feature film. This ended up being the only film she directed, though she did produce several low budget thrillers.
When the actresses auditioned, they knew their roles would involve nudity. But after they were cast, some of them refused to go nude, including Playboy Playmate Hope Marie Carlton, who had been posing nude for years and performed nude in previous films. Director Mattison agreed to let them keep their clothes on. That's one reason why Roger Corman, who preferred a lot of nudity in his films because he knew that's what helped sell them, later forced Mattison to reshoot a scene where actress Maria Ford was attacked. In the reshot scene, the killer ripped off her lingerie so all she wore was a thin thong.
Louis Chalif (billed under the name Jamie Sheriff) provided the unreleased score. The $350,000 production had a domestic gross of $1.2 million.
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Actors Ray Sharkey and Michael Chiklis teamed up again one year after the notorious John Belushi biopic WIRED as two cops, “Capra” and “Reese,” in the midst of a spree by THE RAIN KILLER, a raincoat-clad maniac who's knifing rich women to death every time it rains. Capra is assigned to the case, but soon has to deal with an FBI agent, “Dalton” (David Beecroft), who's brought in to work with him. Complicating things further is the fact that Dalton's wife, “Adele” (Tania Coleridge), is part of the same social circle being targeted by the killer. She and Capra soon hit it off a little too close for comfort, while the nocturnal predator with a rain fixation keeps leaving puzzling clues in his wake and a growing number of victims.
Ken Stein directed this 1990 thriller. Terry Plumeri provided the unreleased score. The film grossed $1.7 million.
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