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Posted: |
Sep 10, 2024 - 1:10 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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DEAD SPACE stars Marc Singer as “Krieger,” a space pilot who, soon after we meet him, has some problems with his ship after making it out of a tense dog fight. As luck would have it, he intercepts a call for help and figures he can follow it to a planet where he just might be able to get his ship repaired. He and “Tinpan” (Roger Halston), his irritating robot sidekick, set course and arrive just in time for an alien invasion. Being the hardened and rugged space pilot that he is, Krieger winds up front and center in trying to stop it from spreading and taking over the entire planet.
The movie was a remake of the 1982, Roger Corman-produced horror film FORBIDDEN WORLD, and while there are minor differences, it still retains the original main storyline and character set-up. Fred Gallo directed the 1991 release, which was shot in seventeen days. Daniel May provided the unreleased score. The film received a limited theatrical release before going to video.
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Posted: |
Sep 10, 2024 - 7:26 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Following 1989’s BLOODFIST, martial artist Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson starred in Roger Corman’s follow-ups BLOODFIST II (1990) and BLOODFIST III: FORCED TO FIGHT (1991). While BLOODFIST II received a theatrical release, BLOODFIST III (and all the later BLOODFIST films) were primarily direct-to-video affairs, with perhaps a single theatrical print struck for occasional showings.
Trying to make even greater use of his star, Corman put Wilson in other martial arts films—1991’s FUTURE KICK and RING OF FIRE, and 1992’s BLACKBELT. In the latter film, sexy songstress “Shanna” (Deirdre Imershein) finds her star is beginning to rise thanks to the efforts of her sleazy boyfriend/manager, “Bobby” (Jack Forcinito), and his mobster boss, “Eddie” (Richard Beymer). But her new-found fame is bringing her some unwanted attention, particularly from a giant psychopath named “John Sweet” (Matthias Hues), who woos her by giving her a box of roses with a severed finger inside.
Shanna figures she needs a bodyguard, so at the behest of the cop handling her case, she looks up his old partner, “Jack Dillon” (Don 'The Dragon' Wilson), who gave up policework to teach martial arts to little kids. Though he's not initially interested in the case, Shanna eventually changes his mind, and before you know it, he's guarding her from Sweet, who seems to be getting ever closer to her. Meanwhile, Eddie wants to collect on the investment he's made in Shanna over the years, while she has decided, much to Bobby's dismay, that she wants nothing to do with the mobster anymore. As Jack and Shanna start to fall for one another, Eddie moves in, and so does crazy John Sweet.
The 1992 film was directed by Charles Philip Moore and Rick Jacobson. David and Eric Wurst provided the unreleased score. BLACKBELT was released directly to video.
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Posted: |
Sep 11, 2024 - 9:46 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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By the time that BLOODFIST IV: DIE TRYING rolled around, the films had no relationship to the original, and Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson was playing a different character in each film. In this one, Wilson is “Danny Holt,” an employee of Sal's Repo Lot, who spends most of his days duking it out with people upset that he's legally stealing cars on which they owe money. On one unfortunate day, he repos a car belonging to weapons dealer “Weiss” (Kale Browne), who would very much like to get his hands on a box of chocolates sitting in the front seat. When Weiss kills the entire repo service, Danny is on the run from the cops, the FBI, people pretending to be cops and FBI, Weiss's men, and a killer pretending to be the babysitter of his 10-year-old daughter (who quickly falls into enemy hands). The only person Danny can turn to is “Shannon” (Amanda Wyss), the school teacher best friend of one of Danny's slain co-workers, who's violently yanked from what was supposed to be a vacation get-away weekend as she gradually helps Danny solve the riddle of the box of chocolates.
Paul Ziller directed this 1992 release, which was scored by David and Eric Wurst. It was a direct-to-video release. The BLOODFIST series would continue through 1996, with four more films.
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Posted: |
Sep 13, 2024 - 2:00 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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THE GAME OF DEATH is set in 1899. “Capt. Henry Joyce” (David Morrissey) is a war hero. He's haunted by his wife's death and obsessed with suicide. But he can't quite bring himself to do the deed. Through a chance meeting, Joyce finds out about a secret club devoted to providing final curtains for the depressed and desperate. The members are all upper-crust types.
The club's founder, a maniacally ghoulish but erudite “Mr. Bourne” (Jonathan Pryce), deals cards at a round table to determine who is next on the death list -- and who, among the members, will be the mercy killer. Most of the members can't wait for their death card to turn up. And at first, Joyce is among the most eager. But the club's only woman, a sorrowful blue blood named “Sara Wolverton” (Catherine Siggins), attracts his attention. She faintly resembles his late wife.
Roger Corman personally produced this 2000 drama, which was based on a Robert Louis Stevenson short story called “The Suicide Club." Rachel Samuels directed, her second film for Corman. Adrian Johnston provided the unreleased score.
The film was originally titled THE SUICIDE CLUB when it played film festivals in 2000, and had a one-week run in a San Francisco theater in early February 2001. But it was retitled THE GAME OF DEATH for its video release on 20 February 2001.
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Posted: |
Sep 14, 2024 - 9:53 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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As the producer of the original 1975 DEATH RACE 2000, Roger Corman took an executive producer credit on the 2008 remake, DEATH RACE. Despite the lack of any year in the title, the new film was set in the then-future year of 2012. The economy is in shambles, unemployment and crime are on the rise, and corporations run prisons for profit. Terminal Island is one such prison, and it is there that select inmates participate in a deadly new sport known as "Death Race," a fight-to-the-death automobile extravaganza where armored cars with hood-mounted machine guns race to the finish line and lay waste to everything in their path -- including their opponents.
Former racer and convict “Jensen Ames” (Jason Statham) is framed for his wife's murder and incarcerated at Terminal Island. When the sport's most famous participant, a disfigured driver dubbed "Frankenstein," dies after a race, the prison's warden, “Hennessey” (Joan Allen), coerces Ames into filling in for Frankenstein, promising him that should he win one more race, he'll be set free and allowed to reunite with his infant daughter. With his identity known only to his crew and female navigator “Case” (Natalie Martinez), Ames sets out to win the three-stage race -- and his freedom.
Paul W.S. Anderson directed the 2008 action film. After Roger Corman saw and liked Anderson's first film, SHOPPING (1994). Corman secured the rights to show the film in the U.S. through New Horizons and, at that point, asked Anderson what film he would like to direct next. Anderson decided to direct this one, although it ultimately took over 13 years for it to be made.
The score to DEATH RACE was composed by Paul Haslinger and conducted by Tim Davies. Haslinger recorded the string portion of his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage. The score was released by Intrada. The $45 million production had a worldwide gross of $76 million.
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Posted: |
Sep 16, 2024 - 12:57 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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The DEATH RACE reboot spawned three made-for-video follow-ups—two prequels and one sequel. But Corman felt that DEATH RACE had jettisoned too much of the political commentary of the original DEATH RACE 2000. Corman got the idea for a sequel to that film when he was being interviewed by an Italian journalist who remarked that THE HUNGER GAMES had similarities to DEATH RACE 2000.
Corman contacted Universal Pictures, who had produced DEATH RACE, and discussed bringing back the dark satire of the original. Corman told them, "You did a good job, but you’ve taken out the killing of the pedestrians and the broken-society themes."
In DEATH RACE 2050, the desolate world that is The United Corporations of America is overseen by “The Chairman” (Malcolm McDowell). Most citizens don't work. Instead, they sit at home and experience things through virtual reality. The most popular event in this world is the Death Race, a competition where drivers travel cross-country, earning points by running over pedestrians. “Frankenstein” (Manu Bennett), the reigning champion, is a fan-favorite, not only because he's a winner, but due to the mystery created by the fact that he wears a mask. The other drivers in the latest race are: “Minerva” (Folake Olowofoyeku), a rapper with an urban flare; “Jed Perfectus” (Burt Grinstead), a genetically engineered superman; “Tammy” (Anessa Ramsey), a cult leader; and “Abe” (voiced by D.C. Douglas), a self-driving car. Frankenstein, being a loner, has no interest in getting to know his new in-car companion, “Annie” (Marci Miller). As the race begins, it becomes obvious that there are forces working against Frankenstein, and winning may take a backseat to surviving.
The 2017 film was directed and co-written by G. J. Echternkamp. Roger Corman described the film as "a car-racing picture with some black humor" and an “updated remake” of the 1975 film. The film’s score, by Cindy and Gunter Brown, has not had a release. As for the film, it went directly to cable, streaming, and video.
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Posted: |
Sep 16, 2024 - 11:37 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Roger Corman would executive-produce four more films before his death, the last being in 2021, at age 95. Over his career, Corman directed over 50 films, and produced, executive produced, or distributed 450 more. Early in his career, a running gag in Hollywood was that Corman could negotiate the production of a film on a pay phone, shoot the film in the booth, and finance it with the money in the change slot.
Corman was the subject of several documentaries, including 1978’s ROGER CORMAN: HOLLYWOOD’S WILD ANGEL, produced and directed by Christian Blackwood, and 2011’s CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL, written and produced by Alex Stapleton. But well before then, Corman had been recognized for his work. In 1964, Corman was the youngest producer/director to be given a retrospective at the Cinémathèque Française, as well as retrospectives at the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art.
Corman won the first Producer's Award ever given by the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. He received the David O. Selznick Award from the Producers Guild of America in 2006. That same year, his film FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER was among the twenty-five movies selected for the National Film Registry, a compilation of significant films being preserved by the Library of Congress. Finally, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Corman with an Honorary Academy Award at the inaugural Governors Awards, on November 14, 2009.
The list of noted filmmakers (directors, producers, writers, composers, and cinematographers) who have worked with Corman, usually early in their careers, is legion. These included Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Nicolas Roeg, Paul Bartel, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, James Cameron, John Sayles, Monte Hellman, Jonathan Kaplan, Curtis Hanson, Robert Towne, Ronald Stein, and James Horner.
Similarly, the list of actors who obtained their career breaks working for Corman is long. They include Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Charles Bronson, Dennis Hopper, Tommy Lee Jones, Talia Shire, Sandra Bullock, Robert De Niro, Dick Miller, and David Carradine.
Corman said, “I started as a writer, and then I became a writer-producer. I produced two films, and I watched what the directors were doing, and I simply said: ‘I can do that.’ So, I just took over on the third film that I produced and started directing. I watched the two directors and saw what they were doing. I looked to other films and studied them, the way the shots were laid out and so forth, and taught myself to direct.”
Describing his cycle of Edgar Allan Poe films, Corman said, “What I was trying to do was bring back the concept of the gothic horror film, which was not original to me, obviously. But that type of film had fallen out of favor, so for a young audience it was a new type of film, and I felt that would appeal to them. And always with Vincent Price playing the lead, it would be a young man and a young girl playing the second leads, so we did have the name and the stature of Vincent, but we would have a young leading man and leading lady in their twenties to appeal to a teenage audience. So, I was trying to get it both ways. And I simply wanted to do HOUSE OF USHER.
Commenting on the fact that Martin Scorsese preferred Corman’s THE WILD ANGELS (1966) to Ingmar Bergman's WILD STRAWBERRIES (1957), Corman said, “I think Marty sometimes says things just to startle people. But we can certainly agree that 'Wild Angels' had more action than 'Wild Strawberries'.”
Corman’s films rarely lacked for action,…or sex, horror, or any other exploitable element. He wasn’t known as the “King of the B’s” for nothing. We will not see his like again. Farewell, Roger.
on the set of BLOODY MAMA (1970)
with Quentin Tarantino
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