Movie Reviews: Corman-ia

With the death of famed filmmaker Roger Corman in May, 2024, I decided to catch up on some of his famous and less famous works. He made a lot of B-movies in the 1950s and 1960s and helped to develop a lot of up-and-coming Hollywood talent, including people like Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and numerous others. Here's a chronological rundown of quite a few (most available on Kanopy streaming service as I write this in August 2024)...

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) produced and directed by Roger Corman

A group of scientists land on a Pacific island to do research. A previous expedition has disappeared completely. The island was downwind of a hydrogen bomb experiment, so there has been lots of radiation exposure. The land is eerily quiet. No insects or animals have survived on the island other than land crabs. The scientists (and two Naval grunts) offload supplies from a navy airplane which takes off from the ocean. The plane bursts into flames as it ascends. The scientists race back to their one building where they try to radio the navy. A sudden storm has cut off communication to the outside world. And a sudden earthquake has opened a huge pit on the trail to the beach. Thing are not going to go well for this scientific research mission since you can guess by the title what's inside the pit.

The premise is fairly basic and the storyline follows a typical path. The monsters are only suggested by menacing scenes and maybe a gigantic claw here and there before the full display in the final third. Any caution about the problems of using nuclear weapons takes a backseat to the unfolding horror as the island starts falling apart and the scientists are picked off one by one. The story gets the job done and the giant crab puppet looks pretty decent for something from this era--there's no shots of a real crab superimposed on another image to make it look huge. The movie isn't particularly scary or outstanding in any way.

Mildly recommended--this is a very B-level B-movie.

A Bucket of Blood (1959) produced and directed by Roger Corman

Walter (Dick Miller) is busboy at a beatnik bar/coffee shop, the sort of place that artistes hang out at. The in-house poet Maxwell (Julian Burton) spouts a lot of profound-sounding non-sense on the stage while the patrons listen. Walter absorbs it quite well, repeating Maxwell's words back to him. Maxwell doesn't recognize it because "repetition is death." Carla (Barboura Morris) is impressed with Walter, even though he's a bit klutzy and dimwitted. Walter lives in a walkup apartment with a mildly intrusive landlady who is always losing her cat. Walter wants to be part of the art scene and tries to sculpt Carla's head from a picture but he can't concentrate. Besides not having talent, the cat is meowing pathetically. It's stuck in Walter's wall, so he decides to get the cat out. He stabs a knife into the wall and hits the cat. Distraught at the accident, he decides to cover it up by covering the cat up with clay. He brings the "sculpture" to bar where the patrons go gaga over it. He starts to build a reputation as an artist, but his skill as an artist is dependent on an increasing body count.

The movie works as a satire of the beatnik art scene. A lot of self-important people show that they are more or less self-centered. Walter is ignored at first as a busboy with impossible dreams. Then the "in crowd" gets in to his work. The owner suspects Walter's source material, but when he's offered five hundred dollars for the "cat with a knife" statue, he forgets about calling the police. The nagging of conscience does not quite leave him. Walter is delighted with his new-found fame and friends, though even he can't quite escape from his conscience. The ending is melancholy but suits the story, even with its strong comedic elements. And it makes a nice twist on the "Wax Museum" horror sub-genre.

Recommended as a fun satire.

The Wasp Woman (1959) produced and directed by Roger Corman

Janice Starlin (Susan Cabot) is the head of her own cosmetics company. More than the head, she is also the only model, the very face of the company. But the company has been in business for nearly twenty years and Janice can't stop the changes that come with age. Business is starting to go down but she puts her hope in Eric Zinthrop (Michael Mark), an eccentric insect scientist who thinks he has a secret formula based on queen wasp jelly. He's just been fired from a beekeeping outfit and is looking for someone to fund his research. Janice jumps at the chance for and age-defying or age-reversing product...maybe not just for her company. But what will the cost be?

The movie stays as a straightforward drama for a long time. Zinthrop is a bit batty but his formula works on guinea pigs and other small animals. He's not ready for human testing but Janice can't wait. Her ambition is balanced by the other members of her company, who want what's best for the corporate bottom line, but also what's best for her. They try to stop the situation or at least get information out on the table so it can be discussed. The story showcases a lot of side conversations about beauty and youth, especially how they are used in our culture. One of the secretaries always puts on a sultry voice when she answers the phone, even though she is married with a boring (according to her) husband. People play a lot of superficial games, but what is the cost in interpersonal relationships? By the last third of the film, Janice is transforming (temporarily) into an insectoid predator, just like the movie's title promises. The bigger issue underneath the horror drama is surprisingly well-developed and an interesting commentary.

Recommended.

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) produced, co-written, and directed by Roger Corman

Klutzy Seymour Krelborn (Jonathan Haze) is on the verge of being fired from his florist assistant job at Mushnick's Flowers when he brings in a plant he's cross-bred at home. The plant is very unusual and starts to draw business. Mushnik (Mel Welles) is excited for the profits. The situation becomes problematic because the plant is crossed with a venus fly trap and has an insatiable appetite for blood. At first, Seymour just pricks his fingers to feed it but he runs low pretty quickly. The plant starts talking, demanding to be fed. After an accidental death provides nourishment, Seymour starts going down a dark road to keep his fame (a horitcultural society wants to give him an award) and his new-found love with co-worker Audry (Jackie Joseph).

The movie is a famous low-budget cult film made over a weekend. The story is very outlandish as is almost every character in it. The movie starts with a "Dragnet" style voiceover by a local cop describing the situation. The cops are played for laughs with deadpan patter and flat-footed investigations that don't really get anywhere. Mushnik is a stereotype of the overbearing boss who lets the sound of sales drown out the deeper problems. There's even a sadistic local dentist who, naturally, gets fed to the plant, but not before some comedy horror drilling and a cameo by Jack Nicholson as a masochistic patient. The story wanders a bit, seemingly to fill the time to get a full length picture. But it is entertaining in a B-movie style. Considering its micro-budget and two-day film shoot, the picture is an amazing accomplishment. I'm glad I watched it but don't feel the need to ever watch it again.

Mildly recommended, though the musical version that came out in the 1980s was much better.

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) directed by Roger Corman

See my previous review here.

The Raven (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

Country wizard Craven (Vincent Price) lives a quiet life with his daughter, still mourning over the death of his wife Lenore two years before. A raven shows up at his house, but this is not just any raven. This one talks (voiced by Peter Lorre) and begs to be returned to his rightful form. Craven only practices magic by gesture and does not know how to restore the bird to manhood. The raven knows a formula that requires several magical ingredients. Craven's father was master of the Brotherhood of Wizards and had a laboratory in the basement. Craven and the raven go to the basement and come up with a cure. The raven is actually Bedlo, a member of the Brotherhood who was turned into a raven by Scarabus (Boris Karloff) during a magical combat earlier in the evening. Scarabus and Craven's father were bitter enemies twenty years before. Bedlo wants Craven to come help him get revenge at Scarabus's castle. Craven demurs until Bedlo spots a portrait of Lenore and claims he saw her in Scarabus's home. Craven suspects her soul was captured by Craven (since her body is entombed in Craven's house). He wants to free his beloved wife and agrees to help Bedlo deal with Scarabus. When they get to the evil wizard's castle, not everything is as it seems.

Obviously, Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven is too short to fill an entire movie plot. Script writer Richard Matheson crafts an interesting story that encompasses most of the poem with plenty of extras attached. Corman gives the film his usual sense of whimsy and horror. The horror is never too gruesome and is often played for laughs. The magic is fun and I am mostly sure the visual effects were state-of-the-art back in the day. The whole thing is a fun romp with some classic horror actors.

Recommended.

The Haunted Palace (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

In the 1700s, Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) is burned to death in the New England town of Arkham. One hundred and ten years later, his great grandson Charles Dexter Ward (also Vincent Price) comes to town because he has inherited Curwen's property, a creepy old castle overlooking the town. The locals don't want to tell Ward where the place is and are very hostile. Their ancestors were cursed by Curwen, who promised to have revenge on the generations to come. The town is plagued with birth deformities, which is blamed on the curse. Ward and his wife Ann (Debra Paget) try to move in, only to find a caretaker (Lon Chaney, Jr.) getting the palace ready again for Curwen's descendant. Once Ward gets a look at a painting of Curwen, he recognizes the uncanny resemblance and starts to behave very differently.

Though the title is taken from and Edgar Allan Poe poem, the story is from an H. P. Lovecraft novel. The producers didn't want to step away from the successful combination of Corman and Poe, so they marketed this film as another Poe flick. Lovecraft isn't so dramatically different from Poe. The movie has a lot of the same atmosphere, with foggy streets and the castle in ruins. Price does his usual fine job in the dual role and horror fans will delight in the small role Lon Chaney is given. The movie is another fun horror outing for Corman and crew.

Recommended.

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

See my previous review here.

The Terror (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

See my previous review here.

Check out a more thorough review of Roger Corman's life and works in podcast form at Hypnogoria!