CORMAN'S WORLD - Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011, USA) Alex Stapleton

I've just rewatched Alex Stapleton's documentary about Roger Corman, CORMAN'S WORLD - Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel. I haven't watched it for a long time and I'd forgotten just how good it is. Here's a link to a quite good interview with director Stapleton. As I said, it's good although she (and the interviewer!) makes the mistake of stating that her film is the first time there's been made a doc on Corman. Not so. Not so at all. Already back in 1978 Christian Blackwood made ROGER CORMAN - HOLLYWOOD'S WILD ANGEL. It has never made it to DVD but it's certainly out on VHS. I've got a copy and it's a good documentary film. You should check it out (unfortunately, the only copy on Amazon right now is 75 dollars!).

Blackwood passed away a long time ago (sadly, he was only 50) but his brother has a online film archive of sorts (I've just found it and thus haven't really checked it out) and you can buy a download copy there (go here). Unfortunately, it seems their player stretches the film to widescreen which is the wrong aspect ratio. It's supposed to be 4:3 fullscreen (but needless to say you can change that once it's downloaded).

It seems Alex Stapleton has fallen off the film map after making CORMAN'S WORLD. Not that she's lost, mind you, but apparently she makes docs about the NBA and stuff now. I wonder why she didn't stay with psychotronic films. Oh well. At least she made CORMAN'S WORLD and it's a bloody good film. It comes highly recommended of this reviewer.

PS: Get the UK or US blu-ray and avoid the UK DVD unless you love barebone.


Trailer:




Interview with Julie & Roger Corman and Alex Stapleton about making the documentary film:

Second film on tonight's programme at Cinema J

THE HAUNTED SEA (1997) from Corman's New Horizons company. According to the DVD cover it was directed by Daniel Patrick but IMDb also lists Dan Golden as co-director. According to IMDb, this is Daniel Patrick's only film!

Anyhoo, we're in true Corman territory as the budget could hardly have been more than a couple hundred dollars. A ship crew runs into a big ship floating adrift and needless to say they board it to see if there's any goodies on board. It turns out there's heaps of gold and shit but also... an angry Aztec monster/demon! However, I swear the "Aztec" monster/demon looks like fucking Minya, hahaha (you know, from SON OF GODZILLA). :P

But don't let the budget or Minya fool you, the film is totally entertaining and great fun. Yes, we're in clichéd territory; yes the character development was probably written on the back of a matchbox, yes there's even stock footage from some other movie, yes the black guy dies, but as they say in dubbed kung fu films, "but still!"... I had great fun with THE HAUNTED SEA.

Fans of old genre cinema will recognise Don Stroud who's been in tons of psychotronic films and TV series going back to the 60s. He was in COOGAN'S BLUFF and the nasty DEATH WEEKEND, and heaps more. Why some unknown chicks are mentioned on the cover while Stroud is ignored is a mystery to me.

There's some gore here and there but don't expect a full-blown splatterfilm. The leading lady shows us her boobs about 10 times (the film kicks off with a shower scene). James Brolin is in there, too (i.e. the film, not the shower scene).

I bought the reg. 1 release from New Horizon directly from Corman's eBay store ($13 + postage). Apart from the film's trailer the disc is completely barebone and to mock us even further it's presented fullscreen.

NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN dvd from Scorpion Records

When I posted about new DVD releases of American-Filipino coproductions the other day I forgot this one, NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN, - maybe because it's not released from Vinegar Syndrome (like the other five) but instead it's out on Scorpion Records (run by Code Red's Bill Olson's brother).

NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN (1972) is yet another Roger Corman produced flick shot in the 'Pines. Until this release the film had only been released on VHS. I haven't got the new DVD yet but according to one online source the DVD is pretty good, and it's got a few great extras on it; There are new interviews with Marlene Clark, who plays the main character, and Roger Corman. The trailer is also included and the film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1.

CODE RED to launch CORMAN post-apocalypse line

Bill Olsen has just announced Code Red is going to release two of Roger Corman's post-apocalypse films. Great news indeed!!!

The first title has already been revealed and it's Cirio H. Santiago's WHEELS OF FIRE (USA/Philippines, 1984) No info on the second film yet. Could we perhaps hope for a fully uncut version of EQUALIZER 2000 (also directed by Santiago).

There is no release date yet, nor any info on whether the films will be DVD only. Blu-ray was mentioned on Code Red's facebook page but nothing in cement.

Bill Olsen shaking hands with Roger Corman (December 7, 2013)

Sorority House Massacre

I had a fucking three day migraine and completely missed Halloween! Major bummer!! Anyhoo, tonite I watched the first of my new massacre films that I received from Corman's eBay store recently; SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE 1 & 2, and CHEERLEADER MASSACRE. SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE is from 1986, directed by Carol Frank and Angela O'Neill is the main girl whose brother killed the rest of their family and is now out to get her too. Yes, the plot is nicked from HALLOWEEN! - and that's okay cos we don't watch these movies for their complex plot lines or deep character descriptions but the gore and the naked chicks! And SORORITY had lost of gore and boobs. I was certainly entertained. :D
Next up at Cinema J is the sequel. There's also yet another sequel called HARD TO DIE which I've already watched and which is pure gold. You should watch these films! Available on cheap ass DVDs (fullscreen, hardly any extras, no subs) from the Roger Corman eBay store.

PS: the trailer in this post is uploaded by the official Corman channel and it's the same as on the DVD. Don't ask me why it's got Spanish subs, it's the same on the DVD! @_@

New promo trailer for CIRIO H. SANTIAGO's last film ROAD RAIDERS!!!

Whoo-weee!!! Hot damn!! The official Roger Corman channel has just uploaded a promo trailer for Cirio H. Santiago's last film; I've been waiting for this for a loooong time!!! It's a post-apocalypse film not less!!! And it looks like great fun I'd say. Too bloody right!!! The original title is ROAD RAIDERS but it seems they've now re-titled it to Water Wars. I have no info on an upcoming DVD but I sure hope they're not gonna keep us waiting for too long!!!

From the guy who made 6 trillion movies in Hollywood and never lost a dime

Yay! Spiffy!! Yesterday, I ordered a couple of films from Roger Corman's eBay store, Roger Corman's Legendary Films. The first one is Jim Wynorski's HARD TO DIE, the trailer certainly looks very cool!




- And also ordered this one; SHAKEDOWN and I bet it received all kinds of bad reviews when it came out but to me it looks like pure fun!

X - The Man With the X-ray Eyes - trailer

If you wanna watch more Roger Corman trailer then check the uploader's channel; The uploader is actually Roger Corman (or his company anyway).

The Wasp Woman - the director's cut

I ordered Roger Corman's THE WASP WOMAN last night. The version I'm getting is from Something Weird Video and this should be interesting! Now, there are a whole bucketful of different releases out there but according to the info on their site all other versions are of the TV print which has extra footage to make the film longer. This 35mm print is Corman's the original cinema version, i.e. the director's cut.

Here’s a surprisingly rare version of an otherwise commonly available title. Contradiction? Nope, because virtually all other copies of The Wasp Woman are from 16mm TV prints with footage added to pad out its relatively short running time. This, however, is the original theatrical version – from a crisp 35mm print – which is, essentially, ROGER CORMAN’s director’s cut.

Though Janice Starling founded a multi-million dollar cosmetics firm on her youthful looks, she’s now 40 years old and showing her age: “Not even Janice Starling can remain a glamour girl forever.” At least not until an odd little scientist named Professor Zinthrop shows up claiming that he can restore her youth and “stimulate the process of rejuvenation through the use of enzymes extracted from wasps.” Sterling’s staff think Dr. Z’s a quack, but after Janice sees what the doc’s formula does to guinea pigs, she tells him that “Janice Starling will be your next guinea pig!” However, in an effort to speed up the process, Janice sneaks into the doc’s lab at night and injects herself with extra doses of the wasp formula. Virtually overnight she looks like she’s 22 again. Unfortunately, she also periodically buzzes around the office sporting an insect head and fuzzy hands on her otherwise sexy body, killing and, apparently, eating her staff....

The first film Corman directed for The Filmgroup, his pre-New World distribution company, The Wasp Woman is a typically cheap but nonetheless enjoyably goofy Fifties-style B-monster movie, originally double-billed with The Beast from Haunted Cave back in ’59. Corman has produced so much direct-to-video dreck in recent years that one almost forgets what an intelligent director he was and how good even his most thread-bare quickies are. The Wasp Woman may be predictable and, plotwise, downright dumb, but it’s nevertheless sure fun to sit through. Corman was also smart enough to populate his casts with good and interesting actors, and The Wasp Woman has a bunch of them, including the underrated BARBOURA MORRIS (The Trip’s lady in the laundromat) as Janice’s secretary; The Mighty Gorga’s ANTHONY EISLEY (back when he was billed as “Fred”) as the nominal hero; FRANK GERSTLE (Monstrosity) as a private eye; a bit by BRUNO VE SOTA (Daughter of Horror) as a doomed nightwatchman; and cameos by MARK WOLFF (The Lickerish Quartet) who delivers a mattress; and Roger himself as a doctor.

But what really makes The Wasp Woman work is the great SUSAN CABOT -- veteran of such Corman mini-epics as Sorority Girl (’57), Carnival Rock, The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent, Machine Gun Kelly, and War of the Satellites (all ’58) – equally believable as both the 22 and 40-year-old Janice. As talented as she was short, Miss Cabot retired from acting soon after The Wasp Woman was released, but made tragic headlines in 1986 when she was bludgeoned to death by her son, Timothy. In a gruesome bit of irony, he blamed the killing on an experimental hormone he was taking.... -- Watson Pritchard



Product Details

SKU: 34846
Weight: 0.25 lbs
Format: DVD-R
Year: 1959
Color: B&W
Starring: Susan Cabot
Co-starring: Anthony Eisley
Other cast: Barboura Morris, William Roerick
Directed by: Roger Corman