Ski Troop Attack: Roger Corman

Roger Corman's Ski Troop Attack has a surprisingly cynical view of American soldiers in World War Two. The story of a group of American ski troopers behind enemy lines during a conflict loosely based on the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, Corman includes a truly unsettling sequence where the soldiers invade a German woman's cabin. By the time they leave, her chickens have been devoured and her dead body lies riddled with bullets in the floor. In all fairness, she did try to pull a gun on them. But again, in all fairness, they had been making her life miserable. Predictably, the film is full of World War Two stock footage. But to Corman's credit, he comes up with a plausible explanation for these sequences: the troopers have been ordered to perform reconnaissance on the advancing German forces. It's amazing what a few quick shots of his actors looking through binoculars and speaking into radios can do to add credibility to a stock footage extravaganza. Corman also gives his already short narrative -- the film is barely over an hour long -- breathing room in dialogue scenes where the soldiers discuss things like the meaning of life and the nature of warfare. It's hokey and about as tonally ridiculous as the infamous speech that closes out Corman's earlier film It Conquered the World (1956). But the character development is appreciated. The last twenty minutes or so are quite chaotic and it is easy to lose track of what's happening onscreen. But to enjoy the climax, you just have to remember that Americans are fighting and Nazis are dying. There's not much more to it than that.

6/10

Rock All Night: Roger Corman

1957 was a huge year for director-producer Roger Corman. He directed a jaw-dropping nine full-length features. One of them, Carnival Rock, was a charming little film that mixed extended musical performance numbers with a trite yet effective framing story that involved crime and abduction. Later that year, Corman would directer another little film that featured extended musical performance numbers with a framing story concerning criminals. It was entitled Rock All Night and was remembered by Corman years later as one of his personal favorites. The story of a group of people held hostage by two criminals in a dive-bar, Rock All Night featured impressive musical numbers by The Platters and The Blockbusters. However, its framing story wasn't executed competently enough to make the film congeal into an effective whole. The whole concept of the film was that it was a kind of limited-setting story à la Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944). As such, the dynamics between the different characters are supposed to carry the film. But it is almost impossible to become invested in the characters for several reasons. First, there are too many different characters to properly develop within the span of the film's 62-minute run-time. The only characters who receive proper development is the morose bartender, a potential singer with stage-fright, and a cynical asshole who has the uncanny ability to see right through people (coincidentally, he was my favorite character). The other main characters -- two robbers, a down-and-out boxer, his wife, the singer's manager, a gangster and his girlfriend, and an extortionist -- remain bland and two-dimensional. Second, Corman's opportunities to develop the characters was further stymied by the fact that large chunks of the film's run-time was devoted to musical numbers! And third, the film only gets the hostage-taking plot development rolling in the last twenty-or-so minutes. So the film paradoxically spends too much time developing characters who aren't able to be developed due to the film's paltry length. I will give Rock All Night some credit: it doesn't look or blatantly feel like a film that was written and shot in just a few days. Too bad I can't say the same thing for its central narrative.

5/10

War of the Satellites: Roger Corman

In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first man-made, artificial satellite into orbit. This satellite, Sputnik 1, sparked a panic in Cold War America over Soviet technological superiority. While Americans watched the sky with wonder and horror, Roger Corman saw something else: another popular trend that could make him a quick buck. And lo and behold, 8 months later Corman released War of the Satellites, a film where a mysterious alien race repeatedly thwarts mankind's attempts at interstellar travel. When a brave group of scientists and astronauts dare to confront and rebel against the alien race's warnings, their leader is murdered and replaced with an alien imposter tasked with stopping them...by any means necessary. This film is part The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and part Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), only with a fraction of the budget. Much like any other Corman film, half the fun in watching War of the Satellites is spotting all of the tricks and short-cuts he used to trick the audience into thinking they were watching a much better film. My two favorites: the early United Nations scenes featuring a whopping 10 (give or take about 10) delegates representing the entire world and a chase scene near the end that I could swear was filmed by making the actors run down the same hallway 3-5 times. War of the Satellites is not technically a good film, but it is a fascinating glimpse into the paranoid fantasies of late 50s America.

5/10

Swamp Women: Roger Corman

Even at his best, Roger Corman was never known for being the most polished of film-makers. So you can only imagine the quality of his second directorial effort, a film about escaped female convicts entitled Swamp Women. In it, a group of women (one of whom may or may not be an undercover police agent) escape from prison and go hunting in the swamps of Louisiana for a hidden cache of diamonds. Along the way they kidnap a couple on a date, steal their boat, and hold them hostage. In addition, they spontaneously decide to cut the legs of their jeans off. Because why not? I think that the best way to describe Swamp Women is like this: there is a scene where a woman is attacked and killed by stock footage of an alligator. But the stock footage isn't the best part of the scene. The best part is that the shots of the alligator are alternated with shots of the victim thrashing around in a swimming pool. Corman was nothing if not resourceful, after all. Can't get a cast member to swim in an actual swamp? Shoot a close-up of them in a pool and stick it in! The audience will be none the wiser! And just think...in less than two short years Corman would rise from these humble beginnings to direct such films as Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) and The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957)! That's a success story for the history books, folks!

4/10

House of Usher: Roger Corman

They say that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Considering that Roger Corman's career in film has expanded through several decades, it would only stand to reason that every now and then in the midst of B-movie purgatory he would direct something truly special. He wouldn't direct a good film...but a great one. House of Usher is one such film. The first of Corman's Poe cycle, 8 films based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, the film is based on the short story entitled "The Fall of the House of Usher." The story concerns a young man named Philip Winthrop who arrives at a decrepit castle in the middle of a swamp to meet his fiancée Madeline Usher. However, he finds opposition in the form of Madeline's brother Roderick. Roderick, played by the legendary Vincent Price, tries to explain to Philip that the Usher bloodline is cursed and its descendants destined for madness. Philip dismisses his claim as superstitious nonsense. But something about the house seems strange...even malevolent...It would be easy to summarize House of Usher as merely an atmospheric film. Corman worked wonders in bringing the fateful mansion and its environs to life. But the film did something that most other horror films are incapable of achieving: it actually scared me. And by that, I don't mean that it managed to shock or surprise me. House of Usher made me feel afraid to turn off the lights in my room once it finished. One dream sequence, in particular, unnerved me more than I would care to admit. Not bad for a guy who once directed such films as Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957).

9/10

Teenage Cave Man: Roger Corman

There just isn't anything like the sweet, sweet taste of 50s Roger Corman. Teenage Cave Man is much like Corman's other monster movies from the era, except that it takes place in the distant past. A tribe of cavemen live in a desolate wasteland near a forest rumored to contain a deadly god. But one day a young man decides to break his tribe's laws forbidding passage to the forest. During his quest, he invents the bow and arrow and learns to ride on horses. He also encounters a giant, deformed monster. Now, Corman has made films with some absurd looking monsters before. Who can forget the fanged ice cream cone from It Conquered the World (1956) or the bug-eyed kelp monstrosity from Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)? The monster from Teenage Cave Man easily ranks among the most ridiculous beasts from Corman's filmography. But what makes the creature even more memorable is its pathetically cliched origin. For you see, Teenage Cave Man doesn't take place in the past. It is actually set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated by the remnants of mankind and great mutated beasts (like an alligator with a giant dorsal fin glued to its back). The monster is a scientist in a radiation suit who somehow managed to survive for eons after the bombs dropped. If that twist doesn't turn you off from the film, then you might enjoy Teenage Cave Man for its schlock value. It's poorly acted, features terrible special effects, and over-utilizes stock footage. So, y'know...it's a standard Roger Corman film.

4/10

It Conquered the World: Roger Corman

In the realm of cheesy 50s sci-fi and B-movies, Roger Corman's It Conquered the World is revered with awe and respect. On the surface it doesn't seem to be different from any of the other creature features that Corman so diligently pumped out during the 50s like Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) and The Wasp Woman (1959). But I think I might know why it is so beloved: it approaches its subject matter with deathly seriousness despite its complete absurdity. It begins with a scientist named Dr. Tom Anderson making contact with a race of Venusian aliens with his radio transmitter. He becomes a pawn in their plan to invade earth and take control of humanity with mind control devices delivered via bat-like creatures. After he unsuccessfully tries to assimilate his friend Dr. Nelson, Anderson realizes his mistake. He joins forces with Nelson and a group of soldiers who escaped assimilation to try and kill one of the Venusian aliens who came to earth. It Conquered the World is an astoundingly cheesy film with a non-existent budget, hokey acting by Peter Graves (Dr. Nelson) and Lee Van Cleef (Dr. Anderson), and one of the most ridiculous monsters in cinematic history. Frank Zappa once lovingly described the alien as an "inverted ice-cream cone head with fangs." And yet, despite all of this, the film acts with the solemness of a Shakespearean tragedy. One of my favorite parts is how the aliens manage to cut off all the earth's power, thereby forcing the principle characters to get around via bicycle. And at the very end, Peter Graves delivers one of the dourest, most overly dramatic speeches about the ultimate fate of humanity ever seen outside of the works of Ingmar Bergman. Basically, It Conquered the World is a 50s B-movie that doesn't know it's a 50s B-movie. And for millions of low-budget horror aficionados, myself included, to have it any other way would be sacrilege.

6/10

The Undead: Roger Corman

Every now and then, I'll discover a film by Roger Corman that legitimately surprises me with its quality.  These include such low-budget "classics" as Carnival Rock (1957), A Bucket of Blood (1959), and X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), three films that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Now I can add another film to that list: The Undead.  Made during one of Corman's greatest bursts of creative energy, The Undead was the fifth of nine films that he would direct and release in 1957.  Like many of Corman's films, The Undead was made solely to cash in on a popular cultural trend. This time around the trend was reincarnation. It was originally going to focus on a prostitute named Diana Love who would relive one of her past lives as a "witch" in the Middle Ages via hypnosis. But when the film actually began production, Corman began to believe that the trend was dying down. So he decided to spice the plot up a bit by throwing in an element of time travel.  So after Diana goes back in time, the psychic responsible for the experiment named Quintus Ratcliff realizes that if she changes past events in her flashback they will alter the course of time in real life.  So Quintus also goes back in time to try and convince Diana's past life, a young woman named Helene, to allow herself to be wrongfully executed for witchcraft in order to save the future. This is a surprisingly compelling plot that more than makes up for its obvious budget limitations. And let me tell you...there were quite a few limitations. The film was shot in a "converted supermarket" in only six days.  But despite all of this, the acting is solid, there's a spooky atmosphere, and a clever storyline.  It's no masterpiece. But then again, Corman never set out to make them. And you know what? That's okay in my book.

6/10

Machine-Gun Kelly: Roger Corman

A few minutes into Roger Corman's Machine-Gun Kelly, a loose biopic of real-life Prohibition-era gangster George "Machine Gun" Kelly, something about the lead actor began to bother me. Something just seemed off about him. Sure, his performance as the quasi-psychotic gangster fit the low-budget tone of the film. But a little voice in the back of my head wouldn't stop nagging me about how uncanny the whole ordeal appeared. So I paused the movie and checked its credits only to discover to my complete astonishment that "Machine Gun" Kelly was being portrayed by none other than Charles "Death Wish" Bronson.  That's right, the same Charles Bronson whose intense, stoic machismo made him a superstar in such films as The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).  And here he was in Machine-Gun Kelly giving such an energetic performance that I initially couldn't recognize him.  Unfortunately, Bronson's performance is the highlight of the film.  The rest of the film follows a fairly stereotypical gangster plot: after a job goes sour and one of his boys is critically injured, Kelly attempts to orchestrate one final score.  His plan is to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman and hold her for ransom.  However, the job is bungled by his underlings' ineptitude and the duplicity of former allies that he had humiliated and insulted.  There is a reoccurring motif of a feral mountain lion trapped by a gas station attendant in a tiny cage where it is poked, prodded, and provoked into a furious rage for the amusement of customers.  It doesn't take a Ph.D in film studies to realize that the mountain lion represents Kelly's barely concealed homicidal urges.  The scenes with Kelly and the mountain lion are surprisingly effective.  But almost everything else is just plain ol' by-the-books-and-budget Roger Corman. But, hey, I've never claimed that was a bad thing...well, usually...

6/10

The Premature Burial: Roger Corman

Most of the fun of watching Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films is in seeing how he changed and adapted the source material to suit his own ends.  Indeed, the most enjoyable entries in the series are the ones that strayed from the original stories.  The Raven (1963) used the famous poem as a spring-board for satirical comedy.  The Haunted Palace (1963) wasn't even based on a Poe story, but instead on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, a novella by H. P. Lovecraft.  The only connection it had with the works of Poe was the title which was itself a quote from one of his poems.  And now we have The Premature Burial. Just like the original Poe story, it follows a man whose worst fear is being buried alive. Fully aware that catalepsy, a disorder which makes a person appear dead for prolonged periods of time, runs in his family, he sets several safeguards like a rigged coffin so that he won't be accidentally buried. I won't spoil the rest of the film, but suffice to say that despite his best efforts he still finds himself buried alive.  But curiously enough, he manages to escape. From there the film becomes a strikingly effective revenge thriller with a genuinely chilling twist at the very end.  All the while it maintains that brooding Victorian kitsch that made Corman's Poe films so memorable.  The Premature Burial may very well be the best Corman Poe film that didn't star Vincent Price.

7/10

The Wild Angels: Roger Corman

So this is the film that inspired the outlaw biker film genre of the late 1960s and 1970s, huh?  I don't understand why. When you get right down to it, Roger Corman's The Wild Angels isn't very good.  I guess it was so beloved and influential due to the lifestyle that it portrayed.  It follows the eponymous biker gang as they raise hell and havoc throughout California.  Near the beginning, one of the bikers named Loser has his motorcycle stolen. So the gang tracks down his motorcycle to a Latino garage near Mecca, California and demonstrate how they solve all of their problems: extreme violence.  However, the police come to break up the fight and Loser is shot in the back.  The Wild Angels then do the sensible thing and kidnap Loser from the hospital, only stopping to sexually assault one of the nurses.  Much to their great surprise, removing Loser from the hospital results in him going into shock and dying.  And so Blues, the leader of the gang played by Peter Fonda, takes Loser's body to his hometown to have him buried.  But first they stop at a small church to have a service.  Again, they seem totally surprised that the minister of the church would object to them hanging a giant Nazi Swastika Flag over the altar and showing up to the ceremony in leather and blue jeans.  Blues then confronts the minister midway through the service because he objects to the eulogy. The minister asks what exactly the Wild Angels want. Blues takes the stage and delivers a passionate plea: "We want to be free! We want to be free to do what we want to do! We want to be free to ride. And we want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man. And we want to get loaded. And we want to have a good time! And that’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna have a good time. We’re gonna have a party!" They then demonstrate their idea of "freedom" by destroying the church, raping Loser's girlfriend, and brawling with another gang. So, clearly these people deserve to have the freedom to do what they want. I'm sorry, but I just didn't like this film. It's poorly paced and features a completely unlikable set of protagonists. But then again, I'm just a square. So what do I know?

3/10

Gas-s-s-s: Roger Corman

While watching Roger Corman's Gas-s-s-s, I was reminded of his earlier film The Trip (1967) where a young Peter Fonda embarks on a surreal and mind-bending LSD trip.  Both films feature wild visuals, over-the-top characters, and odd cultural references. Who can forget the scene in The Trip where a midget riding a merry-go-round starts to scream "Bay of Pigs" for no logical reason?  Gas-s-s-s, on the other hand, starts with a strange animated sequence where a beefy army general modeled after John Wayne and a German scientist accidentally unleash a deadly gas upon the United States which kills everyone over the age of twenty-five.  There's some kind of political statement being said...but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is.  And, honestly, I don't think Corman knew, either. My suspicion is that with The Trip and Gas-s-s-s Corman inserted a large amount of politically and socially provocative material just for the sake of being politically and socially provocative.  Anything to sell movie tickets, I guess. But despite all of this Gas-s-s-s is a weak, incomprehensible film.  Other than its basic premise, I have no idea what Gas-s-s-s is about.  All I remember is a bunch of teenagers running around in ridiculous outfits who occasionally stop and engage in shootouts with other bands of derelict teenagers.  At some point a group of survivors take shelter in a kind of hippie monastery.  But it isn't long before a small army of jocks crossed with Mad Max rejects lay siege upon them and demand that they turn over all of their fruits and vegetables.  By that point I had given up trying to decipher this film.  I simply didn't care anymore.

4/10

Carnival Rock: Roger Corman

Only Roger Corman could take a title like Carnival Rock and turn it into a good movie. Carnival Rock was one of nine movies that Corman would direct and release in 1957.  It takes place largely in a rock and roll nightclub located on a carnival pier.  Of the film's 75 minute running time, at least half of it is comprised of musical performances by rock groups. The actual storyline follows the club's owner, Christy, as he struggles to keep his club from falling into the hands of debt collectors and rival businessmen.  Christy is madly in love with the club's star, Natalie Cook, but she refuses to return his affections. Instead, she is smitten with Stanley, a stone-faced businessman who is determined to own Christy's club. The plot is standard melodramatic fluff up until the mid-point when Stanley manages to manipulate Christy into betting away his club by challenging his affections for Natalie.  They play a simple game that involves cutting a deck of cards where whoever draws the highest wins.  Taking part in the bet seems like an insanely idiotic choice on Christy's part.  But what can he do? He's in love. This may sound corny, but this entire sequence contains a surprising amount of genuine pathos. I was amazed by how much I actually cared about Christy and his plight. This made it all the more tragic when Christy is forced to become the carnival's clown and get mocked nightly by customers.  When Christy finally snaps, I found myself rooting for him! But let's look beyond the plot for a second. I mentioned that a good portion of this film was comprised of musical performances. In many cheap B-movies, this can come as a death sentence.  Who can forget legendary composer John Williams' attempt at writing rock music with "Rock Rock Candy Baby" in Lou Place's Daddy-O (1958) or Arch Hall Jr.'s constant insipid mewling in Eegah (1962)?  But you know what? The performers in Carnival Rock are...pretty damn good! At one point, legendary R&B pioneers The Platters appear and sing a number! The PLATTERS! So I would recommend Carnival Rock. It's got a firm plot and a swinging soundtrack.  I wish I could say the same for the rest of Corman's 1957 films.  I'm looking at YOU Attack of the Crab Monsters. 

7/10

Attack of the Crab Monsters: Roger Corman

Don't get me wrong...I love Roger Corman's work probably more than any movie buff should.  I admired his work so much that I actually held a blogathon specifically to appreciate his films.  But sometimes, even Corman's charm can't redeem one of his films.  Attack of the Crab Monsters is one of these films.  It sounds like the perfect set-up for classic Corman schlock: a group of scientists are trapped on an island full of giant crabs that had been mutated by nuclear radiation. Even better, the crabs gain the intelligence of those they attack and consume, allowing them to talk and taunt their captives!  But this film can't live up to the promises of its title and insane subject matter.  It has two primary flaws.  First, I estimate that about 1/3 of the film is stock footage and padding of people wandering the island and snorkeling.  These scenes don't add atmosphere or a sense of dread...they just serve to lengthen the film.  The second major problem is that Corman must have lit the film with a 20 watt light bulb.  Another good third of the film takes place in sets that are so dark that you literally can't see what's going on.  And I don't mean that in a positive way.  Corman isn't toying with what we can and can't see.  Instead, many of the scenes are filled with an opaque darkness that completely blot out the audience's vision.  Oh, the rest of the film is entertaining if you love B-movies and monster flicks.  The crabs costumes are pretty decent and threatening.  But it isn't worth the incoherence of a plodding film that you can barely see.

4/10