Roger Corman on Blu-ray

[Rich65]

I would like to see a Blu-ray release for Frankenstein Unbound. I believe it was the last film Roger Corman directed.

It is a Fox release so maybe Shout or Twilight Time will get it.

[The Great Owl]

I'm trying to decide whether or not to add Time Walker (1982) to the thread. It was released on DVD in a Roger Corman's Cult Classics four-pack, because it was distributed by Corman's New World Pictures and a special effects sequence was made possible by New World Effects. Corman has no direct production credits on the film, though.

[The Great Owl]

Last night, I watched my Scream Factory Limited Edition Blu-ray of The Velvet Vampire.



In this Roger Corman production, a young married couple meet a mysterious and alluring woman named Diane, and accept her invitation to spend the weekend at her secluded desert home. Diane, an extremely seductive individual, tours the couple around the desert on her dune buggy, shows them the grave of her husband (whose gravestone suggests that he passed away a century ago), and, at night, watches them in the bedroom through a one-way mirror. Diane also wastes no time when it comes to showing her attractions.

Diane: "Have you ever driven a dune buggy?"
Lee: "No, but I'd like to try."
Diane: "No two are alike. Take mine. It's slow getting started. At first, it takes a little manipulation. But once it's warmed up, it really comes alive. Then you have to watch out. It's really hard to control."
Lee: "Yeah. You have to give in."
Diane: "And then you feel like it's driving you, as you move in rhythm with it. Up and down, in and out, through the dunes."
Lee: "Diane, I think I'd like to drive your buggy."
Diane: "I think I can teach you how."

As one might ascertain from the movie title, however, Diane has a secret, and, before long, the couple find themselves fighting for their lives to keep from becoming two more additions to her already-impressive total of hidden victim bodies.

The Velvet Vampire may not be an example of 1970s drive-in cinema firing on all cylinders, but I quite liked it. I particularly enjoyed the odd choice of setting for a vampire film, since one does not normally imagine vampires living in remote houses in the middle of deserts with dune buggies and with Native American employees taking care of various details around the home, while early 1970s hippie music plays in the background. The husband, played by Michael Blodgett, is sort of an entitled tool, so I quickly found myself hoping that he would end up dead in a bad way. The wife, played by Sherry E. DeBoer, whines her way through the entire film, and I quickly found myself wishing the same for her. Both of them just seemed like Darwin Awards waiting to happen. I was quite taken, however, with Diane, the vampire, played by the lovely Celeste Yarnall, and I am glad that she provided enough of a presence to keep the film engaging.

This groovy entry to the vampire genre looks fantastic on this Scream Factory Blu-ray, and I enjoyed the audio commentary with Yarnall, because her recollections of the experience are both amusing and informative.

[Member-167298]

I knew it! I knew when I clicked on this thread it would be The Great Owl posting another one of his eloquent overviews. Keep 'em coming, Owl!

[Boggle]

Excellent thread. It's hard for me to pick a favorite Corman-directed film. I guess it's between A Bucket Of Blood and The Man With The X-Ray Eyes, but then I love his Poe films too. The man gave us all a bounty of films to appreciate, not least of which...

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

How did I make it through 44 years of my life without having seen this movie? As far as low-budget exploitation films go, this is awesome cinema.

Humanoids from the Deep, is a fast-paced and wildly fun movie about man/fish hybrid mutants that terrorize a rural fishing community. The best way to describe these mutant humanoids is to say that they look like what would happen if the Creature from the Black Lagoon lifted weights constantly and lived on a steady diet of steroids and creatine supplements. The creatures, which are a result of a scientific experiment gone awry, are coming ashore in search of human women for procreation. The monster and makeup effects are outstanding by the standards of low-budget cinema, and, unlike most monster films that only show us a few-second glimpse of a creature during the last scene, this movie gives us scene after scene of outstandingly gory monster attacks with plenty of gratuitous nude scenes thrown into the fold. I wanted to cheer out loud during the final showdown, when these massive creatures arrive in great numbers to attack crowds of townspeople at a big waterside festival. Roger Corman always excelled at giving audiences exactly what they want, and Humanoids of the Deep is just the kind of glorious excess, albeit low-budget excess, that he is noted for producing.

James Horner, who has scored several "serious" movies like Titanic and Braveheart, provides some good music for Humanoids from the Deep. Vic Morrow (Twilight Zone: The Movie) is the most recognizable actor in the film, but Ann Turkel is a pleasure to watch as the beautiful scientist whose work has caused all of the big bad monster trouble.

Humanoids From The Deep is a B-movie classic. Years ago a friend of mine recorded this off TV and we watched it more times than was healthy. We just poured over the minutia of this film, it's chock-full of brilliance:

The one-legged seagull that appears early on - a sign of impending doom. A shirt falls off a hanger accompanied by the foley sound of a... razor?! Vic Morrow IS SLATTERY: a racist bastard - his stock in trade. A ventriloquist dummy moving by itself for no apparent reason. Boobs everywhere, often times running directly at the camera. Johnny Eagle... Johnny Eagle! Ann Turkel... great little scientist. Endless mentioning of the cannery. The cannery! Jo Williams and her Whitewater Band. Salmon! Bigger, better and twice as plentiful! Feathered hair. Fist fights. Non-consensual interspecies sex. Doug McClure. It's not an exaggeration to say it's the greatest film ever made.

My favorite bit of dialogue? It's hard to say really, but I like one of the girls reactions to her boyfriend's flask outside a local hoe-down: "Hey what's this, gin? You remembered!"

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I need a lot of these and it's scary to look at since they're all label releases that could vanish anytime. Need to start prioritizing them.

I just placed some orders today to fill in some Roger Corman gaps that I had been procrastinating with for the past several months.

Gas-s-s-s
Cocaine Wars
Queen of Blood
Space Raiders
The Devastator
Slumber Party Massacre II/Slumber Party Massacre III
The Haunting of Morella

I'm inclined to think that these will be safe from sellout for a while, but who knows? I figured that I'd rather rip the Band-Aid off right now.

Even I do not have any real intention of owning the entire Roger Corman production catalogue, but the pre-1990s titles, in particular, are always all in good fun.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I prefer the Poe adaptations that starred Vincent Price, but those of you who purchase The Premature Burial are not getting the short end of the stick here. This one stands proudly on the shelf with the other Poe films.

This is a great thread. I'm also a fan of Roger Corman's adaptations of the Poe stories and over here in the UK, I think all of the ones starring Vincent Price are available on Region B thanks to Arrow Video, who do an excellent job with the transfers and bonus materials.

But I noticed you have a much greater choice on Region A and I do like the look of some of those titles you have reviewed very much. It's just a shame there's no UK release for many of them. Perhaps I should get that multi-region player that I've been promising myself for some time now.

Great reviews by the way, many thanks for them.

[The Great Owl]

I have added a new category for films distributed by Roger Corman, as sort a catch-all for the movies that are associated with his name and companies, although there are no overt production credits. Time Walker (1982) and Nam Angels (1989) are the two that I've listed under this category so far.

I hope that everyone is having fun seeking out and watching these Corman Blu-rays.

[Boggle]

I'm not sure if you want to include this, but Corman does have a very brief cameo in The Howling. Just saying.

[20th Century Boy]

Great thread. Corman was one of my first "collection" obsessions. Didn't know Big Bad Mama had an HD release. Hopefully more of the Corman Collection from Shout! get upgrades...Georgia Peaches and Fly Me *hint, hint*

By the way the titles on the Olive label are buy one get one free until May 15 from the Deep Discount website.

EDIT: Whoa. Hold up. Hollywood Blvd is on blu ray?!?!?!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Boggle

I'm not sure if you want to include this, but Corman does have a very brief cameo in The Howling. Just saying.

Yep, I've got ya covered. The Howling appears on the bottom section under the movies where Roger Corman appears in the cast. Great film!

Originally Posted by 20th Century Boy

Great thread. Corman was one of my first "collection" obsessions. Didn't know Big Bad Mama had an HD release. Hopefully more of the Corman Collection from Shout! get upgrades...Georgia Peaches and Fly Me *hint, hint*

Good news: Big Bad Mama has a Blu-ray release from Shout Factory.

Bad news: It's a BD-R.

I've held off of purchasing it so far, since $25 is a lot of money to fork over for a BD-R. I'm also holding out on A Bucket of Blood for the same reason.

I'm probably deluding myself by thinking that these will receive officially-pressed Blu-ray releases down the road, but it's nice to enjoy the thought. I'd really love to own Big Bad Mama, in particular.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Yep, I've got ya covered. The Howling appears on the bottom section under the movies where Roger Corman appears in the cast. Great film!



Good news: Big Bad Mama has a Blu-ray release from Shout Factory.

Bad news: It's a BD-R.

I've held off of purchasing it so far, since $25 is a lot of money to fork over for a BD-R. I'm also holding out on A Bucket of Blood for the same reason.

I'm probably deluding myself by thinking that these will receive officially-pressed Blu-ray releases down the road, but it's nice to enjoy the thought. I'd really love to own Big Bad Mama, in particular.

Yeah. I'll stick with the DVD 2 pack then. It would be annoying to only have have one Mama in HD anyway.

EDIT: This trend of $25+ BD-Rs is annoying.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by 20th Century Boy

Yeah. I'll stick with the DVD 2 pack then. It would be annoying to only have have one Mama in HD anyway.

EDIT: This trend of $25+ BD-Rs is annoying.

I decided to shell out $13 and change for the Big Bad Mama/Big Bad Mama II double feature DVD after I read your post.

If these are announced for an officially-pressed Blu-ray soon, then y'all are welcome!

[Boggle]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Yep, I've got ya covered. The Howling appears on the bottom section under the movies where Roger Corman appears in the cast. Great film!

Oh whoops, I totally spaced and didn't see it. It is a great flick. There was a Joe Dante retrospective here last summer, it was just fantastic. Definitely one of the highlights of my film-going in 2016. The specter of Corman was looming over the whole thing. Dante curated an amazing selection of films to show with his own features. Among them was A Bucket Of Blood - an all time favorite for me.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I decided to shell out $13 and change for the Big Bad Mama/Big Bad Mama II double feature DVD after I read your post.

If these are announced for an officially-pressed Blu-ray soon, then y'all are welcome!

Those Shout DVD transfers were more than serviceable. In fact some of the imperfections add to the "grindhouse" feel. I was never really dying for upgrades of these like some more problematic DVD transfers of other titles (in general, not from Shout! specifically), however if they are gonna get upgrades they need to be done properly. No half-assed, high priced BD-R releases.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching Big Bad Mama from the Roger Corman's Cult Classics Double Feature DVD set.

Angie Dickinson (Dressed to Kill, The Killers, Rio Bravo) plays Wilma, a down-on-her-luck mother who, with her two daughters, played by Susan Sennett (The Candy Snatchers) and Robbie Lee (The Switchblade Sisters), goes on a wild crime spree during the Great Depression in order to make a better future for her girls. Tom Skerritt (Top Gun, Alien) and William Shatner (Star Trek) play men who get caught in Wilma's seductive web and end up joining the family for the robberies. A life of crime is no way to live, though, even if you're hot, so Wilma, her daughters, and her men soon find themselves in over their heads.

Big Bad Mama is a fun example of "grindhouse", and it's one of the many iconic exploitation flicks that were produced by the legendary Roger Corman. Girls, guns, car chases, and bank robberies...it's all good!

I'd love to see a high definition transfer of this, but I'm holding out for an officially-pressed Blu-ray. (This film is currently available on BD-R from Shout Factory.) The DVD looks pretty good, though, and the look does add to the grindhouse effect.

Here is the BD-R link if y'all want it...

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching Big Bad Mama II from the Roger Corman's Cult Classics Double Feature DVD set.

Big Bad Mama II is basically a loose remake of its 1974 predecessor, Big Bad Mama, with Angie Dickinson reprising her role as Wilma McClatchie, the down-on-her-luck mother who takes her teenage daughters on a crime spree after her husband is killed by an evil land baron during the Great Depression. One thing leads to another, and, pretty soon, the mother and her daughters are holed up inside their house with guns and dynamite while the police fire at them from outside. This is yet another glorious Roger Corman production with girls, guns, and explosions.

This time around, the daughters are played by Danielle Brisebois, who is best known for her role in the All in the Family television series and the Archie Bunker's Place television series, and Julie McCullough, who was an amazing Playboy Playmate the year before she starred in this film and who still has a prestigious career in films like Sharknado, The Blob (1988), and the Beverly Hills 90210 television series. Robert Culp, whom all of you know from the television show, The Greatest American Hero, and in the 1972 action film, Hickey & Boggs, stars as a news reporter who gets into the fray.

This one does not quite have the grindhouse appeal of the first film, but it's still a wildly fun viewing. Here's to officially-pressed Blu-rays of both of these movies someday.

[Val Lewton]

The Roger Corman produced cult classic NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN is coming to Blu-ray.



This will be available on Ronin Flix next week. Scorpion released this on DVD, but I'm not sure if this will be coming from Scorpion or Code Red.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWnw8tkYMOM

[The Great Owl]

Excellent! I'll add Night of the Cobra Woman to the first post when the actual Blu-ray cover art is on the site page.

[filmo70]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Free free to let me know if anything is missing.

Looks like you accidentally left out Humanoids From the Deep in the original post.