Corman Meets Poe

It feels like a country age since I last put up a post of substance. Please accept my apologies for the slackness on the blog front as I’m writing my dissertation and the treatment / script for the next flick which will be shooting sometime around March / April. We’re currently in the process of cleaning up The Three Tenners for entry into next years Edinburgh International Film Festival so everything that can be crossed, is crossed for that.

The dissertation is on the subject of adaptation which has meant watching tons of interesting flicks. I’m on a little strand of the Roger Corman / Edgar Allan Poe adaptations so it’s maybe right I should bring some of this stuff to your attention, should you have seen them or not. There’s 8 of them in total which Corman made between 1960 and 1964….. That’s almost 2 flicks a year, and he was making films in between! 5 day features man, bring em’ back. Well I suppose Shane Meadows already has with Le Donk.

Anyway, here they are in chronological order….. Seek them out!

House of Usher (1960)

Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

The Premature Burial (1962)

Tales of Terror (1962)

The Raven (1963)

The Haunted Palace (1963)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

The Bedroom Film Festival

It’s been a long time since every minute of the waking day was taken up with watching flicks. Saturday was such a day. rather than write about them I’ll let them speak for themselves in all their poster glory. It’s better that way…….

They look pretty cool together I think, it was a fantastic day in.

EIFF Off

The EIFF is over for another year.

It’s a shame I never got round to posting fresh analysis and opinion on the films as I saw them but to be honest, my desire to type has been waning of late. It seems like the only thing I’ve done for the last 2 years is type so I thought it best to take a break and regain my thirst for communicating. Via the gift of innocent smoothies and some decent sleep, it seems to be back.

It was a good festival, maybe not as complete an experience as last year due to my work commitments but I got along to a decent amount of stuff and met some cool people.

The opening film was the new Sam Mendes pic AWAY WE GO which had John Krasinski (star of the US comedy TV show The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) in the leading roles. It was a good natured, whimsical start to the fest which neither offended nor inspired me. The dudes at Filmspotting ripped it to shreds but the picture, in my opinion, doesn’t strive to be anything beyond what it is on its surface, 2 people in love trying to find their way after discovering they have a child on the way. Mendes himself came out and introduced the film and his summing up of what we were about to see was in no way weighty or philosophical. And that’s ok by me. You can’t sit and watch PERSONA over and over after all.

The EIFF wouldn’t be what it is without its weird midnight pictures. Those pictures that may not see the light of day beyond the festival circuit. These are the real finds and it always annoys me that these little gems are what make a festival, but very few people get to see them.

One such example is White Lightnin’.

The film stars up and coming Brit actor Edward Hogg as Jasco White, a real life character from the deep south of America who has his troubled life dramatised in this picture (Jasco, incidentally, is currently in jail) Hogg does a tremendous job bringing this hardened individual to life. There are moments of striking beauty despite the grimness of the subject and I never once felt that director Dominic Murphy pushed things too far. I loved this film and would say it was the best of my festival. I hope this picture gets a release, if it does it’ll probably run late at night, it’s worth staying up for!

The real highlights for me this year were the In Person interviews. I took in Darren Aronofsky, Bill Forsyth, Roger Corman, Sharmila Tagore and Joe Dante sharing their cinematic views live on stage. It was especially pleasing to see my college tutor Jonny Murray doing a great job interviewing Bill Forsyth. It’s now clear in my mind that Scottish cinema can be funny, insightful and important without having to resort to drab, arbitrary stories of drink, drugs or violence. Our nation has more to offer, we just don’t know how to fund it.

Kim Newman interviews Roger Corman

I’ll lastly mention the Roger Corman retrospective that was running as a compliment to his In Person appearance. I’ve mentioned Corman a few times on this blog but I don’t think his contribution can be overstated. I had the pleasure of watching THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, THE INTRUDER and THE RAVEN on the big screen, more on THE INTRUDER soon as I’ve bought it and will dedicate a full post to the flick. People need to get into this guy. The films, although quite rough around the edges in many cases, show an ingenuity, a passion and an energy for story so often lost on glossier, more expensive productions. This freedom, I believe, is now returning thanks to the digital age, how that freedom will be utilised is another discussion altogether.

Gone Shooting

Today sees the first day of principle photography on my new film THE THREE TENNERS. I’m half an hour away from “leaving the house” time so, having checked, rechecked, then rechecked again, equipment, actors and crew, I thought I’d calm the old brain down by firing up a post.

Last night I took at the 1967 “freak out” movie THE TRIP for some low budget inspiration and Roger Corman, true to form, didn’t dissapoint. Peter Fonda plays Paul Groves, a television commercial director who, following a split with his wife, enlists the help of a friend to guide him through the kaleidoscope of confusion and weirdness that is your average LSD experience. I’d write more about it as it’s interesting stuff but my pc has dragged its heels and now I’m off to shoot a picture.

Here’s the trailer, you can watch the whole thing on Youtube right now!

Movies on Youtube

I’ve always been against watching full movies on Youtube but when faced with staying in a room in Camden last week that had no DVD player, no TV and a laptop that didn’t play AVI files I was left with no choice. Now I have to tell you…..

Apart from having to move to the next section every ten minutes, The experience wasn’t at all horrible.

Here’s what I watched and the beauty of this post is, you can watch them too…… and NOW!!

This 1936 Alexander Korda production of the H.G. Wells novel is a fine example of really good British Sci Fi. Wells apparently hated the Fritz Lang film METROPOLIS and wanted to make this picture the opposite of the German’s futuristic epic. I have to say though, even though there was a dislike there, you could definately tell the filmmakers had seen METROPOLIS, along with Eisentein’s work. This is no criticism however, as if it could be.

The picture is set in “Everytown” and has 3 major shifts in time (joined together with some nice militaristic montage) covering pre war, post war and the future where man’s futile battles with each other are exposed and examined. It’s great stuff with some nice dialogue and strange futuristic inventions like “the gas of peace”.

Give it a whirl, you can watch it NOW and probably should!

Next up was the 1955 Roger Corman picture DAY THE WORLD ENDED.

This post apocalytic romp charts the fortunes of 7 survivors of a nuclear blast. There’s some real tension here and, true to form for this genre of picture, it features a very interesting “mutant”. Give it a whirl.

It’s NOT What It Says On The Tin

Do you remember this movie poster?

It’s for Roger Corman’s TEENAGE CAVEMAN (1958) a picture that appeared in the “MOVIES I’D LIKE TO SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN” section of this here blog.

Well I’ve now seen it, not on the big screen but I’ve seen it nonetheless and let me tell you this…..

The movie poster is slightly misleading.

Now that’s not to say I don’t love this film, It’s a nice piece of work, and I suppose they’ve got to advertise the thing somehow but at no point in this picture, nowhere at all, does ANYTHING REMOTELY like the scene in the poster take place….. In saying that, they do get chased by some hungry looking dogs, yes dogs, the household type. In fact if you look close enough, I’m sure you can spot a collar.

The film stars a young Robert Vaughn as the “rebel”. Vaughn is best known for his long run in the hit 60’s show THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. but also revered for his turn as the fiendish Ross Webster from SUPERMAN III…by far the worst villain name in movie history.

A hairdresser in Bedrock?

Being prehistoric times (or is it?) the characters don’t have names. Vaughn is “The Symbol Makers Teenage Son”. His dad, not surprisingly, is “The Symbol Maker”. They are members of a prehistoric tribe governed by ancient rules that basically prevents them going “beyond the river”, as the first clip will explain. Despite food being scarce on their side of the water and plentiful on the other, they must not cross for fear of encountering “The god that brings death with its touch”, that’s another thing I adore about this film. It’s like Corman wanted every character to have a name that takes a fortnight to say.

There’s also unspeakable horror to be found with monsters, dogs, bears, big squirrels and “earth that will take you”, or quicksand to the layman. It’s great stuff.

This first clip sets things up nicely. Pretty much all of this picture is shot on one location which would have helped with the time and budgets they had. Look out for the first signs of the perils that lie beyond the river whilst admiring the script and acting.

Vaughn, full of rebellious teenage energy, leads a mob of hardy (yet incredibly weedy looking) lads beyond the river to search for food and possible future prosperity for the tribe. Trouble was bound to come his way and doesn’t let him down when he finds himself faced…… well, not actually “faced” with two VICIOUS looking monsters. I’ve uploaded this delightful scene for you to feast your eyes on. Not only are the beasts rather nice, check out Vaughn’s girly spear throwing technique. It’s a thing of beauty.

Tribal retribution comes his way following this reckless jaunt across the water as his nemesis, protector of the old ways and tribe hate monger “The Black Bearded One, seeks to have the curious lad strung up for bringing evil upon them, this guy is for me the strongest character in the movie and could either be a representation of the Soviets, or maybe the republican party. This film is loaded with cold war metaphor. It could have just left you to work this out for yourself but the last 3 minutes of the picture are devoted to a voiceover telling you EXACTLY what you’ve watched and EXACTLY what it means. Kind of like the moral telling off you used to get at the end of the He-Man cartoons.

The Black Bearded One: He’s got a beard, and it’s black.

I’m dying to tell the rest of the plot which involves a nice twist at the end surrounding “The god who brings death with his touch” but it ain’t in the tradition of this blog to do so. At only 65 minutes it’s not a huge time investment. These films were made for teenage drive-in audiences so they’re just damn good fun. Let’s not take anything away from the filmmaker however. Roger Corman knew how to get movies made, and how to get young talent working.

I’ll leave you with the weediest part of the film. As I’ve said, Vaughn doesn’t really pull off the “rebel” character for me; he’s more like a member of the prehistoric Young Conservatives. I think this scene demonstrates it perfectly…… Just check out how RUBBISH his bow and arrow is. It is a great little film though, if you notice it on some strange cable channel at 4 in the morning, I recommend you stay up and have a look.

You’d NEVER Get This From Blockbuster Video…..

3 reasons why EVERYONE should invest in online rental!…. Check out this treble bill coming my way.

Don’t Get Rid of the Dead Wood!

You know you’ve seen a great picture when as soon as the credits start to roll you take action. You act as a direct result of what you’ve seen.

It happened last night.

The director was Tim Burton. The lead was Johnny Depp…..

The film…………. was ED WOOD.

The immediate action I took was to seek out the films of this passionate, yet sadly flawed filmmaker.(I’m going to dedicate a post to every film as it comes through) He has the unenviable honour of being voted the worst director of all time and having made the worst movie of all time, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Yet this was a man who loved making films. He lived for it. And although mainstream success never came his way, He was always on the hunt for another picture, there’s something DEEPLY lovable about that.

Quoted below (if the internet is to be believed) is Edward D. Wood Jr’s last public writing (It was apparently written only 2 weeks before his death in 1978) which is in the form of sleeve notes for the PLAN 9 soundtrack which was released some years later, it’s quite a touching piece which really conveys the man’s love for his work. I love the section on how he had to bring the picture in for $800 and managed it by doing 250 camera set ups a day, I’m not sure if that’s possible but you can bet your ass it wasn’t far off…….

After reading the piece below, feast your eyes on the PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE trailer, it’s bloody awful but I feel drawn to it like an aardvark to a ball of wool. Pay special attention to the military stock footage (also mentioned in the sleeve notes) he’s seamlessly woven into the picture. Beautifully rubbish.

“A SPECIAL NOTE FROM EDWARD D. WOOD, JR.
Writer-Producer-Director of “Plan 9 From Outer Space”
When the producers of this record album asked me to write some notes for the jacket, I was delighted. Needless to say, when I made “Plan 9 From Outer Space” in 1959, I never dreamed that it would still be playing on television to millions of loyal fans some twenty years later.

Of course, I always knew “Plan 9″ was my finest work, but that doesn’t always guarantee a movie’s place in film history. So while big budget turkeys like “Cleopatra” and “Dr. Dolittle” quickly fade from the public’s memory, “Plan 9″ endures. (Indeed, if I had guessed that “Plan 9″ would hold up so well, I would have asked for more money up front.)
When I look back on those hectic early days, I kind of wish that dear old Bela Lugosi could have known that he was making a science-fiction classic in 1956. In point of fact, Bela thought he was shooting a horror film, titled “Tomb of the Vampire.” But after two days of location work, my good friend dropped dead without a warning and without giving two weeks notice. Since Bela had the lead role in the film, I couldn’t see any way to spread his five minutes of footage through a 90 minute movie, so the entire project was scrapped.

Another friend told me that I was crazy to throw away five minutes of Bela Lugosi footage, and he offered me the chance to shoot an entirely new film around the Lugosi scenes if I could bring it in under $800.00. I told him it would be no problem (don’t forget, $800.00 went a long way in those days), and six hours later I handed him the shooting script for “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” He was delighted and the deal was made.

Before you could say �Roger Corman,’ sets were built in my garage, clothes were borrowed from my closet (I personally supplied all the sweaters worn by Mona McKinnon in the film), and stock footage was purchased from Trident Films, Inc. Finally, friends who would work for nothing, and actors who would accept a cut in salary for a good role were hired. By cutting corners and doing 250 camera set-ups a day, we were able to finish the picture on time and under budget. (In fact, we had enough money left over to take the principal cast members to lunch at the Brown Derby.)

After some minor financial squabbles with the processing lab and several distributor back-outs, we finally premiered “Plan 9 From Outer Space” at the luxurious Brookdale Theater in El Monte. Some of the cast members were there, Tor Johnson and Criswell and Vampira, and we even rented a spotlight. (The damn thing never did work and I refused to pay for it. I also refused to pay for the theater’s toilet seat that Tor Johnson broke.) The party after the film was great fun, too. I can still remember the day one of our associate producers came up with the idea of digging up Bela Lugosi’s body and propping him up in his coffin in the theater lobby. It would have been a great publicity stunt, but the more I thought about it, the more tasteless the idea became. We ended up putting my plastic octopus from “Bride of the Monster” in the lobby.

The REAL Ed Wood.

The initial reaction to the film was predictably mixed… the fans loved it, and the critics killed it. Some of the reviewers actually made fun of our cheap cardboard sets. I mean, what did they expect for $786.27… the Paramount backlot? But time has proved the fans right. Not only is “Plan 9″ a hit on late night television, but now it has been permanently preserved on this phonographic record, which contains nearly all of the film’s dialogue and music. I would be lax if I did not mention the wonderful music by Gordon Zahler. I think it is his finest work, surpassing even his superb scores for “Mutiny in Outer Space” and “Women of the Prehistoric Planet.”

Finally, a special note to all of my special friends. I am retired now, and living comfortably in the home of a good friend. I still keep a watchful eye on the Hollywood scene, and I still dream of the day when my sequel to “Plan 9,” “The Night of the Ghouls,” will be rescued from the Pathé Laboratory and released for all my fans to see and enjoy. Until that time, I manage to occupy myself by puttering in the garden and watching football on television.
So here is the record of “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
[signature]
Edward D. Wood, Jr.
December, 1978

My new filmmaking motto, inspired by Ed, is “Strive to be great but if you can’t, do it anyway”….. Filmmaking is a great profession embedded in a shitty business. That should never put us off though.

Look out for the “Ed Wood and other skid row notables” season coming soon to J.I.C.

Films I’d Love To See On The Big Screen # 2

“A beautiful woman by day,
A lusting Queen wasp by night”……….

…………. My kind of gal.

The Last Salesman

To celebrate finally getting the editing on PLASTIC underway, and the continuation of my new life of sobriety (6 days and counting) I treated myself to a black and white double. First up was the 1971 Peter Bogdanovich film THE LAST PICTURE SHOW.

This is Bogdanovich’s 3rd film but the first in which he was responsible for what’s on screen from start to end. His first movie, VOYAGE TO THE PLANET OF PREHISTORIC WOMEN, (based on a night out in Brechin perhaps) was actually a recutting and dubbing of the Russian sci fi film STORM PLANET. Producer extraordinaire Roger Corman had bought the rights to the picture so, as he was renowned for giving hungry young filmmakers a break (we NEED a Corman in Scotland) gave the eager Bogdanovich the task of redubbing the picture into English, shooting some extra scenes with cave girls in clam shell bras and basically creating a whole new, but utterly awful movie. So bad in fact he went by the pseudonym Derek Thomas in an attempt to forever distance his name from it. All the bad press (and there’s LOTS of it) makes me want to see it.

His second, and far superior effort was the 1968 film TARGETS. Corman was again involved in this production which led to a few conditions for the director. Firstly, he had to use stock footage from the 1963 picture, THE TERROR, which Corman himself directed. Secondly, he had to hire legendary horror actor Boris Karloff for 2 days as he owed Corman some time on his contract. Bogdanivich managed to satisfy both demands to brilliant effect and produced a hugely enjoyable movie. More on that later.

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW is a coming of age tale set in a tiny Texas town that has the appearance of a place not evolved or improved since the days of the early settlers, this despite the film being set in 1951-52.

Bogdonovic was meticulous in setting up a genuine aesthetic for this picture. The cinematography of Robert Sutees creates a starkness of space that compliments the barren expanse within the minds of the townspeople. I have to stress; this is not through a lack of intelligence. The town seems to have a hold on the people that remain there. They’re all searching for someone to call their own, someone who provides a basic level of contentment, but with such a minute population to choose from, massive compromises are made to ward off the threat of being alone. There’s also no score in the movie. All the musical elements are provided by practical means: a radio that happens to be on for instance, or by someone putting a tune on the juke box. Bogdanovich was insistent that the music only be from the period of the film or before, all in the name of authenticity.

Sonny Crawford

The search for stability is the driving force of all the pictures main characters. Duane Jackson (Played by a very young Jeff Bridges) has the best looking, or the single good looking girl in town Jacy Farrow. (Cybil Shepherd in her first role) Jacy does not reciprocate his feelings leaving the boy in a constant state of confusion and frustration that leads to him leaving town. Jacy herself has no clue what she wants. Being pretty, she has her choice but when the guy she wants gets married, she has to find another man quick for fear of ending up on the scrap heap. She has a liaison with the man her mother is having an affair with then ends up with Sonny Crawford, Duane’s best friend but again, this is not without upset. Sonny has a confusing search throughout the picture. Timothy Bottoms plays the part incredibly as Sonny goes from disappointment to disappointment but remains resolute and dignified. The strong writing brings a recognisable conclusion to everyone’s journey although not all are successful.

Jacy Farrow

This is a picture of huge complexity considering the setting and people we are dealing with. The human condition is delicately explored with the subtle strengths and weaknesses of the individuals being gently explored with great skill.

The film won 2 Oscars for the great supporting cast and was nominated for another 5. It was also the catalyst for the coming together of Bogdanovich and Cybil Shepherd, a famous Hollywood scandal.

My first exposure to the Maysles brothers work was about 15 years ago via a horrifically fuzzy VHS copy of the 1970 film GIMME SHELTER which featured The Rolling Stones notorious concert at the Altamont speedway in 1969. This is a gripping piece of documentary. Not only does it display what can go wrong when you hire the Hell’s Angels to do your security (Who’s idea was that?) but it also documents the end of the Hippy era. There was no free love at Altamont, only bad acid and outpourings of violence which in some cases, proved fatal.

Two years earlier they’d been in slightly less drug crazed company to make the documentary SALESMAN. For anyone who’s had to sell anything in their time (I certainly have) this film feels as relevant today as it did when it was made. The pressures that go with the job, the frequently uncomfortable interactions with the general public as you try to get money out of them face to face and the destructive effect of losing your belief are all on show in this gloriously honest picture.

The movie follows 4 salesmen round the United States. They’re in the bible business which means the word of god can be paid up at $1 a week. Like any sales environment, there are people who are more successful than others and it’s this competition, disguised as an honourable effort to spread the word of god, which is the most interesting element.

The clip below shows Paul, the films main protagonist and character having most trouble with the job, out on a couple of sits. Look out for the way he tries to turn people around, the faces of the people being sold to are especially wonderful. I watch this and immediately think of Jack Lemmon in the film GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS. You wonder if he watched this picture while preparing to bring Shelley “The Machine” Levene to life.