Monster Madness: The Counter Culture to Blockbusters

This was me finishing out the series of documentaries that are available on Tubi. I rather enjoyed the first three so later in my workday, I decided to put this on to see what this final installment had to offer. The sub line is: The Counter Culture to Blockbusters.

That first part is discussing the 1970s where we saw the rise of exploitation cinema. There were also films that were coming out of foreign countries to do well in the US market. I know we get a good section paying homage to Roger Corman and his Edgar Allan Poe adaptations like The Masque of the Red Death. This saw him working with the likes of Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson and Vincent Price. It also explores films like Blacula, which starred William Marshall, or Count Yorga, Vampire with Robert Quarry. He would also team up with Price for The Abominable Dr. Phibes.

Now the blockbuster section was also in the 1970s and then blended into the 80s. Jaws was one of the major titles to do this, but there also were Star Wars, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Planet of the Apes. There were also lower budgets, but they were still scary with Stephen King adaptations that started in the 70s with Carrie.

There is good information here. I know and have seen most of the titles that get brought up. Hearing the interviews from Quarry, Marshall and Dee Wallace add something to it. This does feel like a step up from a clip show and trailers. It is a good touch though to give just a bit more background as well as visuals. Still worth a watch for this run if you are interested in docs that scratch just a bit under the service.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.