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Roger Corman, who directed and produced countless B-movies and championed future industry stalwarts Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and Jack Nicholson, died at his home in Santa Monica, California on May 9, Variety reports. He was 98.

“His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that,’” the family said in a statement to the outlet.

For nearly five decades, he dominated the B-movie market, with films that ranged from his early work in the Fifties,...

Earth vs. The Spider reimagined Spider-Man’s origins as a horror movie long before his modern film outings. Earth vs. The Spider predates Madame Web, Morbius, and even 2002’s Spider-Man, yet captures many elements present in those movies. Madame Web has promising potential to weave a new legacy of horror and rekindle a terror born in Earth vs. The Spider.

As Madame Web swings into theaters, it comes with the realization that Earth vs. The Spider already put a horrific spin on Spider-Man's legacy. A curious choice for a movie and just one of many Spider-Man spinoffs produced by Sony, Madame Web promises a different kind of superhero film as it attempts to expand the ever-growing Spider-Verse. Undoubtedly one of the inspirational and beloved heroes of all time, Spider-Man comes with plenty of dark implications, and they tend to manifest in cinema under unusual circumstances.

In 1980, Marvel Comics unveiled the mysterious Madame Web,...

Part of a perfect 1956 matinee double bill, Alex Gordon’s supernatural thriller features an iconic monster, a piece of real horror art from monster-maker Paul Blaisdell. The production can best be described as ‘pedestrian’ but there’s no denying that the movie is an odd nostalgic favorite — a great poster helps. The cast mixes veterans with new blood — but the real reason to watch is starlet Marla English. This one should have been a classic.

The She-Creature

Blu-ray

1956 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 77 min. / Street Date June 28, 2022

Starring: Chester Morris, Marla English, Tom Conway, Cathy Downs, Lance Fuller, Ron Randell, Frieda Inescort, Frank Jenks, El Brendel, Paul Dubov, William Hudson, Paul Blaisdell.

Cinematography: Frederick E. West

Production Designer: Art Director: Don Ament

Creature costume: Paul Blaisdell

Film Editor: Ronald Sinclair

Original Music: Ronald Stein

Written by Lou Rusoff

Produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, Alex Gordon

Directed by Edward L. Cahn

Nicholson...

A few years ago, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of influential film critic Pauline Kael, I wrote the following:

“I think (Kael) did a lot to expose the truth… that directors, writers and actors who often work awfully close to the surface may still have subterranean levels of achievement or purpose or commentary that they themselves may be least qualified to articulate. It’s what’s behind her disdain for Antonioni’s pontificating at the Cannes film festival; it’s what behind the high percentage of uselessness of proliferating DVD commentaries in which we get to hear every dull anecdote, redundant explication of plot development and any other inanity that strikes the director of the latest Jennifer Aniston rom-com to blurt out breathlessly; and it is what’s behind a director like Eli Roth, who tailors the subtext of something like Hostel Part II almost as...

Viking Women & The Sea Serpent, The Brain Eaters, She-Creature, Teenage Caveman, The Undead, War of the Colossal Beast, and The Day the World Ended. These are a few of my favorite things, and they're now getting remade and more!

According to Deadline, Jeff Katz, Lou Arkoff, and Hal Sadoff plan to remake 10 titles in the Arkoff/Nicholson library of American International Pictures-produced 1950’s classics. Usually the mere idea of remakes sends shivers of woe down our spines, but given the talent involved and the love that I know they have for these projects, we couldn't be happier.

Getting the redux treatment are the following 1950's drive-in classics: Girls in Prison, Viking Women & The Sea Serpent, The Brain Eaters, She-Creature, Teenage Caveman, Runaway Daughters, The Undead, Cool & The Crazy, The Day the World Ended, and my personal favorite, The War of the Colossal Beast. Please.... please... Please... keep the same make-up design for that one!

Debbie Rochon, often described as a scream queen herself, wrote in an article originally published in Gc Magazine that "a true Scream Queen isn't The Perfect Woman. She's sexy, seductive, but most importantly 'attainable' to the average guy. Or so it would seem." Nastassja Kinski Films: To the Devil a Daughter (1976) [1] Cat People (1982) [2] The Day the World Ended (2001) [3] Inland Empire (2006) [4] Kinski will always be remembered for the iconic photograph shot by Richard Avedon (with a snake coiled around her body) and her role in Paul Schrader's (not so good) remake of Cat People. Needless to say, it was a hit at the box office and Kinski deservingly received a Saturn Award for Best Actress. Caroline Munro Films: The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) [5] Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) [6] Dracula A.D. 1972 [7] Maniac (1980) [8] Faceless (1987) [9] Demons 6 (1989) [10] Caroline Munro seduced audiences in her Hammer roles in films like Dracula A.D. 1972, but for gore hounds,...