After the decline of exploitation in the late 1970’s, Roger Corman needed a new and different direction to take his production company, New World Pictures. The dilemma presented itself in a quite sudden fashion in the summer of 1975, when a young nobody, whose only previous project at that time had been a made-for-TV thriller about a killer semi-truck, released a big summer movie about a man-eating Great White shark. Steven Spielberg’s Jaws turned the Hollywood community on its head. In a moment, the monsters, thrills, and shocks of exploitation had become a mainstream extravaganza. Bruce (the affectionate on-set moniker for Spielberg’s famous shark) effectively marked the beginning of the end for the grindhouses and the drive-ins.
Never one to say it was hopeless; Corman saw the change in the weather as a proverbial blessing in disguise. Low budget filmmaking is the art of copying others anyway, so why not rip-off the major studio successes? The popularity of films like Jaws, and of course, Star Wars, could act as a veritable forecast of what kind of film would make the most money for his company. With tongue planted resolutely in cheek, Corman embarked upon a series of delightfully entertaining imitations (full of his signature action and sex-appeal) that, in spite of themselves, have still managed to earn their rightful place in the hallowed pantheon of movie history.
Naturally, the genres that served this formula most readily were that of Science Fiction and Horror. And, since Jaws began this phenomenon, it seemed only fitting that it be the first film to make money for New World by proxy. For this, Corman hired one of his favorite editors, Joe Dante, to direct Piranha (1978). Dante, who in the 1980’s would find fame with The Howling (1981) and Gremlins (1984), managed to do what many considered impossible (or at least, improbable). He rehashed a recently used concept and made it a hit. Piranha, coupled with the great post-apocalyptic action flick Death Race 2000, made 1978 New World Pictures’ most successful year to date.
There are two good reasons for this unlikely success. The first could be that a Roger Corman film, no matter how cheaply made always delivers on what it claims. Secondly, they never fail to be fun. Mr. Corman felt that humor was essential to the success of any film- especially horror. This resulted in Piranha being much more lighthearted than the film it so plainly ripped off. Simply put, more thrills and less chills!
The success of Piranha spawned (pun intended) a terrible sequel (the directing debut by none other than James Cameron!) and spurred another, decidedly less successful New World picture, Up From the Depths (1979). Despite the latter film’s flaws, it was nevertheless entertaining (the trailer was a masterpiece…)
Due to the earth-shattering success of George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977), New World Pictures also ventured into the cold blackness of space with a pair of action-packed Science Fiction features: Starcrash (1978) and Battle Beyond the Stars (1980). Though the former film introduced the world to one David Hasselhoff, neither of them managed to achieve the quality that their horror counterparts boasted.
When the Ridley Scott-directed Alien (1979) arrived, the game changed once again. The unholy, illegitimate child of Science Fiction and Horror was exactly the impetus needed for Roger Corman to release a new collection of successful imitations.
The first of these was 1981’s Galaxy of Terror (also known as Mindwarp: An Infinity of Terror; who the heck thought of THAT title?!) With this outing, Corman once again proved his talent of copying an idea and tweaking it ever so slightly… With Piranha, one big killer fish was changed to a lot of small killer fish. In Alien the danger lay in a single, very hostile xenomorph. In Galaxy of Terror, the danger would be each individual character’s own thoughts and fears.
In spite of being hailed by critics as one of the worst movies ever made, it still manged to be New World’s highest grossing picture up to that point. Perhaps today, Galaxy of Terror’s most lasting merit is the jumpstarting of two important Hollywood careers- James Cameron (a special effects artist) and Bill Paxton (a set decorator!)
Naturally, one turn deserves another, and the success of the film was followed by Forbidden World (1982; a.k.a. Mutant). A more direct Alien rip-off, the picture differed in that the creature changed forms multiple times as the story progressed. The production was marked by great ingenuity and resourcefulness (from the redressing of old Galaxy of Terror sets, to hallways made to look ‘sci-fi’ by lining them with McDonald’s take-out cartons!) But the most defining aspect of the movie is definitely the excellent practical make-up and effects work, courtesy the as-yet-undiscovered John Carl Buechler. If anything, Forbidden World stands as a testament to the resourcefulness of special effects work that came to define filmmaking in the early- 80’s.
In 1981, New World Pictures released what was to be their most popular (and now perhaps most famous) feature. Recalling sea-monster pictures from the 1950’s, such as Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), but with Roger Corman’s signature exploitation twist, Humanoids From the Deep (a.k.a. Monster) arrived just in time to ride the wave of new low budget horror that was achieving unprecedented popularity thanks to runaway hits such as Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980).
And so went the rest of the decade. New World Pictures never lost a cent on any project Corman decided to undertake. Genres experimented with ranged from ghost stories (Twice Dead; 1988) to Fantasy (Deathstalker; 1985), from creature features (Demon of Paradise; 1988) to even musicals (Rock ‘n Roll High School; 1979).
The question to ponder is, “What exactly is so attractive about these spin-offs?” They certainly aren’t anything we haven’t seen before. Even if they do offer more action and more sexiness, they don’t offer the meaningful cinematic experiences that their sources of inspiration do.
The truth of the matter resides in a collection of factors rolled into one profoundly simple ball. The humor, the action, the sexiness, the unabashed cheesiness even… All combine to deliver a single, simple answer about these films- They are more fun.
If Jaws, Star Wars, and Alien are the main courses, then Corman’s rip-offs are the desserts. The same way the greatness of these blockbuster titans cannot be overestimated, neither can the sheer entertainment value of these shallow imitations. Yes! They are shallow! But the big, grinning-from-ear-to-ear catch is that they know it. Each of Roger Corman’s best, most entertaining pictures displays a singular, almost ironic sense of self-awareness. Not to the point where characters break the third wall and address the audience directly, but a merely subtle brand of humor that lets the viewer know everything up on that screen is decidedly tongue-in-cheek. This characteristic above all else is what makes these movies so irrepressibly fun to watch. It is as though Roger Corman understands the ultimate purpose of cinema so much better than anyone else. Sure, film can be deep, it can be challenging, and probing, and it can most definitely be artistic. But ultimately, movies exist to one end- to be entertaining! And to be honest, why else do they get labeled ‘good’ if they thrill us and ‘bad’ if they do not? This is the lasting legacy of Roger Corman.
So many self-proclaimed critics, and professors, and ‘artists’ spend endless, useless hours praising complex films and damning the simple ones. It seems that they forget the joy of watching a fun movie. In the end, aren’t films are supposed to entertain?
So hats off to you, Mr. Corman, for reminding us all how fun the cinema can be!
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