SCFZ poll: Roger Corman

[flip]

Polling the films of director Roger Corman

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Corman films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Friday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: oscarwerner, greennui, mesnalty, bure, ofrene, arkheia, brian d, rischka, twodeadmagpies, john ryan, karl, umbugbene, greg x, wba, st gloede, evelyn

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[thoxans]

x: the man with the x-ray eyes
a bucket of blood
the st. valentine's day massacre

*seen four six (watched house of usher and tsvdm for the poll)

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

Seen 21.

Roger Corman made a lot of movies, and some of them are among the worst movies I've seen. But there's also few directors who have made as many movies that I love. Most of the Corman's I've seen were made between 1955 and 1960, a period in his career which to my mind features a lot of underseen gems (as well a lot of clunkers) made in a remarkable diversity of genres (fifties sci-fi/horror; western; gangster; juvenile delinquent melodrama; rock-n-roll musical; women-in-prison; etc.). His films in this period are often very funny too, his talent for comedy is not often appreciated. And he had a knack for getting lively performances from a diverse range of up-and-coming talent, like Beverly Garland, Dick Miller, Susan Cabot, Charles Bronson, Mitzi McCall, and many others. I'm saving his Poe cycle for next Halloween so I can't vote for those ones, but that works out nicely, because I figure those ones won't need my votes to place well anyway and this way i get to highlight the '50s output that's dear to my heart.

1. The Wasp Woman (1959)
2. A Bucket of Blood (1959)
3. Machine-Gun Kelly (1958)
4. Teenage Doll (1957)
5. Gunslinger (1956)

Would also recommend: Day the World Ended (1955); It Conquered the World (1956); and Swamp Women (1956).

[rischka]

i have 11; good to see a corman poll!! cheers evelyn

tomb of ligeia
x: the man with x-ray eyes
the intruder
teenage doll
the wasp woman

worst i've seen: creature from the haunted sea

[thoxans]

and while it has nothing to do with this poll, luv this dude for his hand in multi hellman flicks, not to mention grade a shlock ( ) like chopping mall and the slumber party massacre

[Silga]

grade a shlock ( ) like chopping mall and the slumber party massacre

I'm with you on this. I haven't seen Chopping Mall, but Slumber Party Massacre is one of the favorite 80s slasher movies. And it was written and directed by women, something you wouldn't normally see in this genre.

[john ryan]

Seen 12

1. The Raven
2. Pit and the Pendulum
3. A Bucket of Blood
4. House of Usher
5. The Tomb of Ligeia

[---]

seen 3

Gunslinger

[Lencho of the Apes]

Only seen four. How can that be? And there's three that I would vote for if I could, so I'll have to be strategic,.

Little Shop Of Horrors
The Intruder

[Roscoe]

THE RAVEN

[wba]

Love him!

01. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
02. Five Guns West (1955)
03. X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963)
04. The Undead (1957)

Corman seen: 8

[grabmymask]

seen 6, really gotta see more!

1. House of Usher
2. A Bucket of Blood
3. The Raven

[sally]

only seen two, but loved

1. The Masque of the Red Death

[Caracortada]

Seen 6

1. Pit and the Pendulum
2. Little Shop of Horrors
3. The Raven

[St. Gloede]

Seen 18:

The Intruder
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The Masque of the Red Death
-
Machine-Gun Kelly
A Bucket of Blood

[rischka]

where is greg he has all the corman

[thoxans]

smh. greg. that fuxkin guy. lemme tell ya. idk what to think...... [and six dots means a lot btw]

p.s. flip, i think i have at least a couple by roger that i can watch, if an extension is cool with you

[...]

Hey now! I just needed a couple days off, so keep the pitchforks in the haybarn where they belong! (Though to be honest, idk what to think about greg most of the time either, so maybe keep that barn unlocked for ease of pitchfork access later.) Anyway, Rischka already had my first two listed in the same order, it's only the other three that might add some spice since there are a bunch that are all about equally good.

For now I'll go with these, but I might change it since Haunted Castle is a nifty Lovecraft take, The Raven was one of my faves growing up, Masque of the Red Death is the best looking, She Gods of Shark Reef fascinates, House of Usher and Pit and the Pendulum are both good and Usher has a great poster, Wasp Woman, Teenage Doll, The Trip and Intruder are all interestingly different than the "Poe" horror in a good way and some of the other movies I've seen have their moments too, like Ski Troop Attack and Von Richthofen and Brown. I'm hoping to catch up on some of his earlier films, but haven't had a chance yet. Sorority Girl, Wild Racers, I Mobster, and Carnival Rock are all on my to see list, in part for their fine posters too.

Corman was decidedly teen oriented, wise for the time, and that's evident in his horror movies, but the difference in look between the horror movies, which seemed to have slightly larger budgets, and the teen movies is really interesting. Corman adapted his style to fit the subject matter and the subject matter to fit contemporary-esque themes in ways that belie the low budget tag that gets thrown on his movies so often.

Tomb of Ligeia
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

The Wild Angel
It Conquered the World
Frankenstein Unbound

Oh, and Evelyn, in case you didn't notice, the titular Last Woman on Earth is also named Evelyn, so I figured you might want to add it to your watch list of other Evelyn movies, if you haven't already. (I haven't seen the movie myself yet, just noticed that in the synopsis.)

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

Oh, and Evelyn, in case you didn't notice, the titular Last Woman on Earth is also named Evelyn, so I figured you might want to add it to your watch list of other Evelyn movies, if you haven't already. (I haven't seen the movie myself yet, just noticed that in the synopsis.)

Ooo thanks greg! Adding that one to my list for sure. It looks pretty lousy tbh, but then, that's hardly a deterrent for yours truly, especially when it comes to Corman

[flip]

*seen four

thoxans you can pick our next director!

[thoxans]

kon ichikawa would be kool, but i have only five for him (could make it six for the poll cuz it looks like fires on the plain is on tube). tay garnett would be another choice (i have thirteen). can we do a count for both?

[Umbugbene]

I've got 16 Ichikawa and 5 Garnett.

[Lencho of the Apes]

3 and 3, I'm no help.

[nrh]

only 5 ichikawas but would love to do a poll if just to trawl for recommendations.

[flip]

just 2 and 3 for me

[...]

9 and 9, or maybe 10 for Garnett if you count The Racket which he's given partial credit for on IMDb, but both it and Since You Went Away are mostly not his, so I'd have 8 excluding them.

[oscarwerner]

Great producer !
so many films of his own direction as well....i choose:
1.House of Usher (1960)
2.Bloody Mama (1970)
3.The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
4.The Wasp Woman (1959)
5.The Raven (1963)

[rischka]

5 garnett 6 ichikawa

could be persuaded to watch more

[wba]

4 Ichikawa, ? Garnett (probably 1 or 2)

[thoxans]

someone else can pick