She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)

Two brothers, one wanted for murder, are shipwrecked on an island inhabited by nubile young women who have amassed a valuable cache of pearls.

Laughable and extremely boring exotic adventure, one of Corman's worst.

On re-watching: It simply doesn't get better.

Maltin BOMB: "Location filming in Hawaii does nothing for this confusing tale..."

Teenage Cave Man (1958)

A young man defies tribal laws and searches for answers. The result of his quest yields knowledge of past generations.

Silly caveman yarn with a twist ending has risible creatures and a banal message about civilization.

Maltin**: "...AIP quickie with predictable "surprise" ending."

Machine-Gun Kelly (1958)

The criminal exploits of Public Enemy number 1, George 'Machine-Gun' Kelly, during the 1930s.

Good crime drama with Bronson giving a convincing portrayal of the famous hoodlum as a mean-spirited, cowardly psychopath.

Maltin**1/2: "With typical efficiency, Corman gives this gangster chronicle pacing and more than passing interest. Bronson is fine in the title role."

War of the Satellites (1958)

An "unknown force" declares war against planet Earth when the United Nations disobeys warnings to cease and desist in its attempts at assembling the first satellite in the atmosphere.

Silly, low-budget sci-fi yarn is entertaining for what it's worth, but not more.

Maltin**: "Ruthless combination of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and KRONOS...Not so hot, but any movie with Dick Milleras a heroic scientist can't be all bad."

Michael Weldon/Psychotronic: ""It is one of Corman's dullest."

Carnival Rock (1957)

An ocean-side nightclub owner loves a singer who only has eyes for a gambler.

Quite doomy meldodrama, nicely made with a capable cast and some welcome musical interruptions.

Maltin**: "Forgettable melodrama..."

The Movies I Watched in June

L'Avventura 1960  7

The Bad Batch 2016  6
Big Game 2014  5
Carnival Rock 1957  6
The Children Act 2017  7

The Color Purple 1985  7

The Company Men 2010  6
Event Horizon 1997  5
The Girl King 2015  7

Jane 2017  7

Kidnap 2017  5
Land and Freedom 1995  8

The Last Waltz 1978  7

Machine-Gun Kelly 1958  6
Merci pour le Chocolat 200  6
Night of the Blood Beat 1958  3
Poveri Milionari 1959  6
ReMastered: Devil at the Crossraods 2019  6
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese 2019  7

Rubber 2010  6
The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Seas Serpent 1958  4
Scum 1979  8

She Gods of Shark Reef 1958  2
Tamara Drewe 2010  6
Teenage Cave Man 1958  5
Les tombeaux sans noms 2018  7

Ultraviolet 2006  5
Universal Soldier 1992  6
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets 2017 7

Violette Noziere 1978  8

Visages Villages 2017  7

War of the Satellites 1958  5
When They See Us 2019  8

Whitney 2018  7

Wrong Elements 2016  7

The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957)

A group of lonely Viking women build a ship and set off across the sea to locate their missing menfolk, only to fall into the clutches of the barbarians that also hold their men captive.

Pretty bad and fairly sexist nonsense with a boring story, bad acting and a laughable creature.

Halliwell (no star): "This claims to be'The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent' Viking Women, it turns out, are all leggy, slim blondes who wear skin-tight leather and plenty of eye-liner, and look incapable of even fixing their own make-up."

Maltin BOMB: "By any name, it stinks."

Rock All Night (1957)

Cloud Nine, the local teen hangout, has been taken over by a pair of escaped killers, who hold the local teens hostage. The bartender realizes it's up to him to save the kids.

Not-so-bad closed-room drama with lots of jive mumbo jumbo, and the music performances take up almost half of the running time.

Halliwell (no star): "Talky, cheap rock movie, with some occasionally bright dialogue, and a single set in which heavy drinkers philosophise and listen to a few indifferent numbers; at least, it doesn't take itself too seriously."

Maltin**: "OK Corman potboiler with better-than-average performances, and dig this - Johnson's one of the bad guys and Miller's the hero!"

The Undead (1957)

A beautiful woman is sent back in time via hypnosis to the Middle Ages where she finds she is suspected of being a witch, and subject to being executed.

Wildly imaginative and silly low-budget horror flick has atmosphere, humor and some memorable scenes (especially the witches' dance).

Halliwell (no star): "A tale told by the devil, but signifying no more than the usual ineptly acted fantasy."

Maltin***: "One of Corman's best early films...Lots of atmosphere and black humor, with a neat twist ending."

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

Scientists become trapped on a shrinking island with intelligent, murderous giant crabs.

Laughably low-budget sci-fi silliness (especially the monsters are quite ridiculous), but entertaining for what its.

Halliwell (no star): "Bottom-of-the-barrel monster mayhem from this tongue-in-cheek producer; now a cult."

Maltin**: "Interesting early Corman thriller is hampered by low budget - and some very silly monsters - but Charles B. Griffith's script has many ingenious ideas."

Michael Weldon/Psychotronic: "One of Corman's delightful little science-fiction co-features." 

Not of This Earth (1957)

An alien agent from the distant planet Davana is sent to Earth via a high-tech matter transporter. There, he terrorizes Southern California in an attempt to acquire blood for his dying race, the result of a devastating nuclear war.

Although the plot is quite absurd, this sci-fi-horror quickie is made with some originality and good instinct for cinematic scenes; it also has a nice, memorable open ending.

Halliwell**: "Modestly budgeted minor sci-fi; original and competent."

Maltin**1/2: "Above-par low-budget entry...Good supporting cast; great bit by Dick Miller."

Naked Paradise (1957)

A gangster and his two henchmen try to get a boat to get off a tropical island after a botched robbery heist.

Low budget shows badly on this tediously talkative exotic crime drama with not much of a plot.

Maltin BOMB: "On-location filming can't salvage this balderdash..."

Gunslinger (1956)

After her husband is gunned down, a woman takes his place temporarily as Marshal of a small Western town.

Unusual and interesting, but not really good Western sets a tough woman in its center.

Maltin*1/2: "Strange little Western..." 

Swamp Women (1956)

An undercover policewoman helps three female convicts escape from prison so that they can lead her to a stash of stolen diamonds hidden in a swamp.

Exploitation movie with some really bad girls and a Louisiana bayou setting is slow-going and quite dated in its appeal.

Maltin*1/2: "Heavy-handed nonsense..."

Apache Woman (1955)

A government agent is sent to a western town to investigate attacks that the townspeople say are being committed by rampaging Apaches.

Mildly entertaining low-budget Western with an anti-racist message and a bumpy plot.

Halliwell (no star): "Routine Western, to which Corman added a subplot about racial prejudice, which may have improved its liberal credentials but does little for it as a movie."

Maltin BOMB: "Sometimes hilariously bad, but mostly a bore."

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)

A dysfunctional family operating an isolated date farm in the California desert is threatened by the arrival of an extra-terrestrial.

Extremely low-budget sci-fi horror with some risible 'shock' moments and working mostly on creepy atmosphere takes way too long to give the audience a short glimpse of its truly ridiculous alien.

Halliwell (no star): "Semi-professional would-be horror story, on a level with the Corman horrors of the period."

Maltin**: "Imaginative though poorly executed sci-fi melodrama..."

Psychotronic/Michael Weldon: "...this is an effective little science-fiction movie... "

Five Guns West (1955)

Five criminals are recruited by the Confederacy for a dangerous mission in exchange for a pardon.

Standard Western with an unusual plot and Dorothy Malone as one tough gal.

Halliwell (no star): "Western trial run for The Dirty Dozen; cheapjack actioner, quite tolerable for its kind."

Maltin**: "Fair Corman Western..."

Sorority Girl (1957)

A poor-little-rich-girl feels alienated by her mother and enacts a string of revenges on her fellow pupils at a girls' boarding school. However, she is outcast when one of her stunts nearly drives a girl to suicide.

Dark, but heavy-handed tale of teenage malice; Susan Cabot, however, is quite convincing as the disturbed and ill-willed sorority girl.

Halliwell (no star): "Corman's campus exploitation movie is positively middle-aged in its stodgy approach, with a cast that looks far too old and a script mouldering with aged cliches."

Maltin*1/2: "Lumbering tale of angst and alienation, 1950s-style."

New Stuff: Roger Corman

The Movies I Watched in April

A-Haunting We Will Go (1942)  5
The Accountant (2016)  6
An (2015)  7

D'après une histoire vraie (2017)  6
At Eternity's Gate (2018)  8 

 
Boyz in the Hood (1991)  7

Breaking the Waves (1996)  8

Brewster McCloud (1970)  6
Buried (2010)  7

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)  7

A Cure For Wellness  (2016)  6
Darkest Hour (2017)  7

Durante la tormenta (2018)  TV  6
Es geschah am hellichten Tag (1958)  7

Fright Night (2011)  6
The Highwaymen (2019)  7

Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce (2019)

Iron Sky (2012)  6
King Kong (2005)  7

LBJ (2016)  6
Lifepod (1993) TV  5
The Man From Texas (1948)  5
Mes ami, mes amour (2008)  6
A Most Wanted Man (2014)  6
Operation Finale (2018)  6
Runaway Daughters (1956)  5
Sorority Girl (1957)  6
22 July (2018)  7

Us (2019)  7

Violette (2013)  7

Wild Bill (1995)  5