American independent film fans, cult film fans, and exploitation film lovers are mourning the death of Roger Corman—mentor to the generation of “New Hollywood” filmmakers, the distributor of Bergman, Truffaut and Fellini, and producer and/or director of more than 500 films, from Little shop of horrors to his acclaimed eight-film series based on the stories of Edgar Allen Poe.
Corman, known as the “Pope of popular cinema,” died on May 9 at his home in Santa Monica, Diversity confirm. He was 98 years old.
Corman’s incredible output includes almost every genre of film: adventure (She is the god of Shark Reef) cyclist (Wild angels), farsightedness (Death Race 2000), film noir (1955 Fast and furious), Mafia (The Valentine’s Day massacre), horrified (Pit and pendulum), monster (Attack of the crab monster), illusion (Trip), race (Young riders), rock and roll music (rock music festival), Science Fiction (Not of this Earth), social drama (Intruder), space opera (Battle beyond the stars), teenage rebellion (Rock and Roll High School), war (Von Richtofen and Brown), The West (Ngu Gun Tay), women in prison (heat cage) and WTF (Sharktopus vs Wolf Whale).
The final credits of by Alex Stapleton 2011 documentary, Corman’s World: The Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, distills the not-so-discreet charms of the Corman classic with an exhilarating montage of clips featuring cheesy monsters, fiery car explosions, party-crashing piranhas, host Vincent Price his early Poe cycle, the great Blaxploitation and Mary Woronov with a gun and a glare. But Corman may be best remembered for the budding talents he nurtured and the career he launched. Evidence of his influence is that the 47th Academy Awards, held in 1975, resembled a reunion of the so-called Roger Corman School, with six of the top eight Oscars awarded to former “graduate” Corman: Francis Ford Coppola, Ellen Burstyn, Robert Towne, And Robert De Niro.
Besides, Jack Nicholson, nominated that year for Chinatownpremiered his film at Corman’s Crying baby killer. Diane Ladd And Talia Shire, nominated for Best Supporting Actress, also began starring in Corman (Wild angels And Gas-sss, corresponding). And Corman’s New World Pictures distributed the best foreign film that year, by Federico Fellini. spinach.
The sometimes haphazard titles of Corman’s films belie a signature style as well as a subversive worldview and wit. His most memorable works deal with social outcasts, underdogs, and rebels. In Corman’s 1990 autobiography, How I made hundreds of movies in Hollywood and never lost a pennyhe happily agreed to that suggestion Creatures from the haunted sea is his most personal film. “It has my favorite ending of all time,” he wrote. “We always destroy our monsters…This time, the monsters win.”
