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Imagine you're putting together a b-movie triple feature from the following list. You want the lots of variety, good examples of bad movies, and perhaps cult favourites for die-hards like us, but you also want the widest appeal and sufficient bad-movie laughs to draw in the uninitiated. Which three would you choose?

The Brain that Wouldn't Die
A Bucket of Blood
War of the Planets
Gamera the Invincible
The House on Haunted Hill (Vincent Price)
The Killer Shrews
Killers from Space
Little Shop of Horrors (Corman)
Eegah
Prisoners of the Lost Universe
Reefer Madness
Robot Monster
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women
The Wasp Woman
Zontar: The Thing from Venus

And yes, this is not hypothetical. I'm helping some people put together a movie night, and this is the short list I've compiled from a list of movies supposedly in the public domain (making it cheaper and simpler to do things legally). My intention is to count up your votes, but an explanation of your choices would be useful too.

Hummmm....

ROBOT MONSTER.
WASP WOMAN.
THE KILLER SHREWS>
But, thats just me...



AndyC : Is the audience going to get lessons in "How to MST?" That might be fun. Pick some prospect from the group, and turn then in "Bots of the evening."

Alot of these I still need to see. I'd say -

The Brain That Would'nt Die - The title alone is a riot
Reefer Madness - One of the earliest exploitation flicks and funny as hell
Robot Monster - This is the one with the guy in a gurilla suit and a space helmet right? I have'nt seen it but based on it's reputation and badass costuming I think it'd make a good cap on the night.

Reefer Madness
The Killer Shrews
The Brain That Wouldn't Die

Those three would cover exploitation, nature gone wild, and mad doctor movies, giving a pretty good coverage for 3 movies; not to mention that they are immensely entertaining, even to people who do not get into bad movies. Other than The Brain That Wouldn't Die, the other two are relatively short movies; this would bring the time just under 3 hours and 50 minutes which should not be too long.

AndyC wrote:

> A Bucket of Blood
> The House on Haunted Hill (Vincent Price)
> Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women

1. Dick Miller as a beatnik psychopath!  What's not to like?

2. Great shocks from William Castle.

3. Mamie Van Doren and a Bevy of Beauties worship a prehistoric monster while hastling Russian cosmonauts.

1. Brain that wouldn't die-Pretty funny flim and think "Normal people" would enjoy it.
2. The House on Haunted Hill- Classic Vincent Price, can't go wrong with him.
3.Gamera the Invincible-  some kaiju would not hurt to get something different going

-------------------------------------
Ray,when some asks you if your a God you say YES! - Ghostbusters

* The Brain that Wouldn't Die - I chosae this one for its classic badness, plus its "ahead of its time" blood and gore (check out the uncut version, which is available on DVD).


* The House on Haunted Hill (Vincent Price) - This may be the most "respectable" movie on the list.  This is the Vincent Price that we all know and love and it is one of the most memorable "old dark house" movies ever made.  And it still looks great in black-and-white.


* Little Shop of Horrors (Corman) - Who can resist this one?  Some of the dialogue is priceless and the casting director deserves an award for assembling a great group of actors to take on the many oddball roles in this movie.  Corman produced or directed so many B-flicks over the years, but this might be his most memorable.



Post Edited (07-20-05 18:54)

Robot Monster
Reefer Madness
Prisoners of the Lost Universe

All are fun and harmless.  I'd have picked House on Haunted Hill instead of PotLU, but three films in black and white might test some people's patience.

The others:

The Brain that Wouldn't Die - for HARDCORE crap lovers only!  This would turn off all but the most hardened veterans!  Some of your group may even want to kill you.

A Bucket of Blood - not seen so I can't recommend

War of the Planets - Not even heard of it.  I'm ashamed.  Can't recommend.

Gamera the Invincible - goofy monster movies can't go wrong, but Robot Monster is the all-time King of Goofy Monster Movies

The House on Haunted Hill - everybody knows the title, but few have actually seen it.  It would be a good choice if you think your people will tolerate three B&W movies.  The *cough* twist ending might frustrate some people.

The Killer Shrews - Robot Monster edges it out as the goofy monster movie of choice for the novice b-fan.  See also: Gamera

Killers From Space - not really that fun for the casual b-fan, more of an "I can't believe they did this" than a laugh riot

Little Shop of Horrors - lots of people love this, I think it's crap.  One of the worst movies EVER made.  Boring boring boring!

Eegah - A tough call between this and Robot Monster.  They are basically the same movie (people running around the desert fighting a stupid monster) but Robot Monster goes down easier.  Choose this instead of Robot Monster if your crowd is intolerant of B&W movies.

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet - a dud

Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women - not heard of it.  Wow.  And with a title like that, to boot!

The Wasp Woman - oh, man, this movie sucks

Zontar: The Thing From Venus - might be good with a crowd ... maybe.  This is really something that only a few, deeply masochistic fans of cinematic agony should endure.

The Killer Shrews: Lassies with carpets on their bodies will always make a neat, but corny, monster. I saw this on MST3K and enjoyed it (I think I would watch it even if there were no bots making cracks at it) I liked the end when they're making a shelter to get off the island and the shrews are breaking in slowly. (Crow: Two weeks later....Three Weeks later) And I'm sure plenty of people can make jokes about the minibar character.

Little Shop of Horrors: I saw this in middle school and I remember enjoying it a lot. I don't know how it'd hold up today but-. The monster is neat especially when it get's big and it having the main character as his hopeless slave that brings him food was a cool idea. I loved the main character because he was quite the dumbass. Example are how he ended a conversation with a hooker, and of his very last act before his life ended. The last scene in the movie is kinda funny also.  A good movie.


The Brain that Wouldn't Die: As said before the title is funny as hell. I saw this one also on MST3K and I don't remember it having much action monster wise expect at the very end. At least the monster was kinda neat looking and it  did get interesting when we blood made it's entrance in the movie. Maybe watch this one first if we were having a entertaining B-Movie marathon because this wasn't as fun as the first two mentioned.

That's my list..



Post Edited (07-21-05 13:24)

Good to see some of the same titles coming up again and again. That will make it easier.

When I put the list together, I was looking at a few things - variety of horror/sci-fi/fantasy/50s/60s/70s/BW/colour, etc., movies with interesting titles and titles that might be familiar to some people, movies with a cult following, movies that aren't constantly found on bargain-bin DVDs and specialty channels, cheesy monsters and/or special effects, movies I know (or at least have heard) are fun and not too slow, notable directors (Corman, Buchanan), movies that fit the classic b-movie definition, and movies that have familiar faces in early roles (Jack Nicholson, Peter Graves, James Best, Richard Kiel). Considering all that, I came up with 16 movies.

You guys are now helping me rank the movies. Once a few more people have picked three (much more useful than everybody picking one favourite), I can add up the votes for each, and have a list from which I can choose the top two, three, four or more movies.

I figure I'll get my hands on whichever of the top six or so that I don't have, then show them all to my wife. She seems to have about the ideal tolerance for this stuff. She gets the humour of a good bad movie, but she's not really into it like we are (that is to say, she won't watch absolute crap just out of curiosity). I consider her an average audience member. What she thinks is funny, I'll keep on the list. What she doesn't like, goes.

Anyway, keep picking.

akiratubo wrote:

> War of the Planets - Not even heard of it.  I'm ashamed.  Can't
> recommend.

There are a couple of movies by this name, but I'm assuming this is the Italian Antonio Margheriti directed sci-fi movie about a bunch of astronauts who fight a green fog called The Diaphanoids.  It's fun but terribly slow...almost mind-bendingly so.  Not recommended for B-movie newbies or the faint of heart.

> Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women - not heard of it.
> Wow.  And with a title like that, to boot!

This is Corman's second recut of the Russian movie PLANETA BUR.  Not so much a sequel to VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET as another version of it.  This one is better IMO.  Plus it has Venusian bikini women.

OMG.  I can't believe this, but I don't think I've seen ANY of those movies!

(Hangs head in shame...)

Yeah, the Venusian women in clamshell bikinis were what got this one onto the list.

The Brain that Wouldn't Die is the clear winner, but there is a four-way tie for second place.

Robot Monster
Killer Shrews
Reefer Madness
House on Haunted Hill

If everyone will list them from most fun to least fun (best to worst just doesn't apply), I can probably figure out a final list from that.

Of course, if I can do an all-night quintuple feature, I'm all set.

I would rank the 4 runner-up selectionsas follows:

* HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL
* KILLER SHREWS
* ROBOT MONSTER
* REEFER MADNESS

By the way, I need to give BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS an honorable mention here!

I had considered The Beast of Yucca Flats, but figured Coleman Francis films might be too tedious for the audience I expect.

Mind you, Once I get the lineup figured out, I'm going to start thinking about games and other audience activities to make it all more palatable.

I really love "The Killer Shrews" as a bad movie, so I go with:

The Killer Shrews
Robot Monster
House on Haunted Hill
Reefer Madness

OK, not too much response on the second one, but between myself, Burgo and Andrew, I've put the four into a reasonably satisfying order.

So, the top five, in order, are:

The Brain that Wouldn't Die
Killer Shrews
Robot Monster
The House on Haunted Hill
Reefer Madness

I think that's a pretty good list.

Just found a more comprehensive list of movies, and discovered that Plan 9 is also in the public domain!

So, now I have a list of six movies, with the Ed Wood classic at the top.

You got go wrong with Plan 9, AndyC. Nice one.

That list will kick SO much ass!
Maby you can have a drinking game regards how many times you see Tor, Vampira and the dentist. Okey, maby root beer, but still!...

Watch carefuly, and see how many people do a slow take when they hear...
"Well, inspector Clay is dead...Murdered...and somebody is responsable!"

I just a few days ago got one of those DVD packages that has "50 Horror Movie Classics" on it. My wife got it for me from some catalog. It's bad movie heaven I'm saying. The transfers are fairly well done and it was worth the $30 bucks she spent. Anyway,  I was quite excited to see the Killer Shrews listed on it as I had never seen the movie and all this talk about it made me need to see it. I think you can't go wrong with that on the list...the movie was just so funny. Reefer Madness? That's an old time favorite of mine (from back in the days...yeah, we used to laugh at it) and I agree that it also, has to be on that list. Good choices you're going with.

If you don't consider  what is in public domain, I would go all out  and show Plan 9 from Outer Space, Dracula vs Frankenstein, Rats Are Comming, the Werewolves Are Here, Zontar the Thing From Venus and Beast of Yucca Flats.  That way you have the top 5 bad directors (Wood,  Adamson,  Milligan, Buchanan, and Francis).

Hey that's a good idea Ozzymandias. I like it we'll call it "The Dreaded Five" or "The Deadly Five"

My Top Three:

The Brain that Wouldn't Die
The House on Haunted Hill (Vincent Price)
The Killer Shrews

Optionals:

Gamera the Invincible
Robot Monster
A Bucket of Blood
Eegah

No Ways:

Killers from Space
Zontar: The Thing from Venus

AndyC, if you haven't already killed your audience with your excellent movie choices, maybe you could save Plan 9 for an Ed Wood marathon of "Night of the Ghouls'' and "Bride of the Monster" to finish the job.

Or perhaps show them Tim Burton's 'Ed Wood' before hand, so that they can gain a true appreciation for ol' Eddie's brilliance and not pass out whilst watching those films.

If you are after public domain films, I can't tell you whether Night of the Ghouls or Bride of the Monster is or not, but if Plan 9 is public I can't imagine why the others wouldn't be.

Don't know if the Tim Burton Film would fit what I'm trying to do. But I do like the idea of an Ed Wood night for another time.

Anyway, I can't use anything but public-domain films. This has got to be legal, and I don't want to worry about getting permission or paying fees. We start talking about movies that somebody owns the rights to, and it all becomes hypothetical.

>>>Anyway, I can't use anything but public-domain films. This has got to be legal, and I don't want to worry about getting permission or paying fees. We start talking about movies that somebody owns the rights to, and it all becomes hypothetical.

Yeah, I figured as much, Burton's film made for good viewing just after I bought Plan 9 and Night of the Ghouls, but of course you can't show it, maybe set it for 'homework'.

But it sounds like overall you have an excellent selection.  How many people are you thinking will come to this night and where will it be held? At a cinema or is it just a fun thing with a big group of friends?

It's going to be a fundraiser. Haven't really decided on a venue, but there are some old industrial buildings around that are pretty spacious and atmospheric. At this point, I'm putting together a proposal to try and get some sponsors on board, and perhaps to get one of those buildings donated for a night. Haven't considered insurance, or a few of the other details yet. That might be a snag.

I know a few people who are into community theatre, and I might see if they'd like to put together a few funny routines to do around the screen at certain points, seemingly interacting with the movies.

Also trying to remember some of the audience participation games from B-Fest. There seems to be a whole set of rituals that go with Plan 9 (paper plates, day/night, wicker/rattan, etc.)  If Andrew, Ken Begg or other B-Fest regulars read this, I'd appreciate having my memory refreshed. I only went once, in '02.



Post Edited (07-30-05 11:47)

There's an idea. If they are into community theatre, how about incoporating a live spook show element into part of the events. Use a short like MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA PARTY and have some of them run out into the audience and abscond with a few people (set up) during the appropriate place in the film. (:

I'm not even going to read every vote here, because these are all "winners" in any bad-movie fest --
I have to vote long and loud for ROBOT MONSTER, though -- You have to see the bubble machine & the diving helmet on the big screen to believe it  --
We did a double feature movie night with Robot Monster and Plan 9 together.  The response was wonderful, especially from those who didn't really "get" the badmovies concept & only showed up because their friends did --
Sure, nothing at all wrong with The Brain That Wouldn't Die, but I do have a soft spot for ZONTAR -- Zontar is really the pits, with overacting that has to be seen --
peter johnson/denny crane

The building I had hoped to use for the movie night has been closed by the fire department. Seems it's safe for industrial use, but not for the public. It really seemed to be the only place that had the right atmosphere (150 years old, cavernous, and pretty much as it was left when it closed), and price (I'm sure I could have made a deal with the owner to use it for nothing).

There always seems to be some obstacle whenever I try to organize a b-movie festival.

The Brain That Wouldn't Die
The House on Haunted Hill
Gamera

I haven't seen some of these, but I think these three give a nice combo of all the aspects you mentioned.