B-Giants of the Unknown-W.Lee Wilder and Richard E. Cunha

[RCMerchant]

 I was watching an old 'Something Weird Video' trailer tape called SHOCKORAMA SHREIK SHOW last night...and noticed a couple of names kept popping up under the film titles...W.Lee Wilder and Richard Cunha. So I did a little research...

W.Lee Wilder is the older brother of Billy Wilder-director of such classic films as SOME LIKE IT HOT and 7 YEAR ITCH (both with Marilyn Monroe)! According to the IMDB, W.Lee calls his younger bro(jokingly) "that dull son of a b1tch!"
What type of movies did he make? Well..some of our favorites! Such as...
.The MAN WITHOUT A BODY (1957)
.SNOW CREATURE (1954)
.KILLERS from SPACE (1954)-A personal favorite!!!
.PHANTOM from SPACE (1954)



  Richard Cunha. He directed films mostly for the Astor Films Co., which was the distributer for classics as LA DOLCE VITA,PEEPING TOM and...FRANKENSTIEN'S DAUGHTER!? Yup. Directed by Richard Cunha! He was also responsible for...
.MISSLE to the MOON ((1958)
.GIANT from the UNKNOWN (1958)
.SHE DEMONS (1958)



the Company Astor Pictures,by the way, was the ditributer for ROBOT MONSTER, and the reissues of many all black cast movies like EBONY PARADE (1947) and many Monogram films like the TERROR of TINY TOWN (1938),SPOOKS RUN WILD (1941) and BOWERY at MIDNIGHT (1942)!!!

  I just find this kinda stuff fascinating...it keeps my interest into the backround and history of B-movies flowing!

[trekgeezer]

I like Wilder's work, I found Phantom from Space especially good. Although it had cheesy production values, I sorta felt sorry for the poor alien at the end.  (a bit of trivia, the helmet worn by the alien was the same helmet used in Robot Monster, they just turned it around).

Who wouldn't love the cheesiness of The Killers from Space?!  I did found Snow Creature a little dull. I've never seen Man Without a Body, so I'll have to keep a look out for that one. I don't think I've seen any of Cunha's stuff.

RC, are you familiar with The Astounding B-Monster? It hasn't been updated since January of 2006, but there are a lot of good interviews and articles there.

If you like this kind of trivia you should check it out.

[SynapticBoomstick]

Phantom from Space is a great classic scifi film and Snow Creature is not so bad, aside from the scene that makes people in the Himalayas look really comical. Creature walking up, creature backing up. Good times.

[RCMerchant]

I like Wilder's work, I found Phantom from Space especially good. Although it had cheesy production values, I sorta felt sorry for the poor alien at the end.  (a bit of trivia, the helmet worn by the alien was the same helmet used in Robot Monster, they just turned it around).

Who wouldn't love the cheesiness of The Killers from Space?!  I did found Snow Creature a little dull. I've never seen Man Without a Body, so I'll have to keep a look out for that one. I don't think I've seen any of Cunha's stuff.

RC, are you familiar with The Astounding B-Monster? It hasn't been updated since January of 2006, but there are a lot of good interviews and articles there.

If you like this kind of trivia you should check it out.

Yeah...I've buzzed around the B-MONSTER site...lotsa neat-o stuff there!
MISSLE to the MOON (the remake-REMAKE-gasp!-of CATWOMEN of  the MOON!!!) is another favorite. I love the rock people and the giant spider!!! And FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER is an anti-classic!

[316zombie]

rc,there's some amazing books out there about our heroes,i have several i can recommend,if you're interested..

[RCMerchant]

rc,there's some amazing books out there about our heroes,i have several i can recommend,if you're interested..

I LOVE reference books! I have quite a few older ones...and some more recent-
Old-Pictorial History of Horror Movies by Denis Giford
.Heros of the Horrors-Calvin T. Beck
.Classics of the Horror Film-William K. Everson
.To Be Continued-(can't recall the author right now...it's a history of the old serials...)
.Illustrated History of the Horror Film-Carlos Clarens
.the 3 Stooges-Micheal Fleaming...
Science Fiction Films-Phil Hardy
Tons of old film monster mags dating from FM#13 (1960) to the 70's, MAD MONSTERS,HORROR MONSTERS ,CASTLE of FRANKENSTEIN,MONSTERS of the MOVIES,FM's sister mags MONSTER WORLD and SPACE MEN,the MONSTER TIMES, a few obscurities...
and some more...
NEW-the two Psychotronic Film and Video guides
.Lugosi-Gary Don Rhodes
.Horror Stars-Micheal Price
.Shock-O-Rama-the films of Al Adamson
plus some Fangoria and Psychotronic Video mags...
....some more whose titles ecscape me...
...always happy to hear of more!!! 

[JaseSF]

These two directors provided me with much delightful entetainment. I absolutely loved most of their work and I'm being quite honest. Especially enjoyed KILLERS FROM SPACE, MISSILE TO THE MOON, The HIDEOUS SUN DEMON, GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN and really to some extent or another, most everything else mentioned I've so far seen. Their movies have that charming sense of wonder about what the unknown might hold...and are fun and really perfect Drive-In movie fare.