"NIGHT TIDE" (1961), directed by Curtis Harrington. Dennis Hopper stars as a naive sailor who falls in love with a carnival performer who thinks she is a mermaid.
"ROBOT MONSTER" (1953), directed by Phil Tucker. The 3D camp classic about a lunar invasion coordinated by a robot which resembles a gorilla wearing a diving helmet.
"SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET" (1936), directed by George King. British horror legend Todd Slaughter plays the homicidal barber who swings a too-sharp razor.
"WHITE ZOMBIE" (1932), directed by Victor Halperin. The landmark zombie thriller, starring Bela Lugosi as the leader of a Caribbean colony of living dead slaves.
Anyone with eyes in their skull can tell that these flicks all deserve their placings for one reason or another. The only problem with it all, far as The Duke can tell, is why in the fuck it has taken so long for Curse Of The Demon and Last House On The Left to make the grade? Tourneur's eerie M.R James adaptation is amazing, and The Duke would like to offer a slap in the guts to the kindsa folks who wanna yack on about the monster was crap. For sure, it wasn't the director's intention to have that plastic motherfucker in there, but it still kicks at least thirty-three tonnes worth of arsehole.
Last House is an especially controversial choice, but whether or not one sees Craven's loose remake of Bergman's The Virgin Spring as a thoroughly reprehensible and shoddily edited sleaze-fest, or a crucially important bout of the social analysis and so on, you can't really deny the influence it has had.
And A Boy And His Dog should really be compulsory viewing for anyone hoping to declare themselves "human".
The separate section for B-Movie Artists is equally glowing (section once again plucked from the website);
CLIVE BARKER. British writer and filmmaker who created the long-running "Hellraiser" and "Candyman" franchises.
SONNY CHIBA. Japanese icon of the martial arts genre, who chopped his way through four decades of adrenaline-overdrive action flicks including the classics "Gangster Cop" (1970) and "The Street Fighter" (1974).
LARRY "BUSTER" CRABBE. Athletic leading man who embodied Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in a series of popular serials.
SAMUEL FULLER. Director of low-budget, high-drama features including "The Baron of Arizona" (1950), "The Steel Helmet" (1951) and "Shock Corridor" (1963).
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
excellent Duker, you did it up right - thanks!
2 - andy marsh
a boy and his dog - great flick! have never been able to find it in DVD!
3 - Mark Saleski
gotta get A Boy & His Dog on dvd. haven't seen it since when the heck back in college.
i think i saw it in the same week as this wacked out movie with Jill Clayburgh called "La Luna"...which a very bizarre incest subplot.
4 - SFC SKI
I didn't know A Boy and His Dog had been re-released on DVD, I will have to get it. The graphic novel has also been added to and replublished, I recommend it.
5 - Jim Carruthers
I'm surprized there's no mention of Linnea Quigley, who provided the best ever line reading of "do you want a shower cap" in "Hollywood Chain Saw Hookers", plus provided one of the best ever "damned if you do, damned if you don't" production ratings problems in "The Return of the Living Dead".
Her character was to get nekkid in a cemetary before she was killed by zombies. But to keep the rating, they couldn't show her, as Elvis would call it, "lovenest". So they created a latex appliance for her to wear. Then it looked like she didn't have pubic hair, clean-shaven. Which is more perverse. But the MPAA preferred it like that.
6 - Jim C.
Don't forget "A Boy and His Dog", the short story by Harlan Ellison.
7 - jack e jett
hey duke:
i love this post. by any chance do you know where i might find a good list of b or c (maybe even d) actors.
i am looking to set up some interviews in los angeles with those that have some "camp" quality i.e. karen black, charo...etc.
thanks,
jack e. jett