In the late 1950's and 1960's a motley crew of independent film producers pumped up double bills with sinister mayhem and horror. Whether the venue was a run-down movie palace, a musty neighborhood theatre or a drive-in under the stars, kids, teenagers on dates, and outcasts found themselves receptive to the promise of witnessing the unveiling of macabre secrets, nearly forbidden, it seemed, because of the bloody gruesomeness or lascivious sexuality hinted at by the colorful posters and ballyhoo. For the young, horror films were a psychic, if bizarre glimpse into the still-mysterious world of adulthood; for the rest of the audience, these films provided a jolting break fro the predictable and the mundane.
A Bucket Of Blood:
A wimpy busboy and would-be-sculptor who dreams of acceptance and success has a peculiar "talent" for lifelike artwork accomplished by moulding clay round corpses.
Made in just 5 days with a budget under $50,000 "A Bucket Of Blood" is a clever semi-spoof of dead-bodies-in-the-wax-museum gendre and succeeds nicely in capturing the spirit of the beatnik era.
Showing his true genius, director Corman manages to deliver an original, expertly directed chiller, frank in its depiction of a troubled impressionable mind.
The Giant Gila Monster:
A big-headed lizard menaces a small Texas town disrupting a local record shop bringing upon it the wrath of the local teens.
Filmed in northern Texas with a budget of $138,000, "The Giant Gila Monster" manages to scare and inadvertently succeeds in providing many unintentional laughs.
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