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In 1954 he and James Nicholson saw a perfect opportunity: the post war youth market. Previously ignored by the major film companies they quickly noticed that this segment for the first time had the money and mobility to seek their own entertainment. (1) With a loan of $3000 they set up the American Releasing Corporation which changed to American International Pictures (AIP) in 1955. AIP’s logo came to symbolise a seal of disapproval, the mark of a film that was guaranteed to captivate a teenager but appal their parents. Their recipe for a film is slightly different to today’s standards as Arkoff explains “We would often get the title first. Then we would work up a poster for the picture. If it looked good we’d go ahead with a script.” Their dramatic marketing techniques attracted a cult following at the drive-in movies and helped to enliven date nights. In the fifties they specialised in horror and teenage rebellion films and in the sixties they produced a series of beach party films. The company gave breaks to many of Hollywood’s big names including Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Robert de Niro, Charles Bronson and Jack Nicholson. In 1971 James Nicholson left AIP and Samuel Arkoff carried on producing films. In 1979 AIP released its most successful year with the films Love at First Bite, Dressed to Kill and The Amityville Horror. In 1980 AIP merged with Filmways (later to become Orion) and Arkoff stayed on as President. During the eighties he did guest lectures at the American Film Institute and acted as a consultant for film and television production companies. During the nineties together with his son Louis they produced a series of remakes of classic AIP teen and horror films updated and in colour. Samuel Z Arkoff who was the personification of a movie boss, portly with an omnipresent cigar passed away in 2001 leaving behind a plethora of cult b-movies. Now some of the best/worst of the Arkoff film library can be viewed on DVD... References 1. David Skal in The Monster Show (Plexus, London, 1994) notes that by 1958 twelve to twenty-five year olds represented 72 percent of the moviegoing public. (p. 255.)
 Day
The World Ended
“What you are about to see may never happen… but in this anxious age in which we live it presents a fearsome warning… Our story begins with The End…” Originally released in the fifties during the atomic decade, Day The World Ended tells the story of what happened when man finally destroys himself in a nuclear holocaust. Only 7 people survive the blast including a rancher and his beautiful daughter, an arrogant thug and his striptease dancer girlfriend, a gold hunter and his donkey and a handsome geologist carrying a contaminated man. The fate of the human race lies in the hands of this unique crowd as they battle against the new mutated world. This classic b-movie follows the survivors as tensions flare over the meagre rations and rancher’s daughter, as the geologist and thug fight it out to carry on the human race with the stunning girl much to the disgust of her atomically altered fiancé - the mutant monster. Who is watching the girls bathe? Will the rancher get his wish to shoot the thug? Will they all survive? Will the contaminated man get the meat, the red, raw, meat he desires? Find out in Day The World Ended! Day The World Ended is directed by Roger Corman the ‘King of the drive-in movie’ who had a firm belief that “the monster should always be bigger than the leading lady.” DVD extras include a 50 minute audio interview with Samuel Z. Arkoff, recorded in 1991 at the National Film Theatre which is accompanied by pictures taken at the time, plus nine original Theatrical Film Trailers of movies from the Arkoff Film library. Day the World Ended is part of the Arkoff Film Library’s Original Horror Classics being released this year by Direct Video Distribution and will be available on DVD and VHS from 27 May 2003. It can be obtained in shops, at the www.dvdisc.co.uk website or by ringing their free phone order line number: 0800 328 9623. DVD
VHS
“It’s always been my ambition to crown my collection with a Werewolf and a Frankenstein monster that I created completely, soul as well as body!” During the late fifties studios were also becoming aware that audiences were becoming tired of movies that centred around outright monsters, so How to Make a Monster was made to mirror this and had the main threat as a psychotic make-up artist. Will the two actors remember what they did? Will Pete be able to add the Werewolf and Frankenstein to his special collection? Will the police make the link between the killer’s monster markings and the make-up artist? Or will they carry on assuming the killer is a real monster? How To Make a Monster
is directed by Herbert L. Strock, who crossed over into horror when taking
over direction of The Magnetic Monster halfway through production.
It’s rather frightening that Pete so easily and dispassionately takes this murderous course of action without at least seeking work elsewhere. But we can’t expect logic and reason here as the film is really meant as a thriller for teenagers. Pete says he likes teenagers because they are so flexible, he could have added that they also make good murderers. Fair enough the teenagers don’t volunteer for the work, no, Pete uses his special hypnotic foundation cream to recruit them. Under the spell of this make-up and his orders the Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein bring about his revenge on the suits. These crimes are not very well thought-out and it’s not long before Pete is suspected, which leads to even more murders... To satisfy the intended audience there’s a musical sequence with dancing girls who clomp around a cheesy crooner. Crazy man. And, there’s the Technicolor last reel where the two rather dense teenage actors work out that Pete has duped them. Their fears are heightened by the fact that he wants their ‘heads’ on his wall as part of his personal exhibition. For all it’s praise and pandering to the new ‘teenage’ phenomenon this film actually exploits them just as Pete does. He makes them believe they are brutal monsters, whilst the filmmakers treat their teenage audience as dumb monsters. This will not ‘scare the living yell out of you!’ as the cover promises but it does offer a few unintended laughs. Just for the record the
cover showing a monster with a dagger in it’s eye and a decorous woman
prostrated before it is nowhere to be seen in the film itself. Nigel
Watson
How to Make a Monster is part of the Arkoff Film Library’s Original Horror Classics being released this year by Direct Video Distribution and will be available on DVD and VHS from 27 May 2003. It can be otained in shops, at the www.dvdisc.co.uk website or by ringing their free phone order line number: 0800 328 9623. DVD
VHS
 The
Spider
Bullets won’t kill it! Flames can’t burn it! Nothing can stop it! The spider will eat you alive! Whilst looking for her missing father, a girl and her boyfriend stumble over an inhabited cave, occupied by a deadly giant spider. After being captured and enmeshed in the eight-legged beast’s giant web they manage to escape and raise the alarm. Convincing people proves to be tricky but eventually the sheriff and the school’s science teacher help them kill the monstrous spider and take it back to town. They put it in the school hall and hold a dance but is the spider really dead? AIP made pictures about teenagers for teenagers and The Spider has all the essential ingredients for a drive-in horror classic. High schoolers as the primary cast driving really cool cars, together with sceptical adults (the disbelieving sheriff), a rock’n’roll band (to wake up the spider) and a big scary monster (the spider.) Whether the spider is a freak of nature or a mutant is never determined as it escapes leaving many more questions. Why did they hold a dance with a spider in the corner of the school hall? Shouldn’t they be hunting for the spider’s possible offspring? What has it been living off the past few years? How will they stop it? Now you can find out in The Spider! The Spider is co-written
by George Worthing Yates who also wrote Earth vs the Flying Saucers
and Them!, and directed by Bert I. Gordon, nicknamed Mr Big
for his initials and his fondness for the big monsters in his films. His
special effects of producing giant monsters on screen were achieved by
ingeniously using rear projection enlargements.
The monster also represents a terrifying, unthinking and overwhelming force. It sends the townsfolk running and screaming, and it even threatens the egghead’s wife and child in their own home. It’ll eat you if it grabs you. Worryingly enough for a nation where guns are the prime form of protection against invaders ‘Bullets won’t kill it!’ screams the film’s publicity. There is no where to hide if this thing isn’t stopped. The acting has much to be desired but it fits well in a teenage universe where you think nothing of rehearsing your rock’n’roll band next to the ‘dead’ spider, or where your mom wears a fancy apron and high heels. I particularly like the scene where the teenagers arrange to look for Carol’s father by passing notes in class during a lecture by the egghead on electricity. It shows text messaging is nothing new in the classroom even if the technology for them has improved significantly. It’s also noteworthy that the experiment conducted in the class is applied on a larger scale to kill the spider at the end of the film. Another neat touch is a scene at a cinema where it is advertising War of the Colossal Beast, which is another A.I.P. production. The monster is rather boring as it looks exactly like a magnified bird spider that lumbers along like a drugged snail. Fortunately, the film itself has greater pace, and although no longer horrifying, it does have much kitsch charm. Nigel Watson
The Spider (1958), originally released theatrically as Earth Vs The Spider, is part of the Arkoff Film Library’s Original Horror Classics being released this year by Direct Video Distribution and will be available on DVD and VHS from 27 May 2003. It can be obtained in shops, at the www.dvdisc.co.uk website or by ringing their free phone order line number: 0800 328 9623. DVD
VHS
 War
of the Colossal Beast
The Towering Terror From Hell! Colonel Glen Manning isn’t the luckiest of people. Whilst trying to save someone from a crashed plane he was subjected to an experimental blast of plutonium which made him grow to the height of four houses. Misunderstood by society he was chased to the Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border. After being shot in the eye with a missile he fell off and floated off down stream to Mexico. Found years later snacking on food trucks he is recaptured and taken back to America with disastrous results. War Of The Colossal Beast is a classic fifties horror story of a large scary monster. The colossal man shows just how unprepared the world is for nuclear mutations, he quickly escapes his warehouse prison and slightly insane after years of social exclusion he goes on the rampage. How many people will he eat? Where will he hide? Is there a 60 foot woman out there for him? Will he be recaptured? Find out in War of the Colossal Beast! War Of The Colossal Beast is directed by Bert I. Gordon, nicknamed Mr Big for his initials and his fondness for the big monsters in his films. His special effects of producing giant monsters on screen were achieved by ingeniously using rear projection enlargements. DVD extras include a 50 minute audio interview with Samuel Z. Arkoff, recorded in 1991 at the National Film Theatre which is accompanied by pictures taken at the time, plus nine original Theatrical Film Trailers of movies from the Arkoff Film library. War of the Colossal Beast is part of the Arkoff Film Library’s Original Horror Classics being released this year by Direct Video Distribution and will be available on DVD and VHS from 27 May 2003. It can be obtained in shops, at the www.dvdisc.co.uk website or by ringing their free phone order line number: 0800 328 9623. DVD
VHS
 The
Brain Eaters
Crawling, slimy things terror bent on destroying the world! Strange things are happening in Riverdale Illinois; reports of strange lights in the sky, mysterious deaths and disappearances have lead Senator Powers and the local scientific research team to start an investigation into what is happening in this small isolated American town. Whilst examining the alien-like structure jutting out of the earth they stumble upon the unbelievable truth - parasites from the centre of the earth are controlling the brains of the Riverdale citizens! This classic b-movie follows the devastation caused by the furry brain-suckers from the centre of the earth as they fasten themselves to the townsfolk’s necks and turn them into zombies! As the town’s authorities and workers minds come under their control, communication and help are no longer a possibility and the free minds must act to save the world. Find out how and if they succeed in The Brain Eaters! The Brain Eaters is directed by B-movie legend Bruno Vesota. Well known for his B-movie acting roles The Brain Eaters is one of his three successful directorial efforts. DVD extras include a 50 minute audio interview with Samuel Z. Arkoff, recorded in 1991 at the National Film Theatre which is accompanied by pictures taken at the time, plus nine original Theatrical Film Trailers of movies from the Arkoff Film library. The Brain Eaters is part of the Arkoff Film Library’s Original Horror Classics being released this year by Direct Video Distribution and will be available on DVD and VHS from 21 July 2003. It can be obtained in shops, at the www.dvdisc.co.uk website or by ringing their free phone order line number: 0800 328 9623. DVD
VHS
 The
She-Creature
Hypnotised! Reincarnated
as a monster from hell!
A hypnosis based horror film tells the story of an oily hypnotist Dr Carlo Lombardi and his beautiful former carnival worker assistant Andrea. Dr Lombardi’s best-selling act consists of him predicting death and regressing Andrea back to previous lives, from a seventeenth century English woman all the way back to her pre-historic days when she was a sea-creature! When he summons the monster she comes forth from the sea and embarks on a terrifying killing spree. The locals of the beachfront community of southern California start to grow suspicious of why and how the hypnotist’s predictions of death are coming true. The She-Creature is a classic fifties horror story of a slow scary monster controlled by an evil hypnotist to commit murder! His hold over her begins to fade as her love grows for the hypnotist’s archenemy Dr Ted Erikson who is investigating the murders! Will Andrea break free from the hypnotist’s evil grip before he gets her to kill her true love Dr Erikson? How does she manage to kill so many people when she moves so slowly? Just how scary can a busty monster in a chintzy rubber suit be? Find out in The She-Creature! The She-Creature is directed by Edward L Cahn, who started his movie career in the 1920’s as a movie editor and went on to direct over 120 films. The monster costume was created by master make-up artist Paul Blaisdell and is considered as one of his best. DVD extras include a 50 minute audio interview with Samuel Z. Arkoff, recorded in 1991 at the National Film Theatre which is accompanied by pictures taken at the time, plus nine original Theatrical Film Trailers of movies from the Arkoff Film library. The She-Creature is part of the Arkoff Film Library’s Original Horror Classics being released this year by Direct Video Distribution and will be available on DVD and VHS from 21 July 2003. It can be obtained in shops, at the www.dvdisc.co.uk website or by ringing their free phone order line number: 0800 328 9623. DVD
VHS
Forthcoming Titles The Undead
RELEASE DATE 02 SEPTEMBER 2003 Voodoo Woman
RELEASE DATE 02 SEPTEMBER 2003 The Blood of Dracula
RELEASE DATE 17 NOVEMBER 2003 Reform School Girl
RELEASE DATE 17
NOVEMBER 2003
ALL ARE EXCLUSIVELY DISTRIBUTED IN THE UK BY DVD UK LTD. Visit www.dvdisc.co.uk for more details.
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