CULT-TASTIC: Tales From The Trenches With Roger And Julie Corman
Shout! Factory TV presents Cult-tastic: Tales From The Trenches with Roger and Julie Corman. Heralded as “the Pope of Pop Cinema,” Roger and Julie Corman pull back the curtain on the Cormans' lifetime of innovative genre filmmaking in this never-before-seen docu-series. The Cormans open up about their iconic pool of collaborators such as James Cameron, Joe Dante, Penelope Spheeris, Pam Grier and more, as well as their notoriously bare-bones production philosophy that created some of film’s most memorable special FX sequences in science-fiction, fantasy and other cult favorites.
Episodes
Future Worlds
In episode one of Roger and Julie Corman’s Cult-tastic!, there are seven featured films that revolve around the common theme of “future worlds.” First, there is Battle Beyond The Stars directed by Roger Corman and Jimmy T. Murakami. It features actors Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard and John Saxon. An interesting bit about Battle Beyond The Stars is that James Cameron, who had hitch-hiked from Arizona with no previous Hollywood experience, was promoted to head special effects for the picture after the original special effects specialist was fired. The episode also includes the film Galaxy of Terror directed by Bruce D. Clark, and the cast consists of Edward Albert, Erin Moran and Ray Walston. War of the Satellites is another film mentioned in this episode, and it was directed by Roger Corman. The cast combines Dick Miller, Susan Cabot and Richard Devon. The picture was released 60 days after Russia put the first satellite in space and was therefore representative of the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Dead Space directed by Fred Gallo was also discussed, and it emphasized humor when cast members Marc Singer and Laura Tate were tasked with taking down a metamorphic virus in space. Death Sport directed by Roger Corman and Allan Arkush was another impressive film brought up in episode one, and its cast included stars like Claudia Jennings and David Carradine. There was an incident on set where a gun was held to Jennings’ head, and Corman described how he had to help deescalate the situation. Nightfall directed by Paul Mayersberg was an intriguing story about a world where darkness only occurs every 2500 years. Lastly, Star Crash directed by Luigi Cozzo comprised an international cast such as Caroline Munro, Marjoe Gortner and Christopher Plummer for an exciting futuristic action film.
Criminal Lives
Discusses William Shatner, Angie Dickenson, Martin Sheen, F. Murray Abraham and features "Big Bad Mama," "Crazy Mama," "The Great Texas Dynamite Chase," "Big Bad Mama II," and "Dillinger and Capone."
Comedy
Discusses Ron Howard, Joe Dante, The Ramones and features "Eat My Dust!," "Saturday the 14th," "Last Resort," and "Hollywood Boulevard."
Real World
Discusses Jamie Lee Curtis, Peter Bogdanovich and Ben Gazzara and features "High School Big Shot," "Cockfighter," "Saint Jack," "Suburbia," "Love Letters" and "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden."
Outsiders
Discusses Tommy Lee Jones and features "Angels," "Hard As They Come," "Black Oak Conspiracy," "Bloodfist," "Naked Angels," "Nashville Girl" and "The Spy Within."
Warrior Women
Discusses Jonathan Demme and Pam Greer and features "Barbarian Queen," "Caged Heat," "Silk," "The Sisterhood," "The Arena," "The Hot Box" and "TNT Jackson."
Mad Scientists
Discusses Joe Dante and features "The Wasp Woman," "Forbidden World," "Screamers," "Brain Dead," "The Unborn" and "Piranha" (1995).
Monster Mash
Features "Humanoids from the Deep," "Attack of the Crab Monsters," "Night of the Cobra Woman," "Demon of Paradise" and "Creature from the Haunted Sea."
Fantasy
Features "Sorceress," "Deathstalker," "The Warrior and the Sorceress," "Deathstalker II," "Wizards of the Lost Kingdom," "The Magic Voyage of Sinbad" and "The Dirt Bike Kid."
Survival
Features "Big Doll House," "Jackson County Jail," "Battle of Blood Island," "Avalanche" and "The Big Bird Cage."
Against All Odds
Features "Eye of the Eagle," "Eye of the Eagle 2," "Cocaine Wars," "Pit Stop," "The Destroyers," "Stripped to Kill," "The Slumber Party Massacre" and "Nam Angels."
End of the World
Features "Warlords of the 21st Century," "Wheels of Fire," "Future Kick," "Equalizer 2000," "Raiders of the Sun" and "The Terror Within."
Memories
Discusses Jack Nicholson and features "The Dirt Bike Kid," "Last Resort," "Big Doll House" and "Night Call Nurses."
Top Cast
Roger Corman
Himself
Julie Corman
Herself
