B-Movies & Cult Films

We speak with writer-director Richard Kelly. His 2001 cult film Donnie Darko has been released in a new director's cut version. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The film mixes time-travel, coming-of age drama, sci-fi and surreal suburban angst.

Victoria Price is the daughter of actor Vincent Price, who was best known as the "king of horror" for his performances in horror films. He starred in a number of Roger Corman's films including House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, Tales of Terror, The Raven, and The Masque of the Red Death. Victoria is the author of the book: Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography. (Rebroadcast from Oct. 28, 1999.)

He's best known for his cult films Tales From the Gimli Hospital (1998) and Careful (1992). In 1995, Maddin was the youngest person to receive the Telluride Medal for Lifetime Achievement. His short film The Heart of the World won a special award from the National Society of Film Critics and was voted one of the 10 best films of the year by J. Hoberman of The Village Voice and A.O. Scott of The New York Times. His new film, Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary, transforms the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's interpretation of Bram Stoker's classic story into a silent film.

Film critic David Edelstein comments on the DVD release of Donnie Darko, starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

He has starred in the mock-horror vomitorium comedies: The Evil Dead, The Evil Dead Two and Army of Darkness, all directed by Sam Raimi. He also has had television roles in the popular series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules. More recently Campbell appeared in Spiderman and Serving Sarah. Campbell's memoir, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, is now out in paperback.

Film critic John Powers reviews the French film that has become a hit in France and has received a cult following, Amelie. Its just been released in the US

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the newest by director Joe Dante, who cut his teeth making B-movies for Roger Corman.

Band founded Full Moon Entertainment, which specializes in low-budget B-films of sci-fi, horror and fantasy. The movies go straight to video distribution. His older films include, "Re-Animator," "Ghoulies" and "Trancers." Some of the videos currently out include, "Demonic Toys," about a Jack-in-the Box, baby doll, and a teddy bear that come to life and terrorize adults trapped in a warehouse; and "Subspecies," about a demon hoard that come to life when a vampire breaks off his fingers at the joint.

Arkoff co-founded American International Pictures, the company that churned out the great low-budget teen movies of the 50s, 60s, and 70s like "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," and "Blackula." The Film Forum in New York City is running a retrospective of AIP movies.

Part II of the Fresh Air interview with the legendary B-movie producer and director. Corman talks about some of the unconventional research he did before making his films, including hanging out with the Hell's Angels and taking LSD. Despite having the opportunity to work with major studios, he chose to work independently, and eventually started his own production and distribution company, New World Pictures.

Part I of the Fresh Air interview. Despite his reputation as a master of the low-budget B-movie, Corman cites classic Hollywood and European films as his primary influences. He is known for his prolific pace, and for introducing now-famous actors like Jack Nicholson, Robert DeNiro, and Vincent Price. Corman has a new memoir, called "How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime."

Film director Herk Harvey and script writer John Clifford. Their 1962 low-budget horror film, "Carnival of Souls," has just been re-released. The film was shown only sporadically at the time of its completion, mostly to drive-ins and as half of a double feature throughout the Southeast. But in the years since, it has attracted a steady and loyal following, largely because of its occasional appearance on late-night TV.

Dante started making trailers for B movies produced by Roger Corman. He has since become a mainstream Hollywood director. His films include The Howling, Innerspace, Gremlins, and his newest, The Burbs, starring Tom Hanks.

Michael Barson's new book, Lost, Lonely and Vicious, collects promotional postcards of B movies from the late 1940s through the early '60s. He says these films were all sizzle, and were tame compared to their lurid, sensationalistic descriptions.