Fantastic Planet aka La Planète sauvage (1973)

I first got turned on to Fantastic Planet when it aired as part of Night Flight's programming during the 1980s. The film was directed by René Laloux with production design by Roland Topor, written by both and animated at Jiří Trnka Studio. The production itself was handled by French and Czechoslovakian companies and after winning the special jury prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, distribution rights in the United States was picked up by Roger Corman's New World Pictures.

The film's source material was the 1957 French science fiction novel Oms en série (lit. Oms Linked Together) written by Stefan Wul. The film's plot concerns a human like race, known as "Oms" who are existing on the Draags' planet. The Draags are somewhat humanoid is appearance but are much larger and live longer than the diminutive Oms. Some of the Oms are brought into the Draag's homes as domesticated pets but periodically the Oms are hunted and exterminated. A group of Draag children accidentally kill an Om female and take her orphaned offspring home to raise the child. The story continues on filled with curious alien creatures and fauna found throughout the film.

 

the trailer

the feature

The Big Doll House (1971)

This 1971 women-in-prison genre defining film is another jewel in the crown of skilled director Jack Hill. The Big Doll House was shot in the Philippines and features Sid Haig. This movie is also notable as Pam Grier's first major film role. She also contributed to the soundtrack, performing the song "Long Time Woman." 

the trailer

the feature

Pam Grier "Long Time Woman" 

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)

 

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) 

Presented below is my favorite Roger Corman directed feature.

Battle Beyond The Sun / Nebo zovyot (1960)

Roger Corman purchased the Soviet created sci-fi flick Nebo zovyot,
renamed it Battle Beyond The Sun, and hired young buck
Francis Ford Coppola to film some additional scenes for it's
English language version. Most notable is the "climatic" melee
between two alien creatures, each of which crudely resembles
male and female genitals. Good times at the drive-in!

Suburbia (1984)

Released by Roger Corman's New World Pictures, Penelope Spheeris wrote and directed Suburbia (1984) after making The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) and prior to filming The Boys Next Door (1985). Using a cast of almost all LA punks and non-trained actors while shooting in an area of tract housing set aside to be demolished to make way for a highway into LAX, Spheeris's film is sometimes referred to as punxploitation in reviews and I dig that handle. It's downbeat, but very watchable. Thanks to NOTANANUS4k for posting the movie on Youtube.




The trailer




The feature

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