Dwain Esper was born 7 October 1894. Or 1893. It depends on who you listen to.

And who was Dwain Esper? He was an early exploitation filmmaker. The first films were all what we would consider exploitation. Hollywood had professionalized by the late 1920s. And so there was an opening for men like Esper.

This worked because Esper was a showman. And he only produced films to make a buck. It’s hard not to appreciate such a clear vision. It contrasts so well with the pretense of Hollywood.

He worked closely with his wife, Hildagarde Stadie. They married in 1920 and stayed so through his death in 1982. The couple stopped making films in the 1940s. They were very rich by that time, it would seem.

Today, we know Dwain Esper for a handful of films:

• The Seventh Commandment (1932): A country boy goes to the big city only to find debauchery. But once he decides to leave. he learns he has syphilis. Beware, young men!
• Narcotic (1933): A young medical student gets seduced by drug culture and dies. Beware, medical students!
• Sex Madness (1934): A former burlesque dancer with syphilis wants to be cured so she can go back to her small hometown and marry her sweetheart. Beware, burlesque dancers!
• Maniac (1934): A lab assistant kills his mad scientist boss and walls up the corpse. Then he pretends to be the mad scientist. Eventually, the police find the corpse just like in “The Black Cat.” Beware, mad scientists!
• Marihuana (1936): A young woman and her boyfriend go all the way because of the title drug. She gets pregnant but he is murdered working for drug dealers. Beware, young couples!

Esper ran his business much in the way William Castle did during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He traveled around the country promoting and showing his films. Of course, Castle was a great filmmaker. Esper, well, wasn’t. But I do think people overstate his incompetence. I’ve seen worse films — much worse.

I think everyone should watch Maniac. It is such a bizarre film and Esper uses everything in his arsenal. This even includes a topless woman. It was released after the Hays Code went into effect. But that didn’t really apply to people like Esper who distributed their own films.

Other Psychotronic Birthdays and Releases

Filmmakers

• Screaming Mad George (1956-2026): Special effects designer on films like Big Trouble in Little China and Society.

Films

• 4D Man (1959): Scientist discovers how to walk through solid matter but it forces him to kill humans to stop his aging.
• Fail Safe (1964): A screw-up results in the US nuking Moscow and how the president needs to stop a global war.
• The Nanny (1965): A mentally disturbed child thinks Nanny is evil. He’s right.
• Alien Nation (1988): Space aliens integrate into society.
• Ed Wood (1994): Biopic about the legendary filmmaker.
• Night of the Demons III (1997): Kids shoot a cop and hide out in a haunted house.
• Attack of the Bat Monsters (1999): A small group makes a low-budget horror film.
• Contagion (2002): Criminals infect the President and a scientist must find a cure.
• The Call Of Cthulhu (2005): While organizing an estate, a man uncovers the Old Ones.
• Feast II: Sloppy Seconds (2008): The monsters are out of the bar and in town.
• Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead (2014): Red Army zombies must be risen to defeat Nazi zombies.
• Phantasm V: Ravager (2016): The last and most surreal of the series.
• House of the Witch (2017): Kids want to do a prank but end up in a house with an actual demon.

Sex Maniac (1934) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.