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.

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

Silver Spotlight Films released CarousHELL on 6 October 2016.

Steve Rudzinski is the brilliant young man behind CarousHELL. A few years back, I signed up for OnlyFans to get access to all his work. I had no idea at the time that the site was primarily for porn. This was especially ironic. Rudzinski mostly creates very sweet, often child-appropriate films.

For example, his Meowy series is as sweet as it is silly. They tell the story of Wally Griswold, the most naive and incompetent cop you have ever seen. Luckily, he has a cat and rat who are way smarter. And they normally get him out of his jams.

He reminds me a lot of Chris Seaver, although without the adolescent sex gags. Of course, Seaver has never made a film as good as CarousHELL. (That might be a little strong. I haven’t looked at Seaver’s work in a long time and he, like Rudzinski, makes a lot of films!)

CarousHELL tells the story of Duke, “the prettiest damned unicorn in the world,” who is cursed to go in circles on a carousel. Fed up with the constant abuse from kids, Duke breaks free and goes on a killing spree. In particular, he targets Lunchbox, a little boy who rubbed his boogers in Duke’s eye.

Rudzinski is a great example for young filmmakers. His first few films are almost unwatchable. But he kept making them and they got better and better. And now he pumps out a couple of features per year.

There are three CarousHELL films. I’ve watched them all. But I don’t remember what happens in the later ones. In the second, he gets married to a woman and has a child. No one seems to notice that he is a carousel unicorn. I recall them being good but not as strong as the original.

I can’t embed the three films. But CarousHELL and CarousHELL 2 are on Plex. And CarousHELL 3 is on Tubi. Here is the trailer to the first one. If you do nothing else, watch it:

CarousHELL (2016) poster via IMDb under Fair Use.

Clive Barker is 73 today. He was born on 5 October 2025.

Barker is amazing in one way, especially. He makes visually interesting films even though he’s really a novelist. Of course, I think the same about William Peter Blatty.

I’ve never seen a Clive Barker film that I didn’t think wasn’t worth making. Unfortunately, I also rarely enjoy his films. Of course, he has only directed three feature films. It seems like more. That’s branding, I’m afraid.

Barker is able to create a general feeling of dread. He does this in part by creating memorable, grotesque images. Pinhead is a good example of this. But it also highlights why I don’t connect with his films. His images are so outside my experience that I can’t relate.

But I can see why people love his work. And he deserves to be admired. There are a lot of filmmakers I love who make crap. It stands to reason that it would work the other way around.

But now I have a problem. Should I choose Hellraiser, Nightbreed, or Lord of Illusions? The second two are weaker. But hasn’t everyone seen the first?

If I had my druthers, I’d pick Candyman. But he didn’t direct it; he wrote the story it is based on. So I don’t think it matters. I would like to see Hellraiser again. So that’s what we get!

Image cropped from Clive Barker by Steven Friederich under CC BY 2.0.

NAI Entertainment released Attack of the Killer Tomatoes on 4 October 1978 in the United States.

When I was in high school, this film was iconic. But no one I knew had seen it. It just had a very memorable title. I assumed it was a cheeky parody of a 1950s science fiction monster movie. And it is. But I was surprised when I finally saw it. It’s much closer to The Kentucky Fried Movie and the later Airplane! than it is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes will do anything for a laugh. And this gets in the way. It especially gets in the way when the humor is more obscure. And it is often very obscure. But the film keeps its momentum throughout.

But Killer Tomatoes is amazing in one way especially. They made it for $100,000 — maybe less. Some of it shows. The sets are hotel rooms and college multipurpose rooms. But it features amazing crowd scenes. It also features a great scene when the army is attacking the tomatoes.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes features a mostly amateur cast. There are exceptions. Jack Riley has a small role in the film. You will remember him as Elliot Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show. But he was already a very successful TV actor at that time. Eric Christmas is also in the film.

Most of the less experienced actors are fine. And even when the acting is sketchy, it still works. Sharon Taylor is especially weak. Yet she works for the role.

“Critics” didn’t like the film at the time. Even Michael Weldon said that although parts were funny, “it doesn’t really make it as a midnight cult film.” And he was right. It never did become the kind of cult film you would expect. And that probably explains why “critics” today also don’t like it.

But I don’t think there is any doubt. It’s a fun film as long as you get past your predetermined idea of what it ought to be. So let’s watch Attack of the Killer Tomatoes to celebrate its 47th birthday!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

The HP Lovecraft Film Festival premiered The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu on 3 October 2009. Other than film festivals, I don’t think the film ever got a proper theatrical release.

I love this film. It is so much fun. Outlaw Films made it on a shoestring. That is probably why no one has seen it. Most people only watch well-advertised films.

Regardless, The Last Lovecraft brings up an interesting question. Why is Lovecraft’s work the basis for so many great films? It’s similar to Philip K Dick. Both writers had good ideas. Neither was a very interesting writer.

Not that The Last Lovecraft takes that much from the author. Basically, it just grabs the fish-based mythology. And it doesn’t have nearly the budget to do more than putting a silly mast on Star Spawn.

Lovecraft inspired technically better films. In particular, there are Re-Animator and In the Mouth of Madness. But neither of these nor any others are any more fun than The Last Lovecraft.

The film stars Kyle Davis and Devin McGinn. The latter also wrote the script. But the standout here is Barak Hardley. This is the first film I saw him in. But I’ve seen him in much more since. In particular, he has a great section in The Mortuary Collection. He’s also been in a series of commercials. Why? Because he is the perfect uber-nerd. Guys like me identify with him.

The Model II Uber-Nerd, Martin Starr, is also in this film. But he has a small part. He’s also done a lot of commercials.

Anyway, if you like psychotronic film and fun, you need to watch The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu. Unfortunately, I don’t have a commercial-free link to the film. You will need to watch it on Plex. But here’s the trailer:

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Groucho Marx was born on 2 October 1890. He was born Julius Henry Marx. Groucho was his stage name from fellow performer Art Fisher, who coined all the brothers’ names. Groucho is the only name that made much of sense. His character wasn’t grouchy exactly — more caustic. But it’s close enough.

Of the main three Marx Brothers, Groucho was the youngest. It seems odd. But it is probably due to his tendency to play older characters. He was also the biggest star of the group.

The Marx Brothers started as a musical act. And you can see that later in their films. I do like Groucho’s funny songs and Chico’s circus-like piano playing. I could do without Harpo’s harp act. He was very good but… You know, harp. The singing and piano playing was at least amusing. The harp scenes just killed the comedic momentum.

In total, the Marx Brothers made 14 films. They all featured the older three brothers. Zeppo was in the first five of the films. Gummo wasn’t in any of the films. He didn’t like performing but went on to be a talent agent, later representing Groucho.

I have always loved Groucho Marx. I even enjoyed reruns of You Bet Your Life when I was a kid. But I loved him then and now mostly for the films. Not that the films are great. They are normally filled with boring romances featuring unremarkable characters. Margaret Dumont was the only non-brother to stand out in the films. She was in seven of them.

The best things in the movies are Groucho’s scenes with Dumont and Chico. They still make me laugh.

People have their favorite Marx Brothers films. And I’m not here to say they are wrong. Well, they are wrong about Duck Soup. Not because the film is bad but because it almost certainly indicates that they were told by modern “critics” that it is “great.”

Regardless, my favorite today is the same as it was when I was a kid. So let’s celebrate Groucho Marx by watching Animal Crackers.

Groucho Marx image via Wikipedia. It is in the public domain.

New World Pictures released Galaxy of Terror on 1 October 1981 in the United States. It only ever got a limited release.

I’ll be honest. This film is a rip-off of Alien. Yet it’s really good. Of course, “critics” generally hate it. Of course they would! Can’t appreciate a low-budget version of a beloved earlier film!

But it’s more than just Alien. It influenced Aliens. This is not surprising. James Cameron was second unit director and co-production designer.

What I most like are the practical special effects. Alien gets by without much because the whole thing is so dark. (Obviously, John Hurt’s chest explosion is the exception.)

But I understand why many don’t like this film. A lot of it is less realistic than Alien. But it ain’t like this earlier film couldn’t use a bit more color!

Strangely, director Bruce D Clark never directed again. And he never directed horror or science fiction. It goes to show: a film is a film is a film. I assume he just got tired of working on these films. But he did come back to produce a couple of direct-to-video films in the 1990s. Both were filmed in Washington state so I assume he retired up there. I hope he’s well!

Anyway, enough talk! Let’s watch this underappreciated gem:

Galaxy of Terror poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Dan O’Bannon was born on 30 September 1946. He died at the age of 63.

O’Bannon was a great screenwriter who wrote many iconic psychotronic films. These include Dark Star, Alien, Lifeforce, Invaders from Mars, and Total Recall. He also directed a couple of excellent horror films: The Return of the Living Dead and The Resurrected.

It’s shocking he created so much great stuff when he died so young.

In general, O’Bannon shares screenwriting credit for his work. For example, three of his films were co-written with Don Jakoby. O’Bannon was the visionary or genius. Jakoby was the craftsman. Or at least that’s what film journalists will tell you. I think such generalizations are mostly nonsense. Both men loved the kind of horror and science fiction they wrote. Jakoby, for example, co-wrote Arachnophobia without O’Bannon.

Dan O’Bannon also collaborated with Ronald Shusett on two big hits: Alien and Total Recall. People say exactly the same thing about this relationship.

There is one wrinkle. The two men supposedly wrote Dead & Buried together. But according to O’Bannon, he only put his name on the screenplay to get it made. He hated the final film. That’s too bad. It’s actually quite good. This was after they wrote Alien together but before Total Recall. I smell a rat. Temperamental artists with journalists recording every silly thought they have.

It is hard to pick a film to celebrate Dan O’Bannon’s birthday. But I really think we have to go with The Return of the Living Dead. It’s one of his few directorial efforts. And he wrote the screenplay (but not the story). And it works very well to this day.

Dan O’Bannon by JaSunni under CC BY-SA 3.0.

20th Century Fox released The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the US on 29 September 1975.

It was not initially successful. In its first year, it made less than its production costs. But it wasn’t a classic sleeper either. It made roughly ten times its budget in each of the following five years.

El Topo was the first midnight movie. But after it, the trend was away from art films and toward psychotronics. (Of course, I certainly consider El Topo a psychotronic film.)

Rocky Horror is such a bizarre film that it is classic psychotronic. But I do tend to push it away because the film is so obviously pandering to people like me. For years I’ve wanted to rewrite “Science Fiction/Double Feature.” I love the song but it’s like it is written by someone who knows about psychotronic films but hasn’t actually watched them.

• Michael Rennie was not ill The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Fay Wray and King Kong were not in a celluloid jam — whatever that means
• Doctor X will not build a creature
• Leo G Carroll was not over a barrel when Tarantula took to the hills
• Janette Scott did not fight a triffid — she cowered throughout The Day of the Triffids
• Dana Andrews never made a rune pun in Night of the Demon
• And George Pal is not in When Worlds Collide, and so said nothing to his bride.

But Richard O’Brien knows these films. I think he’s just lazy. And fair enough! So am I!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show wasn’t successful because it is designed for psychotronic fans. It succeeded because it is sexually transgressive. And the music is great! But I love it because it shows such respect for these old films. You don’t have to get the references but they are there for the getting.

So it has been 50 years since Rocky Horror made it to these United States. Let’s celebrate by watching it!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

John Sayles turns 75 today. He was born on 28 September 1950.

Sayles is a notable director but not really a psychotronic director. When he was in charge, he tended toward drama and social commentary. I’m very fond of Matewan but it isn’t psychotronic (even if I’ve made the argument that it is).

But as a screenwriter, John Sayles is a psychotronic icon. We don’t need to go any further than his first screenplay, Piranha. There were a lot of films that came out in the late 1970s that tried to capitalize on Jaws. And I tend to like them. But I can’t say they are exactly good. But Piranha definitely is. And for a first produced screenplay: wow!

Sayles went on to write Battle Beyond the Stars, which is way better than it should be. And then there was Alligator. And he co-wrote The Howling. I’m not a fan of werewolf films. But this is one of the best.

The bottom line is Sayles writes films that are better than what we get from others. And, as I tell young filmmakers, things are so much easier if you start with a solid script. And check this out: it doesn’t cost anything to rewrite a screenplay!

The only true psychotronic John Sayles directed is The Brother from Another Planet. And even it is more art than psychotronic.

Let’s celebrate John Sayles’ 75th birthday by watching Alligator. It is a solid monster film that demonstrates his prowess as a screenwriter. It also features a young Robert Forster.

John Sayles by Rodrigo Fernández under CC BY-SA 3.0.