The B-Movie Theater, the popular web site www.b-movie.com celebrating the art and industry of the low-budget film genre, announces the first round of inductions in the new B-Movie Hall of Fame. The B-Movie Hall of Fame honorees were selected from over 1,000 nominations submitted by cinephiles from around the world, who selected the classic films and most prolific artists of the B-Movie world.
“We were literally flooded with the most amazing variety of nominations imaginable,” said Ron Bonk, president and founder of the B-Movie Hall of Fame. “Some of our inductees were expected, such as Roger Corman and The Night of the Living Dead. But other inductees were rather surprising, such as the director Joseph Kane and the actress Jeanne Carmen. If anything, the B-Movie Hall of Fame highlights the extraordinary depth and scope of the B-Movie world and the many talented individuals in this unique and wonderful section of the film industry.”
The charter members of the B-Movie Hall of Fame, categorized by artists and classics, are listed in alphabetical order:
[ B-MOVIE ARTISTS ] ^ [ THE BOWERY BOYS ] . Also known as the Dead End Kids and the East Side Kids. A comedy ensemble led by Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall who starred in the longest-running B-Movie comedy series of all time. ^
[ JEANNE CARMEN. Star of the 1950s B-Classics Striporama (1954), Gang Busters (1955), Untamed Youth (1957), The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1958) and Born Reckless (1958).
[ ROGER CORMAN ] . Director of the B-Favorites A Bucket of Blood (1958), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) and The Masque of the Red Death (1965); founder of New World Pictures and Concorde Pictures.
[ INOSHIRO HONDA ] . Japanese filmmaker who helmed many of the Toho Studio monster epics including the original and watchable Godzilla (1954), Mothra (1962), Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1965), Destroy All Monsters (1968) and Yog, Monster from Space (1970).
[ JOSEPH KANE ] . Prolific director of 116 features for Republic Pictures. Best-known films include Springtime in the Rockies (1937), Under Western Stars (1938), Sons of the Pioneers (1942), The Flame of the Barbary Coast (1945), Dakota (1945) and Fair Wind to Java (1953).
[ LLOYD KAUFMAN & MICHæL HERZ ] . Director/producer team who founded the B-Movie studio Troma. Best known for the films Squeeze Play (1979), The Toxic Avenger (1984) and Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD (1991).
[ BELA LUGOSI ] . Hungarian-born horror film icon whose long career ranged from the sublime (the 1931 masterpiece Dracula) to the wonderfully ridiculous (the 1954 Bride of the Monster).
[ RONALD REAGAN & NANCY DAVIS ] . The 40th U.S. President and his First Lady began their respective careers in B-Movies before moving on to bigger and better roles. He was the happy star of the B-hits Code of the Secret Service (1939), Bedtime for Bonzo (1950) and Hong Kong (1951), while she offered the world The Next Voice You Hear (1950) and Donovan’s Brain (1953); together they starred in Hellcats of the Navy (1957).
[ JOHN WATERS ] . Baltimore-based filmmaker who created the trashy underground comedy hits Mondo Trasho (1969), Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974) before going mainstream with the hit movies Hairspray (1988) and “P****r” (1998).
[ EDWARD D. WOOD, JR ] . Belatedly-beloved filmmaker who created the amazing entertainments Glen or Glenda? (1952), Jail Bait (1953), Bride of the Monster (1954), lan 9 from Outer Space (1959) and Night of the Ghouls (1960).
[ B-MOVIE CLASSICS ] ^ [ BLOOD OF JESUS ] (1941), directed by Spencer Williams. All-black drama, originally shown only in segregated theaters, focusing on a dying woman’s test of religious faith. ^
[ CARNIVAL OF SOULS ] (1962), directed by Herk Harvey. A car wreck survivor embarks in a career as a church organist, only to be haunted by a mysterious spirit.
[ DEATH RACE 2000 ] (1975), directed by Paul Bartel. Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine star in the action/comedy mini-epic on a most unusual futuristic auto race.
[ DETOUR ] (1945), directed by Edgar Ulmer. A musician with a dark secret makes the mistake of picking up the most dangerous hitchhiker imaginable.
[ THE EVIL DEAD ] (1982), directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell. Filmed in Tennessee on a $90,000 budget, this influential chiller tells of five students in a remote cabin who accidentally unleash demons.
[ THE LEOPARD MAN ] (1943), directed by Jacques Tourneur. Stylish thriller of a predatory beast on the loose, considered to be the finest of the Val Lewton productions at RKO Radio Pictures.
[ NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD ] (1968), directed by George Romero. A group of strangers take shelter in a deserted house as the recently deceased return with a craving for live flesh.
[ PINK FLAMINGOS ] (1972), directed by John Waters. The notorious $12,000 comedy, starring Divine as the trailer trash seeking to become the filthiest person in the world.
[ PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE ] (1959), directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. Aliens seek world domination by raising the dead in the unintentionally hilarious cult favorite.
[ THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE ] (1973), directed by Tobe Hooper. Inspired by actual events, a killer named Leatherface goes on a flesh-and-bone slicing rampage.
