Thanks to all of your votes, the 2003 inductees into the B-Movie Hall of Fame have been selected!
“Many of this year’s inductees overcame problems of distribution common with B-Movies, yet time was their ally and now they are viewed as classics,” commented Ron Bonk. “Films like ‘Dolemite’ and ‘Sonny Boy’ and the works of Al Adamson and Doris Wishman were barely acknowledged when they were first released, yet their staying power has been extraordinary. And The Turkish Star Wars was never officially released outside of Turkey because of its misappropriation of the George Lucas footage, but thanks to underground video it is seen and loved all over the world.”
The 2003 inductees into the B-Movie Hall of Fame are:
B-MOVIE ICONS
Al Adamson — Ebullient filmmaker who gave the world such B-classics as “Blood of Dracula’s Castle” (1967), “Satan’s Sadists” (1969), “Five Bloody Graves” (1970) and “Blazing Stewardesses” (1975).
Rick Baker — Versatile make-up and special effects artist who began his film in career in flicks such as “The Thing with Two Heads” (1971), “Schlock” (1973) and “The Food of the Gods” (1976) before hitting the Hollywood A-list.
Charles Band — Imaginative filmmaker who helmed the B-favorites “Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn” (1983), “The Dungeonmaster” (1985) and “Hideous!” (1997).
Karen Black — The 1970s leading lady who later career work veered into memorable B-efforts including “Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies” (1993), “Plan 10 from Outer Space” (1994) and “I Woke Up Early the Day I Died” (1998).
Robert Englund — Character actor who found screen immortality as Freddy Kreuger in the long-running “Nightmare on Elm Street” series.
Peter Lorre — Austrian-born actor who starred in Hollywood A-classics as well as B-grade favorites including the “Mr. Moto” mystery series plus “The Face Behind the Mask” (1941) and “The Raven” (1963).
Rudy Ray Moore — Blaxploitation icon who sizzled the screen with such hits as “Dolemite” (1975), “Petey Wheatstraw” (1978) and “Disco Godfather” (1979).
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans — The King of the Cowboys and his comely consort, who rode the happy trails of numerous B-Westerns for Republic Pictures during the 1940s.
Stan Winston — Make-up and special effects legend, at home in the A-list films and in the B-classics including “It’s Alive” (1974), “Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde” (1976) and “Dracula’s Dog” (1978); he also scored as the writer/director of “Pumpinkhead” (1988).
Doris Wishman — Prolific grand dame of B-Movies, who directed such eclectic fare as “Nude on the Moon” (1962), “Deadly Weapons” (1973) and “Satan was a Lady” (1975).
B-MOVIE CLASSICS
“Behind the Green Door” (1972, directed by Artie Mitchell) — The no-budget skin flick which opened mainstream culture to the scintillating charms of pornographic filmmaking and Marilyn Chambers.
“Billy Jack” (1971, directed by T.C. Frank) — Tom Laughlin’s surprise bonanza which elevated the eponymous anti-hero, a karate-kicking half-breed Vietnam vet, to the status of early ’70s idol.
“Black Sunday” (1960, directed by Mario Bava) — The groundbreaking classic which put Mario Bava, Barbara Steele and the Italian horror genre on the cultural map.
“Deranged” (1974, directed by Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby) — A man’s devotion to his dead mother’s memory is taken to grisly extremes in this gruesome thriller, based on the life and crimes of Ed Gein.
“Dolemite” (1975, directed by D’Urville Martin) — The fight over the control of an inner city nightclub is the core of this raucous masterpiece of urban filmmaking.
“El Topo” (1970, directed by Alejando Jodorowksy) — The surreal Western whose grotesque and bizarre imagery hypnotized the audiences of the midnight movie circuit.
“The Masque of Red Death” (1965, directed by Roger Corman) — Vincent Price is the hedonist nobleman who hosts a depraved ball while death stalks his castle in this colorful adaptation of the Poe tale.
“Sonny Boy” (1990, directed by Robin Martin Carroll) — Over-the-top comedy about a crime boss and his transvestite wife (played by David Carradine) who discover an abandoned baby, cut out his tongue and raise him to be their mute accomplice in bank robbing.
“Sweet Sweetback’s Badaasssss Song” (1970, directed by Melvin Van Peebles) — This angry cry against racism in America launched the blaxploitation movement and brought a new dawn for African-American filmmaking.
The Turkish Star Wars (1982, directed by Cetan Inanc). Also known as “The Man Who Saves the World,” this production scissored FX footage from the 1977 landmark into a wacky and incoherent tale about two middle-aged space jockeys and a foxy faux-blonde saving the universe from an army of mummies and a big blue robot.
For more info, visit the B-Movie Theater website.
