Movie Ad of the Week: LEGEND OF THE BAYOU (1984)

Tobe Hooper's sophomore effort, EATEN ALIVE (1976), had already played the exploitation circuit for eight years when it rolled into 30+ theaters in the New York area as LEGEND OF THE BAYOU on March 2, 1984, courtesy of Motion Picture Marketing. Prior to MPM's release, the film had gone out through such low-budget outfits as M&M Films (as HORROR HOTEL), Virgo International Pictures (as DEATH TRAP and STARLIGHT SLAUGHTER), and Roger Corman's New World Pictures, who promoted the film with a tag line they recycled a few years later for SHOGUN ASSASSIN ("Meet the greatest team in the history of mass slaughter").

Movie Ad of the Week: MASSACRE AT REDNECK COUNTY (1979)

Just when Po-Man was beginning to think he'd written the final word on POOR PRETTY EDDIE, he stumbled upon yet another alternate title for this twisted little gem. Here's the ad from its St. Louis opening as MASSACRE AT REDNECK COUNTY on December 14, 1979.

The Endangered List (Case File #131)

BEACH BOY REBELS (1969)

Starring
Rodney Bedel
Elain Taylor
Joan Van Vranken
Walter Philbin
and
Ronald Von Klaussen
as the Police Inspector

Guest Stars
Joe E. Ross
and
Willie Pastrano

Directed by
Stewart Merrill
[Terry Merrill]

Produced by
Dee Wright

A Southern Films Production

No MPAA rating

CHRIS POGGIALI: With nothing to go on but the title and poster, I'm guessing that BEACH BOY REBELS is about "Murph the Surf" and the Star of India heist?

STEWART MERRILL: Not really. At the beginning of the movie, a jewel robbery is taking place and the robber throws a bracelet out the window. His buddies are supposed to get it but it bounces off a ledge. They can’t find it, but the “beach boys” find it and take it to a fence. There’s some violence in it, some shootings. I’ll tell you the problem I had with BEACH BOY REBELS. I gave it to a distributor and that son of a bitch played it everywhere, and I never saw a penny from it.

(A full interview is in the works. Meanwhile, we're working with Mr. Merrill on digitizing the last surviving print of BEACH BOY REBELS.)

Thanks to Eric Harvey (Serious Exploitation) for bringing this film to our attention, and Bill Grefe for putting us in touch with Mr. Merrill.
 

Movie Ad of the Week: "Dracula's Buffet Luncheon" (1960/1969/1974/1980)

We've posted before about the weird dusk-to-dawn shows that played Pennsylvania drive-ins in the early 1980s, but the wonderfully named "Dracula's Buffet Luncheon" program was booked in the Uniontown/ Indiana/Connelsville area four times in 20 years (1960-1980) without ever playing anyplace else, as far as we can tell.

Above is the ad for its first appearance, supporting BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE (1958), REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1958) and THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) at the Moonlite Drive-In in Smithtown, PA on August 3, 1960.

The next luncheon was held on Halloween night 1969 at the Moonlite and two other drive-ins, the Starlite in Uniontown and the Comet in Connelsville.

Five years later, the same three drive-ins advertised the luncheon as a "Fantastic Friday-13" program on Friday, September 13, 1974.

For Halloween 1980, the Indiana Mall Cinemas IV in Indiana, PA ran FRIDAY THE 13TH and Three Stooges shorts for two nights, with the usual luncheon specials (like "Deviled Zombie Snacks" and "Crispy Skull Chips") given out free to everyone with admission tickets ending in the number 13.

The Endangered List (Case File #130) - FOUND!

LAST FOXTROT IN BURBANK (1973)

Starring
Michael Pataki (Paul)
Sherry Denton (Jeanne)
Simmy Bow (Marcel)
Sally Marr (Mrs. Ketchenberg)
I. William Quinn (Tom)
with
Dennis Rhodes
and
Ron Carter

Produced and directed
by
Charles Band

Screenplay by
Bill Haggard
and
Sam Vaughn

Camera
Tom Cecato

Assistant Director
Jory Valian

Edited by
John T. Casino
[John Carpenter]

Music by
Gordon McGill

Sound by
Rocco Zomparelli

Released by
Federated Film Corporation

Running time
65 minutes (1973)
75 minutes (1974)

Rating: Self-imposed X

Over at the Rogue Cinema website, Duane L. Martin interviewed Charles Band and got the filmmaker to talk about LAST FOXTROT IN BURBANK. Click HERE to read Duane's interview!

Movie Ad of the Week: THE MAD DOCTOR'S MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA PARTY with ATTACK OF THE DEATH MONSTERS (1971)

This perfect David L. Hewitt double bill arrived at the Circle Drive-In in Lubbock, TX on December 31, 1971.  THE MAD DOCTOR'S MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA PARTY is Hewitt's 30-minute spookshow classic MONSTERS CRASH THE PAJAMA PARTY (1965), while ATTACK OF THE DEATH MONSTERS is a re-release of his cheapo-cheapo KING KONG rip-off THE MIGHTY GORGA (1969), shot by Gary Graver in Bronson Canyon and starring Anthony Eisley, Scott Brady, Kent Taylor, Megan Timothy, Gary Kent, Greydon Clark, Sheldon Lee, a guy in a gorilla costume, and another guy in a dinosaur costume.