Director: Charles Band
Year released: 1999
THE CHARGE: This master of puppets is charged with pulling strings, twisting minds and smashing dreams, and probably imbibing too much whiskey in the jar-o.
THE EVIDENCE: Not many people know the name Charles Band, but his name deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as renowned low budget horror veterans like Roger Corman and H.G. Lewis. Since the early 70s, Band has produced almost 250 films and directed over 30. He also has an odd preoccupation with dolls, which appear in many of his films like Puppet Master, Dollman, Demonic Toys and Dangerous Worry Dolls. But Blood Dolls might be the craziest of them all.
Directors: Ray Dennis Steckler, Ted Roter
Year released: 1965
THE CHARGE: Creating short films 50 years ago with humor that went out of style 80 years ago.
THE EVIDENCE: Ray Dennis Steckler is something of an icon in the B-movie business, having directed such notorious films as The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies and Rat Pfink a Boo Boo. The Lemon Grove Kids were a lesser known creation of his, an attempt to emulate the classic humor of the Bowery Boys with a dash of The Little Rascals thrown in for good measure.
Director: Jake West
Year released: 2005
THE CHARGE: They're aliens and they admit they're evil. It's right there in the title.
THE EVIDENCE: It's been said that the really great movies are the ones that teach us something about ourselves. By that definition, Evil Aliens is a really great movie. But I can't say it's a good one.
Directors: Jesse Holland, Andy Mitton
Year released: 2010
THE CHARGE: Being yet another "creepy things in the woods" movie and paying attention to the man behind the curtain.
THE EVIDENCE: Once in a while, a low budget horror flick clearly aspires to be something more. It doesn't intend just to scare you, it wants you to think about why you're scared. When it succeeds, it’s a magical masterpiece of creative film making that not only raises goose bumps, but flexes your mental muscles as well. Yellowbrickroad (yes, one word) wants to be recognized as part of this rare breed, but it never quite gets there.
Directors: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Naoyuki Tomomatsu
Year released: 2009
THE CHARGE: Stealing classic monster mythology and infusing it with an unhealthy dose of Japanese WTF.
THE EVIDENCE: If I could sum up Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl in one word, it would be “ridiculously”. No adjective I could use to describe this film would be complete without it: ridiculously violent, ridiculously campy, ridiculously offensive, ridiculously enjoyable.
