In a career that has spanned seven decades, Roger Corman is nothing short of a legend. His influence and impact are almost immeasurable, having mentored or introduced so many prominent filmmakers working today. That doesn’t even touch on how he changed independent cinema or wore multiple hats doing so: director, producer, writer, and actor, to name a few.
With the legend’s passing this weekend, it feels only appropriate to highlight just a handful of the essential Roger Corman horror movies on streaming. This week’s streaming picks celebrate some of the essential works of Roger Corman horror movies, whether he produced, directed, or appeared on screen.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
A Bucket of Blood – AMC+, Crackle, Fandor, Kanopy, MGM+, Midnight Pulp, Pluto TV, Prime Video, SCREAMBOX, Shudder, Tubi, Vudu
Roger Corman had a recurring interest in counterculture, which is a central theme in the Corman-directed A Bucket of Blood. The film marks Dick Miller’s first major iconic horror role as Walter Paisley and the first of many collaborations between Miller and Corman. The lead character, Walter, is a dimwitted busboy propelled to murder after finding acclaim as an artist for a plaster-covered dead cat that is mistaken for a work of art. The character was so memorably played by Miller that many of his future character roles would also share the name Walter Paisley (see Chopping Mall, Hollywood Boulevard, The Howling, Twilight Zone: The Movie).
The Masque of the Red Death – Pluto TV
Vincent Price was a prominent fixture during Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe cycle, which kicked off with the popular House of Usher. Any one of them would make for a great pick, but Corman felt “The Masque of the Red Death” was one of Poe’s best short stories. It’s also arguably the best of the Corman-helmed Poe films. Atmospheric and twisted, this film lets Price loose as Prince Prospero, a particularly cruel ruler and Satanist. He gleefully terrorizes his peasants and leaves them to die when a mysterious plague sweeps the land. Instead, he uses his castle as a fortress to block out the plague.
Piranha – AMC+, Crackle, Kanopy, Midnight Pulp, Peacock, Plex, Pluto TV, the Roku Channel, SCREAMBOX, Shout TV, Shudder, Tubi, Vudu
Eventually, Roger Corman founded his own independent production company, New World Pictures, and with it came a whole new class of Corman-inspired budding filmmakers. One of the most prominent filmmakers to emerge from this group was director Joe Dante. Dante’s first horror film, Piranha, is based on a story by Richard Robinson and John Sayles and was the first installment in a series of low-budget B movies inspired by the blockbuster hit Jaws. With a plot that sees mutated man-eating fish unleashed upon an unsuspecting resort, Dante enlisted special effects wizard Phil Tippett for the piranhas and stop-motion sequences.
The Silence of the Lambs – MGM+
Jonathan Demme’s Academy Award-winning feature begs the eternal question of genre classification among film fans. A young FBI cadet seeks help from an incarcerated cannibal to catch a serial killer who skins his victims to create a skinsuit. Existing at the crossroads of crime thriller and horror, The Silence of the Lambs left an indelible mark on cinema that still resonates today. Demme began his career under Roger Corman and made his directorial debut with the Corman-produced Caged Heat. Demme paid tribute to Corman by giving him a cameo in his Oscar-winning feature as FBI Director Hayden Burke.
The Slumber Party Massacre – AMC+, Crackle, freevee, Midnight Pulp, Pluto TV, the Roku Channel, SCREAMBOX, Shudder, Tubi, Vudu
Teen Trish decides to host a slumber party for her fellow basketball team members while her parents are away. It’s all fun and games until an escaped murderer crashes the party with power tools. Despite the generic title, this slasher is anything but. It features fun, gory kills, really goofy “red herrings,” like a weird neighbor who uses a kitchen cleaver to kill snails at night, and even an early appearance by horror stalwart Brinke Stevens as an early victim. Amy Holden Jones had been editing films for Roger Corman productions and wanted to try her hand at directing, so she took it upon herself to shoot opening scenes from Rita Mae Brown’s script over a weekend. Corman was so impressed that he asked her to helm the full feature, and the rest, as they say, is franchise history.
