The Intruder/Shame/I Hate Your Guts/The Stranger (1962) - Corman's impassioned political drama

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A fiery cross is outlined against the serious visage of star William Shatner on this stark poster for Roger Corman's The Intruder

A mysterious stranger arrives in the racially segregated Southern town of Caxton; he is a good-mannered rhetorical figure, promoting 'social reform' while actually spelling trouble, - by inciting a race riot.

The Intruder is written by Charles Beaumont (Night of the Eagle (1962)), adapting his own same-titled 1959 novel, and directed by great Michigander filmmaker Roger Corman (Highway Dragnet (1954)).

William Shatner (The Big Bang Theory (2019, TV-series)) shines in the central part of Adam Crane, and this rare, idealistic, topical issue-driven film impresses as an accomplishment in itself as well as in terms of what it succeeds with: The casting of the town's locals is strong, and central scenes will etch themselves into the audience's memory banks. The Intruder is among the best race-themed American films of all time.

 

Related posts:

Roger Corman: Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (documentary subject)

Philadelphia (1993) - AIDS and homosexuality acknowledged in great drama (actor) 

Galaxy of Terror (1981) - Clark and Corman's delightful space-set gore-fest (producer)

Death Race 2000 (1975) - AIP's dystopic car smash (producer)
The Wild Angels (1966) - Young biker rebels deliver a counter-culture punch in Corman's hands

Dementia 13/The Haunted and the Hunted (1963) - Coppola's Gothic AIP castle horror (producer) 

Creature From the Haunted Sea (1961) - Cheap, fast, amusing spoof/spy thriller/creature feature (producer/director)
Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date

House of Usher/The Fall of the House of Usher/The Mysterious House of Usher (1960) - Corman's exuberant first house of Poeish horror

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 90-100k $

Box office: Unknown

= Unknown but reportedly a flop

[The Intruder premiered 14 May (New York) and runs 84 minutes. Major studios had passed on the adaptation, which Corman and his brother Gene Corman then did on a much smaller budget, partially with their own money. Shooting took place in 3½ weeks in Missouri. The production was careful not to share the script with the locals, fearing getting forced to leave. Still they reportedly encountered threats, sabotage and revoked permissions for shooting due to the film's anti-racism message. Corman later shared that the film, distributed by his own company domestically, was his only film at the time that lost money, which he attributed to its raw 'lesson'. He learned from it to focus instead on entertainment value and relegate themes and messages to subtext. The film was nevertheless also released in at least 14 international markets. Corman returned with Tales of Terror (1962). Shatner returned in 13 short, TV and narration credits prior to his theatrical return in The Outrage (1964). 4.1k+ IMDb users have given The Intruder a 7.6/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Intruder?

Attack of the Giant Leeches/The Giant Leeches/Demons of the Swamp (1959) or, The Leech Turkey

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One of the fairly gross, sexually charged posters for Bernard L. Kowalski's Attack of the Giant Leeches

Somewhere in the Florida Everglades, a couple of giant leech monsters start attacking humans from their base in an underwater cave.

Attack of the Giant Leeches is an awful little horror flick. Not even the good-looking actors (which includes Playboy centerfold, Yvette Vickers (Hud (1963))), a Theremin-laden score or the goofy plastic monsters can salvage this fiasco. One scene where a fat storekeeper takes moral revenge over his frivolous wife and lover is kind of interesting, but otherwise there are more yawns than chills to be had with this bona fide turkey.
It is directed by Bernard L. Kowalski (Columbo (1971-76)), who worked mainly on TV, and written by Leo Gordon (Tobruk (1967)), who was mainly an actor. Attack of the Giant Leeches rests safely among other atomic scare grade-Z turkeys.

Even on this painted poster for Bernard L Kowalski's Attack of the Giant Leeches, the leech-monsters look like guys in leech-outfits...

Watch a trailer for the film here - in brain-numbing 3D!

Cost: 70k $

Box office: Unknown 

= Unknown - but likely a hit

[Attack of the Giant Leeches was released in October and runs just 62 minutes. It was shot in just 8 days in Los Angeles, California, including at the LA Arboretum and Botanic Garden, and in the Chaplin Studio, during which Kowalski was at one point hospitalized for pneumonia. The film was released by AIP on double bills with much superior films A Bucket of Blood (1959) and House of Usher (1960). Its box office performance is unknown, but it likely made money. Its copyright was not renewed, and so it is in public domain and can now be seen and downloaded free and legally right here. A same-titled remake was made in 2008, which is reportedly even worse than the original. Kowalski returned with episodes of Death Valley Days (1959, TV-series) and The Rifleman (1959, TV-series) and theatrically with Blood and Steel (1959). Vickers returned with 9 TV credits before returning to cinema as an uncredited 'Drunken Woman' in Pressure Point (1962); Ken Clark (A Man Called Sledge (1970)) in Sugarfoot (1959, TV-series), Lock Up (1959, TV-series) and theatrically as an uncredited 'Soldier Warning the Travelers' in Heller in Pink Tights (1960).  3,186 IMDb users have given Attack of the Giant Leeches a 3.5/10 average rating.] 

What do you think of Attack of the Giant Leeches?