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For me, the most interesting thing about horror maestro Tobe Hooper’s storied career is he takes chances. He always swings big; from his landmark second feature The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), to Lifeforce (1985), to even The Mangler (1995), he pushes the genre into the absurd through concept and execution, audiences be damned. It’s an admirable trait in a filmmaker, and one that’s on full display with Eaten Alive (1976), probably his most bizarre film to date. (Which is saying a lot.)

After a limited stateside release in October of ’76, EA was given a wide release in May of ’77 by Virgo International Pictures to theatres and drive-ins across the land. The start of the ever undulating arc of Hooper’s career, it was met with a resounding “Whaaaat?” by the public and critics alike. This was not the follow up to the cultural explosion that was Chainsaw people were expecting. And to be honest,...

The Beast

• Release Date: Available Now on Blu-ray

• Written By: Walerian Borowczyk

• Directed By: Walerian Borowczyk

• Starring: Sirpa Lane, Lisbeth Hummel, Elisabeth Kaza

I absolutely love the off-kilter, ridiculously horny horror flicks of Polish madman Walerian Borowczyk! While undoubtedly a master of softcore shenanigans, ol’ Borowczyk plied his trade in the horror biz as well (most notably with The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Miss Osbourne), and the film I’m goin’ to be turnin’ my putrid peepers on today, The Beast!

Originally created for (and then cut from) Borowczyk’s Immoral Tales anthology (also available from Arrow on Blu-ray, but I opted out on that one as it’s primarily a horror-less softcore art film), La Bête (the footage of which now comprises a sizeable chunk of The Beast) presented the simple tale of a young lass who has copious amounts of sex with a continuously ejaculating werewolf...

Stars: Neville Brand, Carolyn Jones, Mel Ferrer, William Finley, Marilyn Burns, Robert Englund, Stuart Whitman | Written by Alvin L. Fast, Mohammed Rustam, Kim Henkel | Directed by Tobe Hooper

After The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it comes as no surprise that Tobe Hooper would move onto another horror based in the south. Taking inspiration from Jaws, Eaten Alive (aka Death Trap), even with some drama behind the scenes, still managed to be a memorable cult movie… Loosely based on the legend of Joe Ball (featured in a documentary on the Blu-ray) Eaten Alive tells the tale of a crazy old hotel owner Judd (Neville Brand) whose grudge against society sees him feeding most of his customers to his pet crocodile he conveniently keeps just outside the hotel doors.

While Neville Brand’s intense performance as Judd does take centre stage there is an impressive cast featured in Eaten Alive, especially for fans of cult films.

After all the debates, controversies, and stereotype accusations have cleared, looking back on Blaxploitation cinema today it’s easy to see healthy portions of the crime and action genres. Using these genres and the struggles of the black community, these films were created for those that wanted to see African American characters on the big screen not taking shit from the man, “getting over”, and–above all else—being the heroes in movies. In the documentary Baad Asssss Cinema, Samuel L. Jackson gives his take on the heroes of Blaxploitation: “We were tired of seeing the righteous black man. And all of a sudden we had guys who were…us. Or guys who did the things we wanted those guys to do.”

The unsung supporting players in these films that backed Fred Williamson and Pam Grier and many other stars were people acting and making a living off of it.