The Roger Corman Collection

Roger Corman, legendary King of the Bs, tight-fisted mentor of just about everybody from Jack Nicholson through Martin Scorsese to John Sayles, produced and directed no less than 45 movies between 1955 and 1967. Most of them, not surprisingly, boasted zero production values, and many were schlock of the most ludicrous kind. But quite a few made up for their paltry budgets with pace and imagination, and one or two were even seriously good. This mixed bag takes in two early westerns, three from Corman’s Poe cycle and a legendary biker saga. Five Guns West is a passably tight and effective little oater, given that it marks Corman’s directorial debut. But a year later he’s regressed: not only is Gunslinger clumsily overplotted but the continuity is shambolic.

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