Samuel Z. Arkoff

Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!

A comprehensive story of Hollywood's horror and science fiction films of the 1950s, told by the people who made them.

Monster Madness: Mutants, Space Invaders, and Drive-Ins

From THINGS to BODY SNATCHERS to CREATURES FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, sci-fi monsters dominated 1950s horror. Take a ride to an era of drive-ins, Red Scares, low budgets and big bugs with SPACE INVADERS AND DRIVE INS.

The Fanex Files, Volume 2: Samuel Z. Arkoff

Samuel Z. Arkoff, along with James Nicholson, founded the immensely successful American International Pictures. AIP discovered an untapped audience in the American teenager and proceeded to turn independent filmmaking on it's head as they churned out drive-in double features overflowing with misunderstood teen heroes, horrific monsters, reform school girls, and leather-jacketed tough guys. Many titles were notable for their spectacular poster art, still highly sought by collectors today. Arkoff, with his unerring eye for talent, helped launch the careers of Roger Corman, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Robert Deniro, Michael Landon and Dennis Hopper. Midnight Marquee, Longthrow and Alpha are proud to honor the legendary Samuel Z. Arkoff, a perfect subject for the FANEX Files documentary series.

Drive-In Movie Memories

A nostalgic, informative history of drive-in movie theaters, featuring extensive archival photographs and interviews with Leonard Maltin, John Bloom, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Barry Corbin and many others... Drive-In Movie Memories is a film celebration of America's greatest icon of youth, freedom and the automobile. What began as an auto parts owner's business venture to make some easy money accidentally became a magical place where romance, fun and a sense of community flourished. This film chronicles the drive-in's birth and development, its phenomenal popularity with audiences of all ages, its tragic decline, and its inevitable comeback as a classic form of Americana.

It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures

A 60-minute salute to American International Pictures. Entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff founded AIP (then called American Releasing Corporation) on a $3000 loan in 1954 with his partner, James H. Nicholson, a former West Coast exhibitor and distributor. The company made its mark by targeting teenagers with quickly produced films that exploited subjects mainstream films were reluctant to tackle.

Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies

Hollywood is a town of tinsel and glamour; but there is another Hollywood, a place where maverick independent exploitation filmmakers went toe to toe with the big guys and came out on top.

Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre

Director Garry S. Grant’s insightful documentary celebrates the work and legacy of auteur filmmaker Mario Bava, the grand master of Italian horror and the man known by many as “the Italian Hitchcock.”

Some Nudity Required

A woman working in the B movie industry begins examining the industry and the damaged, desperate people who work in it.

The Dark Side of Hollywood

Behind the scenes of Hollywood's low-budget movie industry. It is a powerful portrait of the fragility of fame and the cost of stardom. B-pictures have long been the spawning ground of today's and tomorrow's stars. They started the careers of Jack Nicholson and Sylvester Stallone among many others, as well as now super star directors Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Ron Howard and James Cameron. The film examines the evolution of starry-eyed newcomers arriving in Hollywood and discovering the harsh reality of getting into pictures.

Playboy: The Story of X

The Story Of X takes you to the earliest days of adult films when men peddled stag reels and projectors out of the trunks of their cars, then through the movie house years to the arrival of the home video business, and now the Internet. Meet the men behind the camera, such as "King of Sexploitation" Dave Friedman and the preeminent breast man Russ Meyer. Considered pariahs at the time, they're now hailed as pioneers in the fight against censorship. The Story of X visits the 60s when women's rights, not nudity, became the issue and recounts porn's arrival in Hollywood, led by director Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango In Paris. In the 70s, several groundbreaking films, including Behind The Green Door featuring Marilyn Chambers and Deep Throat featuring Linda Lovelace, took the genre to a new level.

Pitch

A Canadian documentary featuring two young filmmakers attending the Toronto Film Festival to pitch a film concept to various celebrities. Their film idea, titled "The Dawn", concerns a Mafia don who goes for a hernia operation but gets a sex change instead. During the 1996 Toronto Fest, they approach Roger Ebert, Norman Jewison (at a packed press conference), Eric Stoltz (leaving a limo), Al Pacino, and others without much success. On a roll, they leave Toronto for Hollywood, getting advice from Arthur Hiller and Neil Simon and finding an agent who expresses interest in their pitch.

After Sunset: The Life & Times of the Drive-In Theater

A video documentary/road trip that celebrates the drive-in movie theater's impact on the United States, and pays homage to the people who keep the few remaining ones fully operational. Features interviews with horror movie maker John Carpenter, movie critic John I. Bloom (aka "Joe Bob Briggs"), Michael Wallis, author of "Route 66: The Mother Road," and others.

Runaway Daughters

Angie, Mary, and Laura are teenage girls who are fed up with their bland and unexciting small town lives. Mary discovers that she's pregnant after having sex with her boyfriend.

The Man Who Drew Bug-Eyed Monsters

This documentary celebrates the work of illustrator Reynold Brown, whose colorful and compelling art graced over 300 movie posters during the 1950s and '60s, ranging from star-studded westerns and studio epics to sensational creature features and low-budget B-movies. Art historians, writers, and movie producers discuss Brown's art within the context of the post-war social climate and an ever-changing movie industry.

The Troma System

A 30 minute infomercial that originally aired on Comedy Central in 1993. The idea was that by purchasing Troma Inc. movie products you could better yourself as a person.

Naked Paradise

Gangster Zac Cotton and his two henchmen, Mitch and Sonny, try to get a boat to get off a tropical island after a botched robbery heist.