The Horror Guys Guide to the Horror Films of Roger Corman

Roger Corman began producing low-budget films in 1954 and soon started directing the following year. Since then, he’s produced over 500 films and directed 55. He’s best known for his ability to create a film with a tiny budget, within a tiny timeframe, with ridiculous limitations, and still turn in a completed, entertaining film. He once shot an entire studio film in 2-1/2 days between other commitments. Although he directed many films in many genres spanning decades, he’s most associated with his horror films of the 50s and 60s.

This is not a Roger Corman biography. What the book does do is go through each and every one of Corman’s horror films, going through a complete synopsis, including spoilers and commentary. For each film, we’ll have a detailed plot summary and commentary about the film’s ability to hold our attention for a modern viewer. Some of the films hold up really well today—and some don’t.

Although Corman is best known for his horror films, only about half of his directorial credits were in the horror genre. I scoured his filmography and came up with 29 full-length films that truly count as horror, and then watched them all. In addition, we’ll look at seven other noteworthy Corman films that aren’t horror, including his first producing credit, his first directing credit, his favorite non-horror movie, and a few others. If you love Roger Corman’s horror, we’ll cover all of them here.

“The safest genre is the horror film. But the most unsafe - the most dangerous - is comedy. Because even if your horror film isn't very good, you'll get a few screams, and you're okay. With a comedy, if they don't laugh, you're dead.” – Roger Corman