SAM RAIMI
SAMUEL Z. ARKOFF
"Samuel Z. Arkoff was a movie producer who, along with James H. Nicholson, formed American Releasing Corporation in 1954. It soon became American International Pictures and they made history by releasing pictures that never lost money. Their formula was simple- spend as little as possible on the production by hiring no name actors, film outside, eliminating the need for sets, set in modern day so no costumes were needed and don't wate time on retakes or reshoots. A LONG shoot on an AIP film was seven days. Often films were created out of thin air- Arkoff would think of an enticing title -
Day the World Exploded or
The She Beast- and tell an artist to mock up a poster making sure it had the key elements- a monster and a girl. With the poster alone Arkoff would then sell the picture to theatres. Capital in hand the film would THEN be produced. It was already a money maker.
Using this formula
I Was a Teenage Werewolf was filmed with a budget of $150,000, starring an unknown by the name of Michael Landon and B-Movie stalwart Whit Bissell. In two weeks the film made two million dollars. Horror movies, sci-fi, beach movies, drug movies, biker films, blacksploitation- anything that would appeal to a young audience was fodder for AIP. Instead of expensive effects using foam rubber AIP effects wizard Paul Blaisdell made monsters out of styrofoam and coat hangers. They hired young actors who were glad to have a job and were willing to act as the crew in addition to their on screen duties. There were no expensive caterers- Sam's wife would bring over a basket of sandwiches. If an interior shot was ever needed, it was often Sam's house that appeared, as well as Sam's car.
One of AIP's legendary feats was filming a movie in two days and a night- a film that would become legendary-
The Little Shop of Horrors. This film featured a key role by a name that would crop up in many AIP productions- Jack Nicholson. Another key name in AIP's history was Roger Corman. Corman had written and produced a racing film titled The Fast and the Furious and needed a distributor. Arkoff promised to release the film if Corman would make three more pictures for him. A deal was struck and history was made. Corman made other biker and youth oriented films for AIP, and when they were ready to make films for a slightly higher budget and production values Corman would become a legend.
Corman and Arkoff wanted to try something a little higher class and they hit upon the idea of adapting Edgar Allen Poe stories. Why not? They wouldn't have to pay for the rights! Keeping the budget relatively modest by reusing sets over and over and hiring well known genre stars like Boris Karloff, Vincent Price and Peter Lorre for a few days work on each film the films were incredibly popular because they looked great and had top-notch acting. One film,
The Terror, was shot because Karloff had two days left on his contract from
The Raven and Arkoff didn't want to waste the money.
Besides the Poe adaptations, other memorable AIP productions include the
Dr. Phibes films,
Blacula and
The Amityville Horror. Besides Corman and Jack Nicholson other talent that spent their early years at AIP read like a who's who - Don Johnson, Nick Nolte, Diane Ladd, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Woody Allen, Rick Baker, Paul Bartel, Peter Bogdanovich and Francis Ford Coppolla.
In a time when early horror films were released to TV for the first time and more and more people were staying home for entertainment, Arkoff and AIP provided theatre owners with cheap movies that young audiences would pay to see. The Theatre Owners of America Award was given to Arkoff for saving the business. Truly an honorary and well-respected icon of horror." -
NeverEnding
SEAN S. CUNNINGHAM
SID HAIG
STAN WINSTON
