nachtjaeger wrote:Can we really call "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" or "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" B movies? "Golden Voyage" was low budget, all right (under a million in early '70s dollars) but it took in $11 million. That would be a box office of $67 million today on a budget of $6.1 million. Okay, "Phibes" was even lower budget (under $500K) but grossed $3 million. That would be a $3 million budget and an $18.4 million box office today. B movies by budget, but not by quality.
Well, if I didn't call them B-movies, then I couldn't have posted Caroline Munro. You wouldn't have wanted me to left her out, would you? Just kidding, although maybe I should have called the thread "Cult movie beauties."
Seriously, though, I don't mean to insult the films I've mentioned by calling them B-movies. Quite the contrary.....I think a lot of the old lower budget movies were much more inventive because they had to cover up their lack of dollars. Has there ever been a more effective horror movie than the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and it was made for under $100,000? I've seen a lot of movies that had the exact same plot as Haunting Fear, with much bigger budgets, that weren't nearly as effective because Haunting Fear was so much better acted and just so much darn fun. I don't know exactly how much it made, but I've read Fred Olen Ray say he made a tidy profit on it.
Plus, even though she hasn't been posted yet, there isn't a bigger Brinke Stevens fan than I am. In the 1970s and 80s, there seemed to be a backlash against sexy actresses for some reason, and I really think that is why Brinke isn't a bigger star. If you watch Grandmother's House or Haunting Fear, Brinke is a HELL of a lot better actress than most of her main stream counterparts, but she was pigeonholed....and in my opinion it was because she was just too sexy. If you look back over the postings, don't most of you think that the ladies I've posted were much more beautiful than the mainstream stars of the 70s and 80s? Now, I'll admit a few of these ladies got by on their looks and couldn't act, but a few of these girls I've posted were decent to good actresses as well....and Brinke has come close to being a great actress when she had the right material....and she is better looking than, well, anybody and everybody.