Schlockmeister filmmaker Larry Buchanan, responsible for such classics as Mars Needs Women and Curse of the Swamp Creature, has died in Tuscon as a result of a collapsed lung. He was 81. He also created blaxploitation films, lurid biographies, and trumped-up documentaries (Down on Us claimed the government was behind the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin). Known for the cheapness of his films, rather than their quality, he wrote, directed, produced, and edited them himself. Nevertheless, his films always turned a profit. “It kind of stung, at first, to be singled out as a maker of movies that are considered ‘so bad they’re good,’ but then you’ve got to realize the only bad recognition is no recognition,” he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1997. (LA Times, sub. req.)Recently Dead
Schlockmeister filmmaker Larry Buchanan, responsible for such classics as Mars Needs Women and Curse of the Swamp Creature, has died in Tuscon as a result of a collapsed lung. He was 81. He also created blaxploitation films, lurid biographies, and trumped-up documentaries (Down on Us claimed the government was behind the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin). Known for the cheapness of his films, rather than their quality, he wrote, directed, produced, and edited them himself. Nevertheless, his films always turned a profit. “It kind of stung, at first, to be singled out as a maker of movies that are considered ‘so bad they’re good,’ but then you’ve got to realize the only bad recognition is no recognition,” he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1997. (LA Times, sub. req.)
