Is Lionsgate the NEW American International?

[Worf101]

I was watching the previews on "The Punisher War Zone" DVD the other day and I was struck by how much schlock, violence and drivel the Lionsgate company puts out. Don't get it twisted I sometimes LOVE schlock, violence and drivel, I'm just not used to it in such concentrated doses. While contemplating on this I wondered if there'd ever been another film company to so continuously take the celluloid low road as Lionsgate and then it hit me, Lionsgate is American Internation WITH MONEY!!!!

To illustrate my point heres a list of highlights (or low lights depending on your POV) from each company.

American International Picture from the 1950's to the '90's the brainchild of Arkoff, Corman and Nicholson (not Jack although he got his start in their Poe Cycle films)

"The Abominable Dr. Phibes"
"The Amazing Collossal Man"
"Attack of the Giant Leeches"
"Blackula"
"The Born Losers"
"Black Sabbath" (personally scared the chit outta me)
"Coffy"
"Cooley High"
"Demential 13"
"Die Monster Die"
"Food of the Gods"
"Frogs"
"Foxy Brown"
"The House of Usher"
"How to Stuff a Wild Bikini"
"I was a teenaged (fill in the Blank)
"The Land that Time Forgot"
(They passed on Little Shop of Horrors as they felt it had anti-semitc overtones)
"The Masque of the Red Death"
"Mothra vs. Godzilla"
"Muschle Beach Party"
"Panic in Year Zero"
"Queen of Blood"
"Riot on the Sunset Strip"
"Teenaged Cave Man"
"Vampira"
"Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women"
"What's Up Tiger Lilly?"
"Wild Angels"
"Wild in the Streets"

And these are just some of the movies they produced. In addition they dubbed and distributed every third rate Gladiator, Biker, Horror, SciFi, Blaxplotation and fake sex film they could get their greasy hands on. Many of us are here today because we were conceived in drive-ins sporting this fare. Now contrast this with Lionsgates list of masterpieces.

Lionsgate Films has been around in one form or another since the 1970s it has produced some "interesting" fare as well.

"Brewster Mcloud"
"The Long Goodbye"
"UnderFire"

Then the company took a break from 1983 to 1996, when it re-emerged it was quite "different"

"The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter"
"Mask of Death"
"Fun House"
"Welcome to L.A."
"The Late Show"
"American Psycho"
"Ginger Snaps"
"Bully"
"Route 666"
"American Psycho II"
"Dirty Dancing, Havana Nights"
"White Boys in Da Hood"
"Saw" Series
"Man Thing"
"The Devlil's Rejects"
"House of hte Dead 2"
"Bug"
The Medea Movies (dammit I hate them)
"Fido"
And that classic "The Midnight Meat Train".

In addition to producing the masterpieces detailed above Lionsgate is responsible for distributing the following classics

"Return of the Pink Panther"
"Martin"
"The Amazing Adventures of Inspector Gadget"
"CHUD II"
"WaxWorks"
"Whore"
"The Best of the Best" Series
"Wadd, The Life and Times of John Holmes"
"The First 91/2 Weeks"
"Diary of a Mad Black Woman"
"The Legend of Bloddy Mary"
"The Burrowers"
"Crank"
"Wistcutters: A Love Story" (You gotta be chitin' me)

Now, LG's output was/is nowehre near as prolific as A.I.'s BUT they cover all the same bases with the exception of Gladiator films which is a lost genre. LG does have something A.I. never got though, Oscar cred.

"Crash"
"Monsters Ball"
'Hotel Rawanda"
"Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man"
"Gods and Monsters"
"Farenheit 9/11"

All got Oscar noms with Crash winning best picture. Still I think there's more A.I. in LG than any other production company today.

Da Worfster

[bfalls]

On the "not so low road" you might consider some of the "non-Twisted Pictures" Lion's Gate titles:

Akeelah and the Bee
Leonard Cohen "I'm Your Man"
Employee of the Month
US vs John Lennon
Happily N'ever After
Pride
Delta Farce
Bug
3:10 to Yuma
Good Luck Chuck
Witless Protection
Meet the Browns
The Bank Job
'W'
Bangkok Dangerous
Disaster Movie
The Family That Preys Together
New In Town
....
I'm not a big fan of the SAW movies and don't have an appreciation for senseless on-screen mutilation and killing. I thought the Punisher and The Spirit were marginal movies. One way you can always tell if a Lion's Gate title is going to be "graphic" is by the intro. If the gears of the intro are dirty and rusted, put on your hip-waders, it's going to be a bloody one.

[dean_martin]

nice comparison, Worf. I have enough AIP associated flicks on VHS to fill a washing machine box. in fact, I think that's what they're in. it's a big box nonetheless. how and where to store these things have been nagging questions for a long time now.

[3LB]

On the "not so low road" you might consider some of the "non-Twisted Pictures" Lion's Gate titles:


Delta Farce
Bug
Meet the Browns
Bangkok Dangerous
Disaster Movie

not shining examples

Without American Internation, we never woulda had three-fer night at the drive-in.

Universal had its share of schlock, but I assume you mean to say AI and LG have a higher schlock-to-serious ratio.

[Woochifer]

Wonderfully old school post, Worf!

Leave it up to you to reference American International, without it having something to do with AIG!

I know that Lionsgate is now widely considered a "near major" studio, especially after MGM's carcass got split up between Sony and Fox. I'd never thought about how much *ploitation schlock they'd produced to go along with their prestige projects.

It's amusing how many of the movies on your list I've actually seen. I guess that's the byproduct of having lived in a neighborhood where the local video store had a separate section for "Women in Prison" movies, among other "genres"!