Dry County Entertainment is planning a remake of Roger Corman‘s 1980′s horror flick that saw teenagers locked in a mall fighting for survival against high-tech security robots. Production is scheduled to begin in the spring, but it seems the project will be similar in name only. Dry County owner, Robert Hall, explains, “It will retain the basic concept of young people trapped in a mall; however, the story will have a darker, supernatural spin.”

In other words, robots are too expensive. I just hope this darker, supernatural spin will still involve heads exploding from laser fire. You can’t have Chopping Mall without that. (Variety)

Most of Roger Corman’s movies are not good, but the stories behind them are fascinating. So Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel tells the Roger Corman story, in his words and, even better, in the words of his famous employees.

Jack Nicholson dominates the interviews and his tales of Corman are self-deprecating and emotional. Director Alex Stapleton also got Joe Dante obviously, Scorsese, Sayles, Shatner, Bogdanovich, Fonda, De Niro, Grier. She even got several who are no longer with us: David Carradine, Irvin Kershner and George Hickenlooper.

Really what Corman says himself is the most interesting. You could have a whole documentary from only his perspective, but how can you argue with getting Nicholson, Scorsese and De Niro reminiscing? Nicholson makes a metaphor about money being to directors as paint is to artists, and Corman thins the paint.

Corman’s theories make perfect sense. He says in a monster movie, the monster should kill early, and then often. He has the same actors play cowboys and Indians in Apache Woman. One ends up killing himself. The business talk is face pace, plus the details are cool. Corman has no illusions and admits not all of his movies are good. Nobody can explain The Terror but it’s an example of Corman using his resources to make something, rather than let sets and actors go to waste.

He actually made one socially relevant movie. The Intruder was about white supremacy and segregation. In the ‘60s the world wasn’t ready for it. On the set of Dinoshark, you see Corman in action making decisions that will affect the artistic integrity of the Syfy channel movie.

I will say I wrote down the titles Hollywood Boulevard, The Woman Hunt, Too Hot to Handle, The Hot Box as potentials to check out, but really only because they promised the craziest exploitation. Avalanche I’d be curious to see how Corman does a disaster movie on a Corman budget.

The film goes through the ‘70s where blockbusters like Jaws and Star Wars stole Corman’s business with bigger budgets. It jumps to Corman’s lifetime achievement Oscar and recognition by the Tarantino generation. Corman shares his philosophy and Nicholson actually cries talking about him. Have we ever seen Jack cry in a movie? There’s your special effect right there.

The prolific producer, who will have completed a film by the time you finish reading this sentence, has tapped screenwriter Michael MacLean (Sharktopus) and director Jim Wynorski (Dinocroc vs. Supergator) to make Piranhaconda. “What is a Piranhaconda,” you ask? No, you didn’t ask. You already know, because it’s really, really obvious. Officially, the beast is described as having “razor sharp teeth and 100 feet of constricting power.” However, we describe it as two deadly animals put together with laughably terrible CG for the purposes of creating a salable ”cult” movie as quickly as humanly possible.

Shooting begins next month in Hawaii. No word yet on if they’re also shooting Piranhaconda vs. Sharktopus and Snakerhinopanda at the same time. (Dread Central)

^{You crazy for this one, Roger Corman!}

Sharktopus is a good film. An important film. It warns us of the dangers of creating the perfect killing machine and then being ignorant enough to think we can harness its awesome might. In a world of Mega-Pirahnas and Gateroids and Supercrocs and big-ass pythons, you’d think we’d learn that lesson by now. But obviously we have not, and Roger Corman and Syfy are here with the chilling reminder that if you mess with the shark-octopus hybrid monster, you get the spike-tipped tentacle.

I don’t know what amazes me more, the fact that the special effects look as good as they do, or the things that Eric Roberts will do for cocaine. I mean, money. For cocaine.

WATCH THE TRAILER AFTER THE JUMP. TRUST ME, IT DOES NOT DISAPPOINT.

(THR)