Conrad Brooks Movies

His mind terminally warped due to years of abuse, a disturbed young man adopts the persona of his father's circus act, Purvos the Clown, and sets out to satiate his deceased mother's insatiable bloodlust murdering unsuspecting prostitutes and escorts. As a young boy, Max was relentlessly abused by his mother and father. These days both of Max's parents have long since passed, yet his mother seems to be calling out to him from beyond the grave. Unable to maintain his thin veil of sanity due to constant nightmares and troubling visions, the tormented Max begins to prey on the dregs of society before vowing to end the vicious cycle by slaying Kelly, his niece and his last remaining relative. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Hollywood visionary Tim Burton pays homage to another Hollywood visionary, albeit a less successful one, in this unusual fictionalized biography. The film follows Wood (Johnny Depp) in his quest for film greatness as he writes and directs turkey after turkey, cross-dresses, and surrounds himself with a motley crew of Hollywood misfits, outcasts, has-beens, and never-weres. The real story, however, is his friendship with aging, morphine-addicted Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau), whom he tries to help stage a comeback. Landau's unforgettable Oscar-winning performance must be seen to be believed, as must Rick Baker's Oscar-winning makeup. While it would have been easy to make a film simply ridiculing the bumbling director, Burton instead focuses on his driving passion for filmmaking and his unwavering persistence in the face of ridicule and failure. Possibly the most surprising aspect of the film is the genuine sentiment with which Burton treats the relationship between Wood and Lugosi; his devotion to Lugosi is touching, as is Lugosi's final soliloquy -- an inane bit of dialogue from the hilariously bad Bride of the Monster that grows into a poignant metaphor for the actor's life and ultimate triumph of his spirit. Even the look of the film is right; it manages to preserve the air of one of Wood's own films while retaining a sense of artistry in much of the composition on screen (note the scene at the drug rehab where Lugosi endures a horrifying night of detox). In all, Ed Wood is a unique film -- at times side-splittingly funny; at others, tragic or even frightening -- and a heartfelt tribute to the love of movies, good and bad alike. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

This mildly amusing horror spoof was filmed on Super-8 film by fledgling indie director Mark Pirro (Nudist Colony of the Dead). The plot concerns a swinging bachelor, Larry Smallbutt (Michael Palazzolo) who is bitten on the rear end by a transvestite "queerwolf" whom he believed was a woman. He ends up transforming into an effeminate creature with a red handkerchief and earrings. Various gay stereotypes and horror conventions are parodied, and Conrad Brooks (Plan 9 from Outer Space) appears along with Forrest J. Ackerman, longtime editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland, who plays a patient forced to ingest alcohol until he explodes. Tasteless and raunchy, the film will offend many, but those looking for a sick, offbeat comedy will enjoy Pirro's irreverence. The director returned with Deathrow Gameshow. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Cult filmmaker Mark Pirro directed, wrote, produced, and starred in this first of his irreverent low-budget horror-comedies, made for under $3000 on Super-8 film. Pirro plays a virgin vampire whose sister (Lori Sutton) introduces him to the life of bloodsucking. The director replaced Eddie Deezen in the lead when the cult favorite quit, but Deezen still shows up as Pirro's brother in flashback scenes. Genre veteran Conrad Brooks (Plan 9 from Outer Space) also appears. Pirro returned four years later with the outrageous Curse of the Queerwolf. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

With its incoherent plot, jaw-droppingly odd dialogue, inept acting, threadbare production design, and special effects so shoddy that they border on the surreal, Plan 9 From Outer Space has often been called the worst movie ever made. But it's an oddly endearing disaster; boasting genuine enthusiasm and undeniable charm, it is the work of people who loved movies and loved making them, even if they displayed little visible talent. In Plan 9, alien invaders attempt to conquer the world by raising the dead, starting with an old man dressed in a Dracula costume (Bela Lugosi, in a few minutes of left-over footage grafted into this film), his much-younger and well-proportioned wife (Maila "Vampira" Nurmi), and a remarkably overweight police officer (Tor Johnson). Often funny and consistently entertaining (if almost always for the wrong reasons), Plan 9 From Outer Space is an anti-masterpiece if there ever was one, and as Criswell so brilliantly puts it, "Can you PROVE it didn't happen?!?" Its legendary director Edward D. Wood Jr. was played by Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's 1994 biopic, Ed Wood. One of the DVD releases of Plan 9 From Outer Space includes the documentary Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The Plan 9 Companion, an exhaustive and entertaining look at the making of the film that runs a half-hour longer than the feature to which it pays tribute! ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jalopy represents the first Bowery Boys film to be released by Allied Artists, though in essence it's still a Monogram "B"-picture. It all begins when Sach Jones (Huntz Hall) develops a new fuel formula that will enable a racing car to go around the track in 11 seconds! Sach's pal Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) uses the formula to win several jalopy races, thereby allowing sweet-shop owner Louie (Bernard Gorcey) to pay his debts. Gamblers try to muscle in on the Bowery Boys' winning streak, but to no avail. On the day of the obligatory Big Race, Slip is forced to enter his jalopy without the precious fuel. At the last minute, Sach arrives with a new batch--which only works when the car is shifted in reverse! Heavily reliant upon stock footage from the concurrently produced Allied Artists feature Roar of the Crowd, Jalopy is a typically nonsensical Bowery Boys entry, right down to the surreal climactic gag. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide