Even if you weren’t alive during the heyday of AIP (American International Pictures) during the 1950’s and 60’s, genre fans have surely seen many of the drive-in classics that were churned out during the period. Films like War of the Colossal Beast, She-Creature, and Teenage Caveman just to name a few were from the minds of AIP founders Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson. News has come in today saying that there are plans to remake 10 films from the AIP library by Jeff Katz, Lou Arkoff, and Hal Sadoff.
Deadline has confirmed, They will start with these 1950’s drive-in classics: Girls In Prison, Viking Women & The Sea Serpent, The Brain Eaters, She-Creature, Teenage Caveman, Runaway Daughters, The Undead, War of The Colossal Beast, Cool & The Crazy and Day The World Ended. The plan is to shoot them all back to back, beginning this fall.
AIP churned out 500 low-budget, indies for teens that included the Beach Party series with Frankie Avalon and the late Annette Funicello, as well as the early films of director Roger Corman.
“The AIP spirit was all about innovation and giving new young talent a place to create,” said Arkoff. “We are now using that independent spirit and our library of classic titles to create something brand-new for the modern media model, with a coordinated social effort to accelerate interest in these properties. Our goal is to engage young audiences and drive the spirit of the times with the same excitement that fueled these titles decades ago”
Personally, I have always been a fan of the AIP films, they’re a part of American film heritage and I just can’t see where remaking these films could be anything but a bad idea, but I will hold my judgement until I see what they come up with. I’ll be keeping my eye on this story and will bring you any more news as it develops.
