Although it is very unlikely that his admittedly cheap-'n'-cheesy films
will ever be acknowledged as true works of cinematic art,
producer/director/screenwriter Al Adamson did, nonetheless, make a slew
of entertainingly trashy low-budget exploitation features for the
drive-in market throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
He was born on July 25, 1929, in Hollywood, California, the son of
actress Dolores Booth and actor/director
Victor Adamson who, appropriately enough,
specialized in shoddy B-grade - and lower - Westerns in the 1920s and
1930s, both as an actor and especially as a director. Adamson's first foray
into filmmaking was helping his father as director and producer on the
film Halfway to Hell (1953). In
the
mid-1960s, he founded the prolific
grindhouse outfit Independent-International Pictures with fellow
producer/distributor Samuel M. Sherman.
Adamson cranked out flicks in every conceivable genre: scuzzy biker
items (Die Sadisten des Satans (1969),
Hell's Bloody Devils (1970),
Angels' Wild Women (1971)),
grungy Westerns
(5 blutige Gräber (1969),
Jessi's Girls (1975)), smarmy
softcore porn sex comedies
(The Naughty Stewardesses (1973),
Blazing Stewardesses (1975)),
funky blaxploitation films
(Mean Mother (1973),
Town-Rats (1976)), ridiculous
science fiction dross (the gloriously ghastly
Astro-Vampire - Todesmonster aus dem All (1970)),
two Jim Kelly martial arts/action
outings (Black Samurai (1976) and
Kommando Todesformel (1978)), lurid
horror fare
(Draculas Bluthochzeit mit Frankenstein (1971),
Brain of Blood (1971),
Nurse Sherri (1977)) and even a
tongue-in-cheek softcore porn science fiction musical
(Cinderella 2000 (1977)).
Moreover, Adamson served as producer for both the exciting
Fred Williamson blaxploitation vehicle
Hammer (1972) and the acclaimed
made-for-TV drama
Cry Rape! (1973). The casts of
Adamson's films were made up of oddball but enthusiastic amateurs and
faded professional thespians whose careers were on the wane, including
Kent Taylor,
Russ Tamblyn,
Lon Chaney Jr. and the ubiquitous
John Carradine. Adamson frequently gave his
wife, Regina Carrol, sizable parts in his
films. Moreover, he was a mentor for future schlock feature
directors Greydon Clark and
John 'Bud' Cardos. He was also instrumental in
launching the career of ace cinematographer
Gary Graver. In addition, Adamson kept
fellow top cinematographers
László Kovács and
Vilmos Zsigmond employed in the early
days of their careers.
Al Adamson's life came to a brutal and untimely end at 66 when he
was murdered by his live-in contractor, Fred Fulford, on August 2, 1995.
