Books by Tom Weaver

Gary D. Rhodes guides a ghostly ship through the bayous and backwaters of Louisiana, casting his lantern's light on the vampires of Universal's 1943 classic Son of Dracula. Also illuminated are the film's production history and its original script. Unmoored from the errors of the past, Rhodes, Tom Weaver, Robert Guffey and Robert J. Kiss do that research voodoo that they do so well. "An engaging, thoroughly researched and accessible book that will appeal to film researchers and fans alike. Son of Dracula is finally receiving the attention it deserves." - Dr. Alison Peirse, After Dracula: The 1930s Horror Film "This is the ultimate tribute to Son of Dracula, an underrated jewel in Universal's 1940s horror pantheon: a reproduction of director Robert Siodmak's annotated script, plus some superb bonuses. Sink y9our fangs into it now!" - Steve Kronenberg, Universal Terrors 1951 - 1955 Contains the script, production history, fun facts, the pressbook, and essays by Robet Siodmak and Curt Siodmak.

Gary D. Rhodes guides a ghostly ship through the bayous and backwaters of Louisiana, casting his lantern's light on the vampires of Universal's 1943 classic Son of Dracula. Also illuminated are the film's production history and its original script. Unmoored from the errors of the past, Rhodes, Tom Weaver, Robert Guffey and Robert J. Kiss do that research voodoo that they do so well. "An engaging, thoroughly researched and accessible book that will appeal to film researchers and fans alike. Son of Dracula is finally receiving the attention it deserves." - Dr. Alison Peirse, After Dracula: The 1930s Horror Film "This is the ultimate tribute to Son of Dracula, an underrated jewel in Universal's 1940s horror pantheon: a reproduction of director Robert Siodmak's annotated script, plus some superb bonuses. Sink y9our fangs into it now!" - Steve Kronenberg, Universal Terrors 1951 - 1955 Contains the script, production history, fun facts, the pressbook, and essays by Robet Siodmak and Curt Siodmak.

He made the Universal back lot his own personal preyground: Rondo Hatton, who attained B-movie stardom at the very end of his life via the role of the spine-snapping serial killer The Creeper. The victim of a disfiguring disease, Hatton needed no makeup when he played this night stalker in The Pearl of Death (1944), House of Horrors (1946) and The Brute Man (1946). A lot of misery and physical pain were packed into Rondo Hatton's 51 years on Earth and he met his challenges with courage. This book tells his full story and pays tribute with a biography chapter, the lowdown on The Brute Man's production and theatrical release, artist George Chastain's tribute to other "brute men" of the movies, and more. Also: Rondo's miraculous 21st-century "rebirth" as a coveted award for the finest in Monster Kid achievement.

He made the Universal back lot his own personal preyground: Rondo Hatton, who attained B-movie stardom at the very end of his life via the role of the spine-snapping serial killer The Creeper. The victim of a disfiguring disease, Hatton needed no makeup when he played this night stalker in The Pearl of Death (1944), House of Horrors (1946) and The Brute Man (1946). A lot of misery and physical pain were packed into Rondo Hatton's 51 years on Earth and he met his challenges with courage. This book tells his full story and pays tribute with a biography chapter, the lowdown on The Brute Man's production and theatrical release, artist George Chastain's tribute to other "brute men" of the movies, and more. Also: Rondo's miraculous 21st-century "rebirth" as a coveted award for the finest in Monster Kid achievement.

Close Encounters of the Brr Kind Beneath the polar ice, seven submarines have been mysteriously destroyed. The Navy must stem this tide of undersea disasters. They send the fleet's killer sub, the atom-powered Tiger Shark, to the 5,000,000 square miles of Arctic Ocean to neutralize our nation's newest enemy. BATTLE STATIONS! BATTLE STATIONS!! Their adversary is not foreign but alien: an undersea flying saucer which they dub Cyclops. The Tiger Shark rams Cyclops, its bow piercing the saucer's hull, and the two crafts, locked together, sink to the frigid depths. To free their sub, the men of the Tiger Shark must coldly go where no man has gone before: into the saucer. Where the greatest horror awaits. TOP SECRET CARGO MANIFEST - Original Shooting Script! - "Making Of" Chapter - Tribute to Producer Alex Gordon - Pressbook and much more!

Close Encounters of the Brr KindBeneath the polar ice, seven submarines have been mysteriously destroyed. The Navy must stem this tide of undersea disasters. They send the fleet's killer sub, the atom-powered Tiger Shark, to the 5,000,000 square miles of Arctic Ocean to neutralize our nation's newest enemy.BATTLE STATIONS! BATTLE STATIONS!!Their adversary is not foreign but alien: an undersea flying saucer which they dub Cyclops.The Tiger Shark rams Cyclops, its bow piercing the saucer's hull, and the two crafts, locked together, sink to the frigid depths. To free their sub, the men of the Tiger Shark must coldly go where no man has gone before: into the saucer.Where the greatest horror awaits.TOP SECRETCARGO MANIFEST- Original Shooting Script!- "Making Of" Chapter- Tribute to ProducerAlex Gordon- Pressbookand much more!

A collection of conversations with movie industry veterans, with over 60 interviewees describing their experiences on the sets of sci-fi and horror movies and television series. The discussions offer a frank and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the genres' classic and lesser-known interpretations both.

What does Producer: RICHARD GORDON mean to you?If you're a fan of classic horror films, you know he's the only living producer to have worked with the genre's most valuable players Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi--not to mention the Fiend Without a Face, the First Man into Space and other black-and-white beasties of the Fabulous Fifties.If you take your fright flicks on the ghastlier side, you remember his more gory goblins, from the Silicates on the Island of Terror to the mad slasher of the Tower of Evil, and the interstellar shocks delivered by Inseminoid.A master of both worlds, Richard Gordon has been a behind-the-scenes titan of terror for over a half-century, collaborating during his years of active production (1956-1981) with some of the field's most formidable names: Boris and Bela, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Terence Fisher and more.Go on a film-by-film excursion through his cinematic chamber of horrors in this definitive book-length interview....

This is the hardback version. On a South American rubber plantation stands the home of Klaas Van Gelder-a house whose claim to fame is murder. Barney the foreman, beguiled by Van Gelder's beautiful young wife Dina, pushed his employer into the afterlife, took Dina as his bride and made himself master of Van Gelder Manor. But a witch-like servant gives him a dose of jungle justice: She places a curse on him so that he transforms by night into the deadliest of jungle demons, the succarath. Curt Siodmak, creator of The Wolf Man and Donovan's Brain, devised this outlandish monster melodrama, basically an exotic remake of The Wolf Man, co-starring the Wolf Man himself, Lon Chaney. The Fabulous Fifties' first horror hit, it rates deluxe Scripts from the Crypt treatment: a "Making Of" article, a tribute to Siodmak, detailed release information, an essay on the music score, an interview with producer Herman Cohen, a Lon Chaney Timeline, Production Code correspondence, script, pressbook and more.

Revised and updated since its first publication in 1990, this acclaimed critical survey covers the classic chillers produced by Universal Studios during the golden age of hollywood horror, 1931 to 1946. The authors offer a definitive study of the 86 films produced during this era and present a general overview of the period.

"Butcher" Benton, a crook who pulled a Los Angeles armored car robbery, trudges to San Quentin's gas chamber filled with loathing for his double-crossing partners in crime. Things take a turn for the weird when his corpse is carted off to the laboratory of a medical researcher who gives it a 287,000 volt zap, unintentionally restoring Benton to life and making his skin as hard as armor plate. The Butcher's psychopathic itch, also reborn, still needs scratching so he returns to L.A. a volatile mix of super-strength and white-hot rage. Benton is murder looking for a place to happen: Inhuman! Invincible! Inescapable! Horror legend Lon Chaney puts his considerable all into his performance as the Indestructible Man in this sci-fi/action drive-in favorite. On the 60th anniversary of its 1954 production, the thriller gets the full Scripts from the Crypt treatment: a lengthy "Making Of" essay, quotes from its writers and its producer-director, cast members memories, Production Code correspondence, a dissertation on the music, release information, pressbook and the ultra-rare script.

In this one-of-a-kind volume, you'll learn everything under the sun about producer-director-star Robert Clarke's 1959 monster classic: Clarke's in-depth account of the making of his low-budget independent movie; reprints of TWO versions of the script, the first set in the jungles of Guatemala; the full story of SUN DEMON's world premiere at a Texas drive-in; anecdotal memories of the frantic filmmaking process from nearly a dozen cast-and-crew participants; the original "Showmanship Manual"; an outline for a follow-up SUN DEMON film proposed by Clarke in the 1970s; scores of rare and never-seen photographs; even an afterword from sexquisite co-star Nan Peterson! This is the first in a series of such books from longtime genre fan and chronicler Tom Weaver.

Perhaps no films attracted more rabid fans and less critical acclaim than black-and-white horror and sci-fi movies . The men and women who made the characters come to life are interviewed here, talking about their work, the behind-the-scenes action, and the impact the movies had on their careers.

For over 25 years, Tom Weaver has been chatting up zombies and many other vintage movie monsters, along with the screenwriters, producers, directors and actors responsible for bringing them to life. In this newest compilation of interviews, 23 more veterans share their stories - strange, frightening and even a little funny - this time with an increased emphasis on genre television series.

Phil Brown, who played Luke Skywalker''s uncle in Star Wars, said, ""In my long life in films, there are ones I''m proud of and those I''m not proud of. The Jungle Captive and Weird Woman fall into the latter category."" House of Wax co-star Paul Picerni was fired by the film''s director when he refused to put his head in a working guillotine during a climactic fight scene. Packed with wonderful tidbits, this volume collects 22 interviews with the moviemakers responsible for bringing such films as This Island Earth, The Haunting, Carnival of Souls, Pit and the Pendulum, House of Wax, Tarzan the Ape Man, The Black Cat, Them! and Invasion of the Body Snatchers to the movie screen. Faith Domergue, Michael Forest, Anne Helm, Candace Hilligoss, Suzanna Leigh, Norman Lloyd, Maureen O''Sullivan, Shirley Ulmer, Dana Wynter and many more are interviewed.

For fans of SF and horror films, will there ever be a decade to compare with the 1950s? Actors, directors, producers, and crews prevailed over microbudgets and four-day shooting schedules to create enduring films. This book turns spotlight on many who made memorable contributions to that crowded, exhilarating filmmaking scene.

A posse of Hollywood's wild Westerners recall their dusty adventures (and misadventures) with John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Burt Lancaster, Tim Holt, James Arness, Richard Boone, Chuck Connors, Charles Starrett, Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, Alan Ladd, Rock Hudson, Lon Chaney, Jr., Nick Adams, Jock Mahoney, Sam Peckinpah, Johnny Cash and many others!TV Memories of...HAVE GUN-WILL TRAVELTHE RIFLEMANMAVERICKDAVY CROCKETTTHE VIRGINIANTHE WILD WILD WESTTHE REBEL and more!