Convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, John Merill (kickboxing champ Jerry Trimble) is sent to a brutal island prison run by the sadistic Warden Acosta (Vic Diaz!) in 1993’s LIVE BY THE FIST, a straight up remake of 1991’s BLOODFIST III! This one has George Takei, though! On this episode of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VIC DIAZ? we took a close look at this Roger Corman-produced, Cirio H. Santiago-directed action film which features some pretty decent action and.. not much else! CHECK IT OUT!
On YOU DON’T KNOW DICK we look at the films and TV work of the beloved character actor Dick Miller! On this episode we’re joined by writer, producer and podcaster Scott Weinberg to discuss the legendary Roger Corman cheapie horror-comedy THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS! We look at the history of the legendarily threadbare production, the various remakes and tributes (including the celebrated musical!), and – of course – the flower-chomping performance by Dick Miller! CHECK IT OUT!
Billed as “the screen’s first erotic kung-fu classic”, FIRECRACKER stars RAW FORCE’s Jillian Kesner as a butt-kicking karate expert who travels to Hong Kong (actually the Philippines) to track down her journalist sister who recently vanished. Featuring topless fight scenes, stick fighting and, of course, Vic Diaz as “Grip”. Essentially a remake of TNT JACKSON (which director Cirio H. Santiago would remake again in 1992 as ANGELFIST), FIRECRACKER is extremely silly, but is it any fun? Listen to the latest episode of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VIC DIAZ and find out!
BARK AT THE MOON! On this howl-arious episode of YOU DON’T KNOW DICK we’re joined by NOW Magazine critic and Someone Else’s Movie podcast host Norm Wilner to talk about Joe Dante’s seminal werewolf movie THE HOWLING from 1981! And of course we don’t forget to talk about Dick Miller’s curmudgeonly occult bookstore owner Walter Paisley. Check it out!
On this episode of YOU DON’T KNOW DICK we’re joined by Elijah Drenner, the director of the 2014 documentary THAT GUY DICK MILLER to talk about Dick Miller’s life and work, and how a special feature grew into a feature length celebration of the man we all love. Then we delve into one of Dick Miller’s most iconic roles: Murray Futterman in 1984’s GREMLINS. It’s a packed show, so TIME TO LISTEN!
If you’re going to cover one of Dick Miller’s most famous roles you need to have a dynamite guest on board, which is why on this episode of You Don’t Know Dick we’re joined by Caelum Vatnsdal – the man who literally wrote the book on Dick Miller – to talk to us about 1959’s A Bucket of Blood! Along the way we discuss Winnipeg, Caelum’s experience with filmmaker Guy Maddin, the eternal-ness of Walter Paisley and so much more. Come check it out.. if you dare!
Pick up a copy of You Don’t Know Me, But You Love Me: The Lives of Dick Miller right here.
The great character actor Dick Miller passed away on January 30th, 2019 at the age of 90, leaving a legacy of more than 180 films. On You Don’t Know Dick, we’re going to – with the help of friends and special guests – look at the film and television work of this tremendous performer, and try to get to the bottom of what made him such a special presence in so many films.
On our first episode, we’re looking at the Roger Corman (sorta) directed gothic horror THE TERROR from 1963, starring Jack Nicholson, Boris Karloff, Sandra Knight and Dick Miller.
The film is available in various public domain versions, but the best available to watch for free is this version from The Film Detective:
On our next episode we’ll be looking at one of Miller’s most famous roles in 1959’s A BUCKET OF BLOOD. Watch that here:
Vic Diaz is a character actor often referred to as “The Filipino Peter Lorre” and best known for his appearances in the Roger Corman-produced Philippines-lensed exploitation films of the 1970s. On WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VIC DIAZ?, Liam and Doug dig deep into the talented performer’s career, examining his films and – in turn – the evolution of the Filipino film industry.
Our first episode focuses on the controversial women-in-prison film THE BIG BIRD CAGE!
Watch The Big Bird Cage on ShoutFactory TV right here.
On our next episode, we’ll be looking at 1988’s WHITEFORCE, which can be watched on Tubi right here.
