Welcome to MovieJawn’s Split Decision! Each week, Ryan will pose a question to our staff of knowledgable and passionate film lovers and share the responses. Chime in on Twitter, Facebook, our Instagram, or in the comments below.

This week’s question:

In honor of Roger Corman's birthday, what is your favorite film directed or produced by him?

I need to see more of his directed work (though I will shout out The Masque of Red Death and The Young Racers), but as far as producing, I am so glad that Death Race 2000 exists. A combination of my love for the Hanna-Barbara Wacky Races with Mad Max aesthetics, a light plot and some great matte painting work made this a movie I loved instantly. –Ryan Silberstein, The Red Herring

My favorite Corman film has to be X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes, which scared me long before the first time I ever saw it. My dad, for whatever reason, described the plot to me. I don’t think he was trying to creep me out, I think he was just talking about a movie he liked. But that concept— that a man develops a formula to see through clothes and then keeps making it stronger until he’s essentially seen god and beyond— is as perfect as they come. When I finally watched the movie and realized how psychedelic it was, I was even more in love. “Elevated horror” is a condescending concept, but it’s fun to think a schlock king like Roger Corman was able to make something that you could, if you got snooty enough, call elevated. It’s well known in genre circles, and I wish it was more widely revered, but I’ll forever be glad Tim Burton’s remake never got off the ground. I just don’t think the movie would work as well if its special effects were more technically impressive–Alex Rudolph, Staff Writer

I love the string of movies he made based on tales by Poe. If I have to choose one, I am going with the one that burrowed into my brain as a child, The Pit and the Pendulum. It starts with that swirling paint intro with eerie delayed dissonant strings and drum slaps - I love it! The music plays a big role in why I love this movie, right down to the gaslighting harpsichord played by a… a ghost?? Drippy candles, thunderstorms, stupid collars, creepy cobwebs, premature burial, gothic castle atmosphere - what’s not to love? Oh, and Vincent Price! What a guy! This movie truly troubled me as a kid, and those memories are pretty fun.–Ashley Jane Davis, Staff Writer

I absolutely love a lot of Corman’s (and the other directors: Coppola, etc) directing choices in The Terror, a sixties horror film starring a young Jack Nicholson. I was actually shocked at the moment where Helene (played by the lovely Sandra Knight) becomes a rotting corpse. It was a very unique moment that I didn’t expect. It felt in line with the film’s horror element, yet was a moment that was distinct from the clunky movie ending cliches that plagued the sixties horror landscape. The hero didn’t get what he wanted, and “the monster” wasn’t a 50-foot woman or a space alien. The film has its own voice, not staying to any of the conventions of that era. Yes, we see the typical haunted mansion, but underlining this film is Corman’s storytelling that has inspired the masters of today. The directing felt like jazz: improvised, yet purposeful.–Miguel Alejandro Marquez, Staff Writer

Anyone who knows me could tell you, it’s Battle Beyond the Stars. I saw it in the theater with my father when it was released, and Sybil Danning’s breasts made me gay. Robert Vaughn is fantastic in this, able to simultaneously chew the scenery and act like a wooden cigar-store Indian. And speaking of chewing scenery, John Saxon reaches Dennis Hopper-esque levels of hamminess as the villainous Sador, seemingly relishing every moment spent onscreen, imbuing it with a sly wit that will not escape the trained eye. And George Peppard came along for the ride, in a role that made not a lick of sense. In all seriousness, a science fiction remake of Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven produced by Roger Corman with art direction by James Cameron? Nothing could be finer. –Anthony Glassman, Contributor

I am a huge fan of The Slumber Party Massacre which I know some folks have a complicated relationship with. For me, a slasher aficionado that is very interested in gender roles within the genre, this depiction of the slasher as “just some fuckin’ guy” is the kind of radical upending of the genre I love to see. He has a shitty haircut, only wears denim, and overcompensates with a big drill as his weapon of choice. There’s nothing supernatural about him; he’s just mad at women generally, which unfortunately is quite natural in America and the world. Rather than being stalked by a masked dream-demon, these women are stalked by a horny man, as actually happens with frightening frequency. And while I know some folks aren’t into approaching this as a feminist reclaiming of the genre for some of the following reasons, I personally like that the movie still has all the trappings of the genre, including topless women in peril. They ultimately are shown to be resourceful and band together against their would-be killer and it’s one of my favorite examples of the genre because it’s so rewarding and fulfilling in the end..–Garrett Smith, Staff Writer