Mockbuster
Encyclopedia
A mockbuster is a film
created with the apparent intention of piggy-backing on the publicity of a major film with a similar title or theme and are often made with a low budget. Often these films are created to be released direct-to-video
at the same time as the mainstream film reaches theaters or video outlets. Though the words are often used interchangeably, the term mockbuster implies a spoof or parody
of the original film's premise, while knockbuster implies a more derivative (or knock-off) use of a successful film in the same genre.
Though it is possible to use properties of this sort to intentionally deceive consumers into mistakenly purchasing the derivative title (e.g., customer thinks he or she is buying Transformers, but is actually getting Transmorphers
), another possible intention is to provide legitimate add-on buying opportunity in the marketplace (e.g., customer enjoyed Will Ferrell
's Land of the Lost
and wants more in the same sub-genre, and buys/rents C. Thomas Howell
's The Land That Time Forgot
).
traded on the publicity surrounding the theatrically released Snakes on a Plane
. The Asylum
, a Hollywood, California based film studio known for creating several mockbusters, created Snakes on a Train, as well as Transmorphers
, AVH: Alien vs. Hunter, The Da Vinci Treasure
, and most recently the Syfy
-premiered film Battle of Los Angeles
.
The films tend to fit the classic B movie
model, produced on a small budget and largely derivative of the target film and other similar projects. The greatly reduced costs available using modern video and computer graphics equipment, and the tie-in to the mainstream film's advertising, has allowed the mockbuster to find a profitable niche in the home video market. Blockbuster, one of the largest DVD and video-game rental chains, gave implied support to the concept by purchasing 100,000 copies of The Asylum's version of War of the Worlds
in time to coincide with the theatrical opening week of Steven Spielberg
's film based on the same novel
starring Tom Cruise
.
Mockbusters/knockbusters have a long history in Hollywood and elsewhere. For example, the 1959 Vanwick film The Monster of Piedras Blancas
was a clear derivative of Creature From The Black Lagoon
, complete with a creature suit by the same designer, Jack Kevan. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
spawned Village of the Giants
; The Blob
generated The Green Slime
; The Land That Time Forgot spun Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds
; Star Wars
gave derivative birth to a jumble of imitations — Starcrash
, Battle Beyond the Stars
, among others. The success of Spielberg's
1982 family-film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
spawned the infamous 1988 film Mac and Me
. The 1984 film Gremlins
and its ensuing popularity inspired the creation of the notoriously bad 1988 rip-off Hobgoblins
.
A film does not necessarily have to be a derivative of an actual pre-existing film in order to be a knockoff, and instead might attempt to capitalize on the popularity of an existing TV show or any other such form of media with a public following. The 1979 film Angel's Revenge is widely considered to be a film knockoff of the concept behind the popular Charlie's Angels
TV-series.
This same principle can also work in reverse. The Mister Ed
television show was derived from the popular Francis the Talking Mule
series of films, as was the Disney film Gus
.
GoodTimes Entertainment
was notorious for making animated "mockbuster" counterparts to popular Disney films in the 90s.
Similarly, Vídeo Brinquedo
is a Brazil
ian CGI animation
studio that has specialized since 2006 in producing low-budget direct-to-video films that are for the most part considered blatant (and extremely poorly done) knockoffs of movies created by Pixar
, as well as Disney and DreamWorks
. Their titles so far include Little & Big Monsters (considered derivative of DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens
), The Little Cars series of cartoons (considered derivative of Pixar's Cars
), Ratatoing (considered derivative of Pixar's Ratatouille
), Tiny Robots (considered derivative of Pixar's WALL-E
), What's Up?: Balloon to the Rescue! (considered derivative of Pixar's Up
), The Frog Prince (considered derivative of Disney's The Princess and the Frog) and many other titles. In every case Vídeo Brinquedo's knockoff is released suspiciously close to the release date of the more professional, higher-budgeted film that many say of which it is a rip-off.
It is common for mockbusters and rip-offs to be filmed and released outside of the country that the original movie was made in. Many Turkish
, Italian
and Brazil
ian versions/knockoffs of famous American films exist, as well as completely illegitimate sequels.
Star Wars
, its various sequels and their popularity spawned such foreign knockoffs as the 1982 Turkish film Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam
(often commonly referred to by the unofficial title of "Turkish Star Wars", but its title translates to "The Man Who Saves the World"). The 1968 Charlton Heston
film Planet of the Apes
inspired the low-budget Japanese film Time of the Apes, made in 1974 but released in 1987. The 1975 film Jaws
spawned the 1980 Italian rip-off Great White
, as well as Monster Shark
(also commonly referred to by its alternate title Devil Fish, the title it was featured under in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
), another Italian rip-off released four years later. Two Italian directors have done movies inspired by George A. Romero
's 1978 Dawn of the Dead; Lucio Fulci
's Zombi 2
sold itself as the sequel to that film (which was called Zombi in Italy) and even used a line originally written for Dawn of the Dead. Bruno Mattei
released Hell of the Living Dead
in 1980, was widely considered Mattei's attempt to rip off Dawn of the Dead. The movie even goes as far as to illegally use
music from the original soundtrack of Dawn of the Dead created by the band Goblin
without the permission of Goblin, Romero, The Laurel Group or anyone else involved with Dawn of the Deads production. Similarly, Mattei also directed the 1988 film Robowar, widely seen as an attempt to cash in on the successful 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger
film Predator
, but with this version featuring a low-budget "military robot" (an actor in a motor-cycle helmet and a black flak jacket) as the antagonist rather than an intergalactic hunter.
The Spanish
film Pod People
in its early stages had a plot based around evil replicating aliens, but the producers demanded that rewrites be made of the script in order to cash in on the success of the 1982 Steven Spielberg
film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
. The film was released in its final form in 1983 with a furry, orange rip-off of the character E.T. with a trunk. The alien befriends a little boy (who nicknames him "Trumpy") and has seemingly magical powers that somewhat mirror those of the original E.T., but are brought to life with lower-budgeted special effect
s.
In 1983, one year after the American release of Disney's cult classic
science-fiction film Tron
, a South Korea
n studio named Namyang Planning released an animated
science-fiction film called Computer haekjeonham pokpa daejakjeon, which was later released internationally by Joseph Lai under the title of Savior of the Earth. The film's story is centered on an average video game-fan being transported into cyberspace
by a mad scientist and being forced to play video games in order to survive. The film is often known by the unofficial title of "Korean Tron" due to the fact that, despite being animated, it contains a number of obvious narrative and visual elements that were lifted from Disney's Tron. These include the luminous
body-armor, the identity-discs, several of the vehicles featured in Tron, and direct animated adaptations of characters from the original film, including SARK. Both films even feature a cameo appearance
of the popular video game character Pac-Man
.
Japanese animation
has also been the target of mockbusters. When Mazinger Z
was popular in South Korea
in the 1970s, animation director Kim Cheong-gi
created Robot Taekwon V
as the Korean counterpart. After the success of Taekwon V, 70 animated features were produced in South Korea between 1976 and 1986, many of which lifted stories, characters and designs from Japanese anime. In 1983, South Korea released Space Gundam V
. Despite its name, the series is not related to Mobile Suit Gundam
; instead, it is a knockoff of the Super robot
genre featuring an unauthorized depiction of the VF-1 Valkyrie
from Macross
. The 2010 Chinese animated series
Astro Plan
has been criticized for being a ripoff of Macross Frontier
and Mobile Suit Gundam 00
.
Low-budget studios in foreign countries may produce completely illegitimate sequels to pre-existing higher budgeted movies or movie franchises that began in other countries. These sequels are unofficial and often even unknown to the creators and producers of the original franchise. These unofficial sequels are rarely or never released in the country where the original film franchise is made, usually due to licensing issues.
In 1990 an Italian-made science-fiction/horror film titled Terminator II
was released in Italy as a supposed sequel to the 1984 American film The Terminator
. This was almost a full year before the release of the James Cameron
film Terminator 2: Judgment Day
in America. Despite its title, the film's plot is actually closer to being a mockbuster of James Cameron
's 1986 hit film Aliens
, though one of the characters featured is robot disguised as a human that is presented and played in such a way that it's a clear rip-off of Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic character in the movie The Terminator
.
In 1995 a low-budget made-for-TV movie debuted in Italy called Jaws 5 (also called Cruel Jaws). However, only a Jaws 2
, Jaws 3
and Jaws 4
were ever officially released by Universal Pictures
as sequels to the 1975 Steven Spielberg
movie Jaws
. Jaws 5 even features stock footage
illegally taken
from the original Jaws and its sequels (and, ironically enough, Great White, another Italian rip-off of Jaws), as well as use of a mangled version of the Star Wars theme
.
Both Terminator II and Jaws 5 were directed by Bruno Mattei
, an Italian director infamous for both low-budget, poorly-reviewed B-movie
s and exploitation film
s, as well as illegitimate sequels to famous American films. The script for Terminator II was written by cult-famous Italian B-movie writer/director Claudio Fragasso
, most notable for being the director of the cult classic
horror film Troll 2
.
A rare alternate title for the film Pod People
is Return of E.T..
The first two films in the Evil Dead
trilogy of films were released in Italy under the titles of La Casa and La Casa 2. In 1988 Joe D'Amato
acted as producer for a completely unrelated sequel called La Casa 3
, also called Evil Dead 3. This was a full five years before Sam Raimi
would direct and release Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness
in the US. La Casa 4
was another further unrelated sequel to the Evil Dead franchise, also produced by Joe D'Amato and also released in 1988, starring David Hasselhoff
and Catherine Hickland
. The film alternately bills itself as both Evil Dead 4 and Return of the Exorcist, also making it an unofficial/illegitimate sequel to the 1973 American film The Exorcist
, 11 years after the official US release of Exorcist II: The Heretic
. D'Amato would again act as producer for yet another illegitimate Evil Dead sequel in 1990 with the release of La Casa 5
, also called Evil Dead 5 and this time directed by Claudio Fragasso
.
The 1975 low-budget Italian film Naked Exorcism (Un urlo nelle tenebre) also bills itself under the title The Exorcist 3. This was a full 15 years before William Peter Blatty
directed and released The Exorcist III
and a full eight years before he wrote the novel it was based on.
The 1987 Italian war film
Eroi dell'inferno was released in America by Asiavision under the title of Inglorious Bastards 2: Hell's Heroes. Despite the original The Inglorious Bastards/Quel maledetto treno blindato being a war film set in World War II
, Inglorious Bastards 2: Hell's Heroes is set during the Vietnam War
. Oddly enough, both films feature actor Fred Williamson
, but playing different roles.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
created with the apparent intention of piggy-backing on the publicity of a major film with a similar title or theme and are often made with a low budget. Often these films are created to be released direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
at the same time as the mainstream film reaches theaters or video outlets. Though the words are often used interchangeably, the term mockbuster implies a spoof or parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the original film's premise, while knockbuster implies a more derivative (or knock-off) use of a successful film in the same genre.
Though it is possible to use properties of this sort to intentionally deceive consumers into mistakenly purchasing the derivative title (e.g., customer thinks he or she is buying Transformers, but is actually getting Transmorphers
Transmorphers
Transmorphers is a science fiction alien invasion film released direct-to-DVD on June 26, 2007. It was written and directed by Leigh Scott and produced by David Michael Latt and The Asylum. Transmorphers was developed as a mockbuster, intending to capitalize on Michael Bay's Transformers...
), another possible intention is to provide legitimate add-on buying opportunity in the marketplace (e.g., customer enjoyed Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
's Land of the Lost
Land of the Lost (film)
Land of the Lost is a 2009 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, based on the 1974 Sid and Marty Krofft TV series of the same name.-Plot:...
and wants more in the same sub-genre, and buys/rents C. Thomas Howell
C. Thomas Howell
Christopher Thomas "Tommy" Howell , known by his stage name C. Thomas Howell, is an American actor and film director. He starred in the films The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis and in The Hitcher as Jim Halsey. He has appeared in The Da Vinci Treasure,Soul Man, Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, Gettysburg, H. G...
's The Land That Time Forgot
The Land That Time Forgot (2009 film)
The Land That Time Forgot is a 2009 science fiction film by independent American film studio The Asylum. The film is an adaptation of the 1918 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel of the same name, and a re-make of the 1975 Amicus film starring Doug McClure...
).
Sound-alike titling
Often, but not always, a mockbuster will use a title with a similar-sounding name to the mainstream feature it intends to piggy-back upon. For instance, the 2006 mockbuster Snakes on a TrainSnakes on a Train
Snakes on a Train is an action/horror Z movie released direct to DVD by The Asylum on August 15, 2006.Continuing The Asylum's notoriety of capitalizing on major films with low-budget films with similar titles and plots , many aspects of the film are inspired by the film Snakes on a Plane which was...
traded on the publicity surrounding the theatrically released Snakes on a Plane
Snakes on a Plane
Snakes on a Plane is a 2006 American horror-action-thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006 in North America...
. The Asylum
The Asylum
The Asylum is an American film studio and distributor which focuses on producing low-budget, usually direct-to-video productions. The studio has produced titles that capitalize on productions by major studios; these titles have been dubbed "mockbusters" by the press.-History:The Asylum was founded...
, a Hollywood, California based film studio known for creating several mockbusters, created Snakes on a Train, as well as Transmorphers
Transmorphers
Transmorphers is a science fiction alien invasion film released direct-to-DVD on June 26, 2007. It was written and directed by Leigh Scott and produced by David Michael Latt and The Asylum. Transmorphers was developed as a mockbuster, intending to capitalize on Michael Bay's Transformers...
, AVH: Alien vs. Hunter, The Da Vinci Treasure
The Da Vinci Treasure
The Da Vinci Treasure is a 2006 mystery film produced by American studio The Asylum, and directed by Peter Mervis.The film shares its title and several of its plot elements with The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, which had been released as a film adaptation in the same month.-Plot:The film centres on...
, and most recently the Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
-premiered film Battle of Los Angeles
Battle of Los Angeles (film)
Battle of Los Angeles is a science fiction action comedy film by The Asylum, which premiered on the Syfy cable TV channel on Saturday March 12, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. EST and was released to DVD the following Tuesday...
.
The films tend to fit the classic B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
model, produced on a small budget and largely derivative of the target film and other similar projects. The greatly reduced costs available using modern video and computer graphics equipment, and the tie-in to the mainstream film's advertising, has allowed the mockbuster to find a profitable niche in the home video market. Blockbuster, one of the largest DVD and video-game rental chains, gave implied support to the concept by purchasing 100,000 copies of The Asylum's version of War of the Worlds
H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds (2005 film)
H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds is a science fiction horror mockbuster by The Asylum. It is one of three 2005 film adaptations of H. G...
in time to coincide with the theatrical opening week of Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's film based on the same novel
War of the Worlds (2005 film)
War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It is one of three film adaptations of War of the Worlds released that year, alongside The Asylum's version and...
starring Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
.
History
The Monster of Piedras Blancas
The Monster of Piedras Blancas is a 1959 science fiction/horror film written and directed by Irvin Berwick and starring Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, John Harmon, Don Sullivan, Forrest Lewis, and Pete Dunn...
was a clear derivative of Creature From The Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 monster horror film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The eponymous creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning in underwater scenes...
, complete with a creature suit by the same designer, Jack Kevan. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a 1958 American science fiction feature film produced by Bernard Woolner for Allied Artists Pictures. It was directed by Nathan H. Juran from a screenplay by Mark Hanna, and starred Allison Hayes, William Hudson and Yvette Vickers. The original music score was...
spawned Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants is a 1965 science-fiction/comedy movie with many elements of the beach party film genre. It was produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon, and based loosely on H.G. Wells's book The Food of the Gods...
; The Blob
The Blob
The Blob is an independently made 1958 American horror/science-fiction film that depicts a giant amoeba-like alien that terrorizes the small community of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania...
generated The Green Slime
The Green Slime
is a 1968 science-fiction film produced by MGM in the United States and shot in Japan at the studios of Toei Company by director Kinji Fukasaku. The film was spearheaded by the same creative team who produced similar Italian outings including Wild, Wild Planet, Ivan Reiner and Walter...
; The Land That Time Forgot spun Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds
Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds
is a Japanese science fiction film, released by Toei Company. The film featured a giant Plesiosaur and Rhamphorhynchus....
; Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
gave derivative birth to a jumble of imitations — Starcrash
Starcrash
Starcrash is an Italian 1979 science fiction film, which was also released under the English title of The Adventures of Stella Star . The film is a low budget and is often regarded as a rip-off of Star Wars...
, Battle Beyond the Stars
Battle Beyond the Stars
Battle Beyond the Stars is a Roger Corman-produced science fiction film, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami and released in 1980. The film, intended as a "Magnificent Seven in outer space," is a pastiche of The Magnificent Seven, the Western remake of Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai...
, among others. The success of Spielberg's
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
1982 family-film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
spawned the infamous 1988 film Mac and Me
Mac and Me
Mac and Me is a 1988 sci-fi fantasy film co-written and directed by Stewart Raffill about a "Mysterious Alien Creature" escapes from nefarious NASA agents and is befriended by a young boy who uses a wheelchair. Together, they try to find MAC's family, from whom he has been separated...
. The 1984 film Gremlins
Gremlins
Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel,...
and its ensuing popularity inspired the creation of the notoriously bad 1988 rip-off Hobgoblins
Hobgoblins (film)
Hobgoblins is a 1988 low-budget B-movie directed by Rick Sloane, often seen as a rip-off of Gremlins. It earned infamy after it was shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is often regarded as one of the worst films ever made.- Plot :...
.
A film does not necessarily have to be a derivative of an actual pre-existing film in order to be a knockoff, and instead might attempt to capitalize on the popularity of an existing TV show or any other such form of media with a public following. The 1979 film Angel's Revenge is widely considered to be a film knockoff of the concept behind the popular Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
TV-series.
This same principle can also work in reverse. The Mister Ed
Mister Ed
Originally produced in late 1960, Mister Ed is an American television situation comedy produced by Filmways that first aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966....
television show was derived from the popular Francis the Talking Mule
Francis the Talking Mule
Francis the Talking Mule was a mule celebrity, featured in seven movie comedies in the 1950s. The character originated in a novel by writer David Stern, and Universal Studios bought the rights for a film series, with Stern adapting his own script for the first entry, simply titled...
series of films, as was the Disney film Gus
Gus (film)
Gus is a 1976 American film by Walt Disney Productions. Its center character is Gus, a football-playing mule.- Plot :Gus is a film about a football-kicking mule and his trainer "Andy" ....
.
GoodTimes Entertainment
GoodTimes Entertainment
GoodTimes Entertainment, Ltd. was a home video company that originated in 1984 under the name of GoodTimes Home Video. Though it produced its own titles, the company was well-known due to its distribution of media from third parties and classics...
was notorious for making animated "mockbuster" counterparts to popular Disney films in the 90s.
Similarly, Vídeo Brinquedo
Vídeo Brinquedo
Vídeo Brinquedo is a Brazilian company that produces direct-to-video animated Z movies. The company has been accused of distributing films with concepts blatantly plagiarized from films by Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks and other major studios in other countries.-History:In 1994, Vídeo Brinquedo was...
is a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian CGI animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
studio that has specialized since 2006 in producing low-budget direct-to-video films that are for the most part considered blatant (and extremely poorly done) knockoffs of movies created by Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
, as well as Disney and DreamWorks
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
. Their titles so far include Little & Big Monsters (considered derivative of DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens
Monsters vs. Aliens
Monsters vs. Aliens is a 2009 American computer-animated 3-D science fiction film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures...
), The Little Cars series of cartoons (considered derivative of Pixar's Cars
Cars (film)
Cars is a 2006 American animated family film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Joe Ranft. It is the seventh Disney·Pixar feature film, and Pixar's final, independently-produced motion picture before its purchase by Disney...
), Ratatoing (considered derivative of Pixar's Ratatouille
Ratatouille (film)
Ratatouille is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the eighth film produced by Pixar, and was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005...
), Tiny Robots (considered derivative of Pixar's WALL-E
WALL-E
WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
), What's Up?: Balloon to the Rescue! (considered derivative of Pixar's Up
Up (2009 film)
Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...
), The Frog Prince (considered derivative of Disney's The Princess and the Frog) and many other titles. In every case Vídeo Brinquedo's knockoff is released suspiciously close to the release date of the more professional, higher-budgeted film that many say of which it is a rip-off.
Foreign knockoffs and illegitimate sequels
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian versions/knockoffs of famous American films exist, as well as completely illegitimate sequels.
Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
, its various sequels and their popularity spawned such foreign knockoffs as the 1982 Turkish film Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam
Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam
Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam is a 1982 Turkish-made B-movie commonly known as Turkish Star Wars because of its notorious use of unauthorized Star Wars footage worked into the film.-Cast:...
(often commonly referred to by the unofficial title of "Turkish Star Wars", but its title translates to "The Man Who Saves the World"). The 1968 Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
film Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (1968 film)
Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. The film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison...
inspired the low-budget Japanese film Time of the Apes, made in 1974 but released in 1987. The 1975 film Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
spawned the 1980 Italian rip-off Great White
Great White (film)
Great White is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring James Franciscus and Vic Morrow. The film is extremely similar to Steven Spielberg's Jaws.-Plot:...
, as well as Monster Shark
Monster Shark
Monster Shark is a 1984 Italian horror film, and one of several environmental disaster films to emerge following the success of the 1975 film Jaws, including films such as: Great White, Orca, Piranha, Tentacles and Tintorera.- Plot :The film takes place along...
(also commonly referred to by its alternate title Devil Fish, the title it was featured under in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
), another Italian rip-off released four years later. Two Italian directors have done movies inspired by George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
's 1978 Dawn of the Dead; Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his directorial work on gore films, including Zombie and The Beyond , although he made films in genres as diverse as giallo, western, and comedy...
's Zombi 2
Zombi 2
Zombi 2 is a 1979 zombie horror film directed by Lucio Fulci. It is the best-known of Fulci's films and made him a horror icon. Though the title suggests this is a sequel to Zombi Zombi 2 (also known as Zombie, Island of the Living Dead, Zombie Island, Zombie Flesh Eaters and Woodoo) is a 1979...
sold itself as the sequel to that film (which was called Zombi in Italy) and even used a line originally written for Dawn of the Dead. Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei was an Italian film director, screenwriter and editor who gained a cult following for a wide variety of exploitation films that covered many genres, ranging from women in prison to zombie films...
released Hell of the Living Dead
Hell of the Living Dead
Virus: Hell of the Living Dead is a 1980 horror film, specifically a zombie movie, directed by Bruno Mattei.The film is also known as Virus , as well as Night of the Zombies and Zombie Creeping Flesh.-Plot:The film opens at a top secret chemical research facility called Hope Center #1 where a...
in 1980, was widely considered Mattei's attempt to rip off Dawn of the Dead. The movie even goes as far as to illegally use
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
music from the original soundtrack of Dawn of the Dead created by the band Goblin
Goblin (band)
Goblin are an Italian progressive rock band known for their soundtracks for Dario Argento films ....
without the permission of Goblin, Romero, The Laurel Group or anyone else involved with Dawn of the Deads production. Similarly, Mattei also directed the 1988 film Robowar, widely seen as an attempt to cash in on the successful 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
film Predator
Predator (film)
Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox....
, but with this version featuring a low-budget "military robot" (an actor in a motor-cycle helmet and a black flak jacket) as the antagonist rather than an intergalactic hunter.
The Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
film Pod People
Pod People
The Pod People is a 1983 Spanish science fiction film directed by Juan Piquer Simón. A young boy discovers a lovable alien creature, but the alien's mother is on the prowl...
in its early stages had a plot based around evil replicating aliens, but the producers demanded that rewrites be made of the script in order to cash in on the success of the 1982 Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
. The film was released in its final form in 1983 with a furry, orange rip-off of the character E.T. with a trunk. The alien befriends a little boy (who nicknames him "Trumpy") and has seemingly magical powers that somewhat mirror those of the original E.T., but are brought to life with lower-budgeted special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s.
In 1983, one year after the American release of Disney's cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
science-fiction film Tron
Tron (film)
Tron is a 1982 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Lisberger, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It stars Jeff Bridges as the protagonist Kevin Flynn; Bruce Boxleitner in a dual role as security program Tron and Tron's "User", computer programmer Alan Bradley; Cindy...
, a South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n studio named Namyang Planning released an animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
science-fiction film called Computer haekjeonham pokpa daejakjeon, which was later released internationally by Joseph Lai under the title of Savior of the Earth. The film's story is centered on an average video game-fan being transported into cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
by a mad scientist and being forced to play video games in order to survive. The film is often known by the unofficial title of "Korean Tron" due to the fact that, despite being animated, it contains a number of obvious narrative and visual elements that were lifted from Disney's Tron. These include the luminous
Luminous
Luminous may refer to:* Luminous , the sixth release from American Futurepop band Cesium 137* Luminous , a 1998 short story collection by Greg Egan* Luminous, LLC, a contact lens company with headquarters in Portland, Oregon...
body-armor, the identity-discs, several of the vehicles featured in Tron, and direct animated adaptations of characters from the original film, including SARK. Both films even feature a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
of the popular video game character Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
.
Japanese animation
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
has also been the target of mockbusters. When Mazinger Z
Mazinger Z
, known briefly as Tranzor Z in United States, is a Super Robot manga and anime series created by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later continued in Kodansha TV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974. In...
was popular in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
in the 1970s, animation director Kim Cheong-gi
Kim Cheong-gi
Kim Cheong-gi is a South Korean director of animated, fantasy, and science fiction films.His work, Robot Taekwon V , is considered one of the milestones of Korean animation of the 1970s...
created Robot Taekwon V
Robot Taekwon V
Robot Taekwon V is a South Korean animated film directed by Kim Cheong-gi and produced by Yu Hyun-mok, the prominent director of such films as Obaltan . It was released on July 24, 1976, immediately becoming a mega-smash hit in the late 1970s, and consequently inspired a string of sequels in...
as the Korean counterpart. After the success of Taekwon V, 70 animated features were produced in South Korea between 1976 and 1986, many of which lifted stories, characters and designs from Japanese anime. In 1983, South Korea released Space Gundam V
Space Gundam V
Space Gundam V , is a South Korean animated series directed by Kim Cheong-gi, released on July 1983. Despite its title, the series is not related to Mobile Suit Gundam...
. Despite its name, the series is not related to Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam
is a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes...
; instead, it is a knockoff of the Super robot
Super Robot
is a term used in manga and anime to describe a giant robot or mecha, with an arsenal of fantastic super-powered weapons, extreme resistance to damage unless the plot calls for it, sometimes transformable or combined from two or more robots and/or vehicles usually piloted by young, daring heroes,...
genre featuring an unauthorized depiction of the VF-1 Valkyrie
VF-1 Valkyrie
This article is about a fictional vehicle; for the fighter squadron see VF-1.In the fictional Macross Japanese anime series and its English adaptation Robotech, the first mass-produced variable fighter or veritech fighter is called the VF-1 Valkyrie.-Background:The VF-1 was created by the...
from Macross
Macross
is a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
. The 2010 Chinese animated series
Chinese animation
Chinese animation or Manhua Anime, in narrow sense, refers to animations that are made in China. In broad sense, it may refers to animations that are made in any Chinese speaking countries such as People's Republic of China , Republic of China , Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.- History :The...
Astro Plan
Astro Plan
Astro Plan, known in Mainland China as Space Adventures and informally in Japan as , is a science fiction mecha animated series created by Guangzhou-based toy firm Xing Yuan. Hailed as "China's first sci-fi animation", the series premiered on Chinese television on January 16, 2010 through Hunan...
has been criticized for being a ripoff of Macross Frontier
Macross Frontier
is a Japanese animated science fiction space drama that aired in Japan on MBS from April 3, 2008 to September 25, 2008. It is the most recent Japanese anime television series set in the Macross universe. Animated by Satelight, premiered Japan on MBS on April 3, 2008...
and Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
is an anime TV series, the eleventh incarnation of Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise consisting of two seasons. It is directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Yōsuke Kuroda, and features character designs by Yun Kōga. The twenty-five episode season was officially announced by Sunrise...
.
Low-budget studios in foreign countries may produce completely illegitimate sequels to pre-existing higher budgeted movies or movie franchises that began in other countries. These sequels are unofficial and often even unknown to the creators and producers of the original franchise. These unofficial sequels are rarely or never released in the country where the original film franchise is made, usually due to licensing issues.
In 1990 an Italian-made science-fiction/horror film titled Terminator II
Terminator II (1990 film)
Terminator II is a 1990 Italian science fiction film written by Claudio Fragasso and directed by Bruno Mattei.-Background:...
was released in Italy as a supposed sequel to the 1984 American film The Terminator
The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
. This was almost a full year before the release of the James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
film Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
in America. Despite its title, the film's plot is actually closer to being a mockbuster of James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
's 1986 hit film Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, though one of the characters featured is robot disguised as a human that is presented and played in such a way that it's a clear rip-off of Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic character in the movie The Terminator
The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
.
In 1995 a low-budget made-for-TV movie debuted in Italy called Jaws 5 (also called Cruel Jaws). However, only a Jaws 2
Jaws 2
Jaws 2 is a 1978 thriller film and the first sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws , which is based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name...
, Jaws 3
Jaws 3-D
Jaws 3-D is a 1983 thriller film directed by Joe Alves and starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Lea Thompson and Louis Gossett, Jr...
and Jaws 4
Jaws: The Revenge
Jaws: The Revenge, Also known as, 'Jaws 4: The Revenge', is a 1987 thriller film directed by Joseph Sargent. It is the third sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the final installment of the series....
were ever officially released by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
as sequels to the 1975 Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
movie Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
. Jaws 5 even features stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
illegally taken
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
from the original Jaws and its sequels (and, ironically enough, Great White, another Italian rip-off of Jaws), as well as use of a mangled version of the Star Wars theme
Star Wars music
The music of Star Wars consists of the scores written for all six Star Wars films by composer John Williams from 1977 to 1983 for the Original Trilogy, and 1999 to 2005 for the Prequel Trilogy. It includes the Star Wars: The Clone Wars music written by Kevin Kiner...
.
Both Terminator II and Jaws 5 were directed by Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei
Bruno Mattei was an Italian film director, screenwriter and editor who gained a cult following for a wide variety of exploitation films that covered many genres, ranging from women in prison to zombie films...
, an Italian director infamous for both low-budget, poorly-reviewed B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s and exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
s, as well as illegitimate sequels to famous American films. The script for Terminator II was written by cult-famous Italian B-movie writer/director Claudio Fragasso
Claudio Fragasso
Claudio Fragasso is an Italian screenwriter and film director of mostly low-budget exploitation films.- Filmmaking history :...
, most notable for being the director of the cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
horror film Troll 2
Troll 2
Troll 2 is a 1990 horror film directed by Claudio Fragasso and starring Michael Stephenson, George Hardy, Margo Prey, Connie Young , Deborah Reed, and Jason Wright...
.
A rare alternate title for the film Pod People
Pod People
The Pod People is a 1983 Spanish science fiction film directed by Juan Piquer Simón. A young boy discovers a lovable alien creature, but the alien's mother is on the prowl...
is Return of E.T..
The first two films in the Evil Dead
The Evil Dead (franchise)
The Evil Dead is a trilogy of horror films created by Sam Raimi. The films focus on the protagonist, Ashley "Ash" J. Williams, played by Bruce Campbell, who deals with "deadites", which are undead antagonists created by the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. The film series has since expanded into other...
trilogy of films were released in Italy under the titles of La Casa and La Casa 2. In 1988 Joe D'Amato
Joe D'Amato
Joe D'Amato, was a prolific Italian filmmaker who directed roughly 200 films, usually at the same time acting as producer and cinematographer, and sometimes providing the script as well...
acted as producer for a completely unrelated sequel called La Casa 3
La Casa 3
La Casa 3 is the unofficial Italian sequel to Evil Dead II released in 1988. In Italy, The Evil Dead was released under the title La Casa and Evil Dead II became La Casa II...
, also called Evil Dead 3. This was a full five years before Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
would direct and release Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness
Army of Darkness
Army of Darkness, also known as Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness or simply Evil Dead III, is a 1992 horror comedy fantasy action film directed by Sam Raimi. It is the third and final installment in The Evil Dead trilogy. The film was written by Raimi and his brother Ivan, produced by Robert Tapert,...
in the US. La Casa 4
La Casa 4
La Casa 4 is a 1988 horror film. It is the first sequel to La Casa 3 , starring stars David Hasselhoff, Catherine Hickland, Hildegard Knef, Linda Blair, & Annie Ross.-Plot:Gary and his gal pal Linda visit an island off...
was another further unrelated sequel to the Evil Dead franchise, also produced by Joe D'Amato and also released in 1988, starring David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...
and Catherine Hickland
Catherine Hickland
Catherine Hickland is a singer and an actress best known for roles in soap operas broadcast in the United States, most notably as the character of Lindsay Rappaport on ABC's One Life to Live, a character which she has portrayed since 1998.- Early life :Hickland was born and raised in Fort...
. The film alternately bills itself as both Evil Dead 4 and Return of the Exorcist, also making it an unofficial/illegitimate sequel to the 1973 American film The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
, 11 years after the official US release of Exorcist II: The Heretic
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Exorcist II: The Heretic is a 1977 American horror film and the sequel to The Exorcist , directed by John Boorman from a screenplay by William Goodhart and starring Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow, James Earl Jones, Ned Beatty and Kitty Winn...
. D'Amato would again act as producer for yet another illegitimate Evil Dead sequel in 1990 with the release of La Casa 5
La Casa 5
La Casa 5 is the second sequel to La Casa 3 .-Plot:...
, also called Evil Dead 5 and this time directed by Claudio Fragasso
Claudio Fragasso
Claudio Fragasso is an Italian screenwriter and film director of mostly low-budget exploitation films.- Filmmaking history :...
.
The 1975 low-budget Italian film Naked Exorcism (Un urlo nelle tenebre) also bills itself under the title The Exorcist 3. This was a full 15 years before William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty is an American writer and filmmaker. The novel The Exorcist, written in 1971, is his magnum opus; he also penned the subsequent screenplay version of the film, for which he won an Academy Award....
directed and released The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is a 1990 American supernatural thriller written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the second sequel of The Exorcist series and a film adaptation of Blatty's novel, Legion . The film stars George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, and Nicol Williamson...
and a full eight years before he wrote the novel it was based on.
The 1987 Italian war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
Eroi dell'inferno was released in America by Asiavision under the title of Inglorious Bastards 2: Hell's Heroes. Despite the original The Inglorious Bastards/Quel maledetto treno blindato being a war film set in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Inglorious Bastards 2: Hell's Heroes is set during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Oddly enough, both films feature actor Fred Williamson
Fred Williamson
Fred "The Hammer" Williamson is an American actor, architect, and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s.-Football career:...
, but playing different roles.
See also
- B movieB movieA B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
- Z movieZ movieThe term Z movie arose in the mid-1960s as an informal description of certain unequivocally non-A films. It was soon adopted to characterize low-budget pictures with quality standards well below those of most B movies and even so-called C movies...
- Vídeo BrinquedoVídeo BrinquedoVídeo Brinquedo is a Brazilian company that produces direct-to-video animated Z movies. The company has been accused of distributing films with concepts blatantly plagiarized from films by Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks and other major studios in other countries.-History:In 1994, Vídeo Brinquedo was...
- The AsylumThe AsylumThe Asylum is an American film studio and distributor which focuses on producing low-budget, usually direct-to-video productions. The studio has produced titles that capitalize on productions by major studios; these titles have been dubbed "mockbusters" by the press.-History:The Asylum was founded...
- Michael SchelpMichael SchelpMichael Schelp is an American writer and director, former producer of the 2008 television series Cha$e, and current executive producer of MANswers. Schelp founded the New York-based production company Spark Plug Entertainment in 2006...
- Bruno MatteiBruno MatteiBruno Mattei was an Italian film director, screenwriter and editor who gained a cult following for a wide variety of exploitation films that covered many genres, ranging from women in prison to zombie films...
- The television show Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
had episodes featuring mockbusters of other movies. - List of films considered the worst