The Last Drive-In: Roger Corman Reflects on Getting Death Threats in Tribute Clip (Exclusive)

Making movies can often be a glamorous experience, whether you’re making big-budget blockbusters or even bringing micro-budget B-movies to life, but in a new clip from Shudder’s upcoming The Last Drive-In Live: A Tribute to Roger Corman, the legendary filmmaker looks back on a time he received death threats from the Hells Angels after how they were represented in his 1966 movie The Wild Angels. In the clip, Corman not only recalls the threats he received, but also expressed how he knew there would be only one way to reason with the members of the biker gang and how to appeal to their biggest priorities. You can check out the exclusive clip above before The Last Drive-In Live: A Tribute to Roger Corman premieres on Shudder on March 15th at 9 p.m. ET.

Recorded live from Las Vegas, Joe Bob celebrates legendary filmmaker Roger Corman’s first 70 years in Hollywood with The Last Drive-In Live: A Tribute to Roger Corman, featuring guests of honor Roger and Julie Corman — and a surprise visit from one of Roger’s oldest friends and collaborators, Bruce Dern. After the special, The Last Drive-In Season 6 continues with Joe Bob’s signature movie watch parties on a biweekly schedule, featuring single feature spotlights and surprises.

Over the course of his decades-spanning career, Corman directed more than 50 films and served as a producer on hundreds. In the case of The Wild Angels, it was the unexpected popularity of the movie that brought undue attention to the Hells Angels, resulting in the death threats.

“Nobody, including me, had any idea it was going to do the kind of business it did. It was really incredible. It was breaking — well, for a picture that cost, I think, $250,000 — it was actually breaking house records in theaters, particularly in drive-ins,” Corman recalled to the Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and TV back in 2018, per The Hollywood Reporter. “And when they heard, first they, I’m trying to remember it exactly, because this was around 1962 or something like that. They announced that they were suing me for $1 million for defamation of character, on the basis I had played them as a, portrayed them as an outlaw motorcycle gang. whereas they were actually a social organization, dedicated to the spreading of technical information about motorcycles. Then, they announced that they were going to kill me.”

In the weeks following the premiere of The Last Drive-In Live: A Tribute to Roger Corman, fans can still enjoy new episodes of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, as new episodes will debut on Shudder every other Friday.

Are you looking forward to the tribute? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!