Low Budget Indie Pioneer Charles Griffith

Thursday, October 11------Charles Griffith, a screenwriter and director best known for writing the screenplay for the 1960 cult classic THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, died last week at the age of 77. Griffith made a name for himself in low-budget horror-comedy films, frequently collaborating with the producer/director Roger Corman, who also gave burgeoning filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppolla, Dennis Hopper and others their first cracks at directing feature films.

[img_assist|nid=6806|title=Corman & Griffith|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=140|height=94]THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, both produced and directed by Roger Corman, is the satiric story of Seymour, a timid young man who works in a flower store, who unwittingly creates a carnivorous plant that feeds on human flesh. The film features a cameo by a young actor named Jack Nicholson, years before he became an international superstar. Though the film found little acclaim on its initial release, it developed a huge cult following and later inspired a highly successful 1982 Off Broadway musical.

[img_assist|nid=6807|title=A BUCKET OF BLOOD|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=140|height=114]Griffith, who was known for using dark humor in his scripts, wrote dozens of genre films for American International Pictures, Roger Corman's company, including such low-budget classics as A BUCKET OF BLOOD, THE WILD ANGELS , DR. HECKYL AND MR. HYPE and DEATH RACE 2000, which featured then-unknowns Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine. He also directed a handful of films, the best known being EAT MY DUST, which starred a young Ron Howard.