Found this at the site for Buchanan's latest film:

More information is available at the site:

http://www.copperscroll.com/

Zontar, R.I.P. God must have a lovely sense of humor to have created this fairly wonderful and wondrous person. Can't always say the same about 'enjoying' his movies precisely, but they're certainly unique even when they're carbon copies of other movies, the true 'auteur test' passed with flying colors. I can't even begin to comment adequately here why I feel so sunk suddenly by the news. I and many other loved his Bad Truth however painful to endure (the Truth and Buchanan Movies usually do hurt that way), and we'll always serve the Master whenever he calls from that Planet he dwells in with Jim Morrison, Janis, Jimi, Marilyn, Anthony Houston, John Agar, John Ashton, and the Man with the Ping Pong Ball Eyes.

That's a pretty astonishing website (if riddled with a few endearingly characteristic typos, to remind the reader of the director's more infamously jerry-built '60s output). My only experience of Larry Buchanan's oevre (or "egg", as Fangoria might put it) is of suffering through MARS NEEDS WOMEN back in the early 80s during a "worst ever" season on TV...

To learn now that he shot a sweeping Techniscope religious epic in 1972, later scored by Alex North (!!), is astonishing. I mean, I have no idea if it's any good, but as an accomplishment I think it speaks pretty highly of this much-maligned director's ambition and perseverance. (As an atheist, I have to say I'm heartened, too, by his conceptualisation of a humanist Jesus.) From what I gather, there's a DVD release planned; wonder if it'll get a wide release, or available only from the COPPER SCROLL OF MARY MAGDALENE website?

I can't wait to read a review of this thing.

Farewell, Larry. We'll never have an artist like you again.

I have loved his movies since I was a kid. The micro-budgeted AIP TV movies such as ZONTAR, MARS NEEDS WOMEN, IT'S ALIVE, and (my favorite) CURSE OF THE SWAMP CREATURE have the seams showing, sure, but all have moments of black humor, surrealism, and genuine elegance of design (the cinematography of MARS NEEDS WOMEN makes late sixties Dallas look downright otherworldly - check out the scenes in the warehouse and airport, for example). The monsters may have had ping pong balls for eyes, but Buchanan used the low budgets of these films to create claustrophobic chamber dramas - the scenes between Trent and his terried wife in SWAMP CREATURE, the Martian Dop hypnotizing the newspaper reporter in the modernistic hotel room in MARS NEEDS WOMEN, the sadomasochistic abuse of Anabelle Weenick's Bella by Greely (played by the great Bill Thurman) in IT'S ALIVE - these provide the true moments of terror in these films. Buchanan wisely cut back on the monster scenes in his remakes of AIP's fifties programmers, except for THE EYE CREATURES, where the monsters really kick ass and are serious nightmare material.

He was a true pioneer in the regional cinema movement. When he started out, the only movies he could finance and make in Dallas were skinflicks shot on location in Jack Ruby's strip clubs. By the time he was finished, he had made an accomplished gothic racial melodrama, HIGH YELLOW (an excellent film - and like all of his movies, containing left/progressive subtexts on race and sexuality). Also, his AIP movies were crucial in selling that company's feature packages to local stations in the days of color TV programming shortages, and many genre features were being shot in north Texas in the wake of his groundbreaking success.

A fellow Mobian forwarded some of my posts on his films to Larry himself about a year ago, and I have enjoyed several gracious, witty, and generous emails from him, so I was devastated to learn of his sudden passing. At least he finished his lifelong labor of love before he left us. Maybe he felt that his work here on earth was done.

I hope we can get a deluxe DVD of COPPER SCROLLS OF MARY MAGDALENE with nice presentation and some commentary from talent in front of and behind the camera. And, in time, DVDs of his entire oeuvre.

Put in a good word for your friends and fans, Larry.

That gag has haunted me for years.

This is very sad news. I knew he was getting up there, but in all of his Something Weird audio commentaries (which weren't that terribly informative, but I digress...), he always sounded in good spirits and had a darn good memory. I think his commentary on COMMON LAW WIFE was his best and gave great insights about the equally late and great Annabelle Weenick.

It seems we're losing many of the great exploiteers; first Russ Meyer now Larry Buchanan. I dread the day that a post proclaims "Dave Friedman passes away". Meeting HIM was one of the highlights of my life, I well up just thinking about it!

Interesting side note to THE COPPER SCROLL OF MARY MAGDALENE. Do you know who was originally cast to play Mary Magdalene? ERICA GAVIN!

I just listened to the NAKED WITCH commentary with Larry Buchanan to sort of pay homage to him and his incredible career, and he mentions a Russ Meyer actress who was cast and flew to Tunisia. This actress, however, had a drug problem, he mentions, and could only be controlled by the lead actor, according to Buchanan. Well, the lead actor is Garth Pillsbury, the male lead of VIXEN!, so process of elimination means = Erica Gavin was originally cast in this film!!

Yes, Casey, I'm almost positive that Buchanan's autobiography mentions Erica by name (I'm on vacation and my treasured Larry tome is inaccessible). Rumors have even circulated that substantial footage with Erica in the role was shot. If this is true, it would be a wonderful extra on the DVD to have a record of these two cult movie icons working together on the same project.

It would be really cool if DVDs of some of Erica's movies from the seventies could feature her commentaries as audio options. She gave a wonderful interview in the movie journal THE VELVET LIGHT TRAP a few years ago which was published under the title "From VIXEN to Vindication" that forcefully and articulately expressed her deep ambivalence about some of the roles that she played and included a remembrance of an appearance on a talk show with Betty Friedan in which she privately agreed with everything that Friedan was saying about the nature of some of the films in which Erica had appeared while publicly expressing the opposite opinion because of her professional obligation to promote her current film on the show.

And I guess we're all hoping for that long-awaited DVD of BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS which could feature interview extras and audio commentary by the living participants. C'mon, Newscorp! Don't dissapoint. You could even build synergy by by booking John LeZar on THE O'REILLY FACTOR!