Samuel Z. Arkoff

Samuel Zachary Arkoff (June 12 1918 – September 16 2001) was an American producer of B-movies.

Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa to a Russian Jewish family, Arkoff first studied to be a lawyer. Along with business partner James H. Nicholson and producer-director Roger Corman, he produced eighteen films. In the 1950s, he and Nicholson founded the American Releasing Corporation, which later became known as American International Pictures and produced over 125 films before the company's demise in the 1980s. These films were mostly low-budget, with production completed in a few days, though nearly all of them became profitable.

Arkoff is also credited with starting a few genres, such as the "Beach Party" and outlaw biker movies, and his company played a substantial part in bringing the horror movie genre to a novel level with successes such as "Blacula", "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" and "The Thing with Two Heads". American International Pictures movies starred many established actors in principal or cameo roles, such as Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester and Vincent Price, as well as up-and-comers who later became household names, including Don Johnson, Nick Nolte, Diane Ladd, and most notably Jack Nicholson. A number of actors shunned or overlooked by most of Hollywood during the 1960s and 1970s, such as Bruce Dern and Dennis Hopper, also found work in one or more of Arkoff's productions. Arkoff's most financially successful film was the 1979 adaptation of Jay Anson's book The Amityville Horror.

Not long after American International Pictures went out of business, Arkoff founded Arkoff International Pictures.

In 2000, Arkoff was featured alongside former collaborators including Roger Corman, Dick Miller and Peter Bogdanovich in the documentary "SCHLOCK! The Secret History of American Movies", a film about the rise and fall of American exploitation cinema.

Arkoff died in 2001, within weeks of his wife's own death.

The ARKOFF formula

During a 1980s television talk show appearance, Arkoff related his "ARKOFF Formula" for a successful, memorable movie. This states that a successful low-budget movie should include:

* Action (exciting, entertaining drama)
* Revolution (novel or controversial themes and ideas)
* Killing (a modicum of violence)
* Oratory (notable dialogue and speeches)
* Fantasy (acted-out fantasies common to the audience)
* Fornication (sex appeal, for young adults)

External links

* [http://www.horror-wood.com/arkoff.htm Article about Samuel Arkoff on the Horror-Wood Webzine]
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* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5861313 Samuel Arkoff's biographic sketch] at Find A Grave