Welcome to the Mihmiverse!

What on Earth is the Mihmiverse? Well, first of all, it's not necessarily on Earth, but before I explain, let's harken back to the 1950s, when drive-in movie theaters were just becoming popular, especially with teenagers. It was traditional to run a double feature: the "A" movie, followed by the "B" movie.

For the most part, "A" movies were full-length Hollywood films featuring the stars of the day. The "B" movie, however, was a shorter (usually between 60 and 70 minutes), low-budget affair filled with actors who had yet to become famous, or never would. The dialogue was awful and the special effects were far short of "special."

More often not, the "B" movie was a cheesy science fiction or horror film designed to keep the teenagers in their cars a little bit longer. Drive-in owners hoped to make some extra money off their hot dogs, popcorn and soda — whether the kids were actually watching the movie — or finding something else to occupy their time.

You may remember titles like Them!, Plan 9 From Outer Space, and the original non-musical version of Little Shop of Horrors, but for every famous title, there were cheese fests like The Horror of Party Beach, Attack of the Crab Monsters, and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.

After a while, indoor theater owners started using these films to attract kids and teens to Saturday matinees, and that's where George Mihm comes in.

Growing up in a small town in Minnesota, George Mihm had little else to do on Saturday afternoons, so he made his way down to the local theater and watched every single "B" movie they would screen.

And he fell in love with them all!

Fast forward a few years. George had a little boy of his own (Christopher) and every chance he got, he'd rent or buy a VHS copy of one of these "B" movies and together, they'd watch and do a little father-son bonding.

And Christopher fell in love with them too!

Fast forward a few more years. George passed away — a victim of cancer and far too young at age 51.

While grieving, Christopher had an idea: Wouldn't it be great to make a cheesy "B" film in honor of George? A film he knew his father would love? It was just a pipe dream, but then his stepdaughter Liz developed cancer at the age of 15.

At that point, Christopher realized that life was too short not to act on his dreams, so in 2005, he contacted his old high school friend, Josh Craig, and together they sat down to write a cheesy "B" movie, filled with every "B" movie cliche and not-so-special effect they could think of.

The plot: A university professor, his graduate student, and five swell teenagers discover the terrifying effects of "Atomic Waste" in the form of a horribly mutated "shell-shocked" World War II soldier/lake-algae monster!

They called it The Monster of Phantom Lake.

In short order, they assembled a cast, and put the whole family to work building the the sets, putting together costumes and collecting props (Liz helped as much she could whenever she was up to it).

Even though both Christopher and Josh freely admitted they had no idea what they were doing — and barely any money to do it — the film was completed in record time.

A 300-seat theater was rented in Minneapolis for the premiere, publicity began, and a funny thing happened: Long before opening night, it sold out!

Then another funny thing happened: the film went on to win several awards at film festivals across the United States, and over the course of the past 12 years, it has been shown in theaters and on television around the globe.

The initial success was amazing, and not one to let an opportunity pass him by, Christopher R. Mihm decided to keep making movies. He has now filmed 13 "B" movies in the last 12 years, with no sign of stopping.

(I plan to discuss and review all of the films in future articles.)

Although each of the films stands alone, plot-wise, they are also slightly interconnected, hence the term "Mihmiverse" (I bet you thought I'd forgotten to explain, didn't you)!

The best news of all: Liz fully recovered and has been cancer-free for several years.