Richard Earl Cunha, creator of "Frankenstein's Daughter," "She Demons" and other low-budget horrors that stalked drive-in movie screens in the late 1950s, was a man who could mix a little imagination with cheap construction materials and come up with schlocky fun.

Cunha, who was born in Honolulu on March 4, 1922, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1939, died Sept. 18 at his home in Oceanside, Calif. He was 83.

He will be buried in Honolulu in a family plot at O'ahu Cemetery.

"Under a monkeypod tree," said his wife, Kathryn "Peaches" Cunha, who met her husband when the two were students at Roosevelt.

Cunha was a World War II veteran who went on to make a name as a cinematographer and director of low-budget feature films, and as a director of commercials and industrial films.

Launched when TV was leaving its infancy and Hollywood turned increasingly to fantasy, Cunha's career included a lifelong cult following, Peaches Cunha said.

"He's always gotten quite a bit of attention," she said, "and he did enjoy it.

"It has been a wonderful life for him."

Richard Earl Cunha is best known for his quartet of horror films, which, in addition to "Frankenstein's Daughter" and "She Demons," included "Giant From the Unknown" and "Missile to the Moon."

Cunha wrote and directed all four. Originally released in 1958 and 1959, the films were recently released on DVD, drawing new generations of fans.

In an interview posted on the Web site for The Astounding B Monster Archive at bmon ster.com, Cunha said his low-budget films were completed for around $65,000 apiece and took about six days each to shoot.

Sets and special effects were constructed from whatever was cheap and handy, and working conditions could be grueling. For "Missile to the Moon," actors playing rock monsters were wrapped in sponge rubber and plastered, one hot summer day, to a cliff wall at Red Rock Canyon near Los Angeles. The scene called for the monsters to break free from the cliff.

"And, you know, it took a while for the plaster to dry with them in there," Cunha told the interviewer. "They'd be yelling, 'Get us out of here, get us out of here!' "

While a student at Roosevelt, Cunha worked part time as a photographer for The Honolulu Advertiser. After graduating from high school in 1939, he attended Art Center School in Los Angeles until the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He was assigned to the the 1st Motion Picture Unit and served as an aerial photographer, then was transferred to Hal Roach Studios in Los Angeles, where he made military training films, newsreels and documentaries.

After the war, he worked as a TV cameraman and director for Toby Anguish productions. Later, he and partner Art Jacobs formed Screencraft Enterprises, producing TV commercials and low-budget films.

His television credits included episodes of "Death Valley Days" with Ronald Reagan and "Branded" with Chuck Connors.

In 1980, he retired from Columbia Pictures, where he worked as a director and cinematographer for TV commercials and industrial films.

During his retirement, he and his wife opened one of the first video rental stores in Oceanside and worked there for 10 years. They sold the store in 1990.

Cunha was preceded in death by his son Steven Earl Cunha, who died in 1972. His father was the late Albert "Sonny" Cunha, a well-known Hawaiian songwriter; his mother, the late May Williams Cunha.

In addition to his wife of 62 years, he is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law Rick and Patti Cunha of Los Angeles, Michael and Toni Cunha of Fort Bragg, Calif., and Anthony and Marcia Cunha of Los Angeles; daughter and son-in-law, Kathryn and Gildo Sciarretta of Rome; sister, May Cunha Ross of Honolulu; sister-in-law, Marie Shultz of Oceanside; grandchildren, Jonathan, Steven, Philip, Matteo, Julia, Alexander and Samantha; and great-grandchildren, Kai and Anwyn.

Arrangements are being handled by Cremation Services in Vista, Calif., and a private service will be held in Honolulu at a later date.

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.