R.I.P.: Herschell Gordon Lewis – Godfather of Gore, Part II: 1961-63
"He seen somethin' different. And he done it."
15 June 1926— 26 September 2016
A
seminal force in the world of trash filmmaking, he is considered the
inventor of the modern gore film. (In theory, a position he holds with David F. Friedman,
but when the partnership ended Friedman's true interest proved to be
sexploitation.) To use Lewis's own, favorite and famous words: "I've
often compared Blood Feast (1963) to a Walt Whitman poem; it's no
good, but it was the first of its kind." And a truly fun gore film, too
— which makes it "good" in our view.
Unlike Blood Feast
and his "better movies", many of the projects Lewis worked on are
unbearable cinematic experiences; but more than enough of the others are
sublime, otherworldly, like the best of Ed Wood, Juan Piquer Simón, or John Waters (the last, however, being a filmmaker of actual talent). Were it not for innovators like Lewis, A Wasted Life probably wouldn't be. One
of the truly great has left the building. A career review will follow —
but first, a few films that may or may not have something to do with
the Godfather of Gore.
The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961, dir. "Lewis H. Gordon")
"Filmed in Cutie Color and Skinamascope."
Trailer:
According to Talking the Talkies with Peter Waters, "After hitting it off with Friedman [while making The Prime Time (1960 [see Part 1]),
Lewis decided to self-distribute their films and tap into the
burgeoning market known as 'nudie-cuties'. These were films that [...]
essentially feature naked beautiful women doing mundane activities (they
were basically sex films with sex-less situations). Lewis and Friedman,
on a two-man crew (Lewis as director/cameraman [plus scriptwriter],
Friedman as producer/soundman), pooled together $8,000 and made The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961),
a thinly plotted film about a voyeur who watches women undress (the
entire script was written in only six hours). Once the film was released
and turned a profit for the producers, the two went on to crank out
more and more 'nudie-cutie' films 'like so much hamburger' (HGL)."
Wikipedia makes the claim "The Adventures of Lucky Pierre is
[...] the first of its kind to be filmed in color, the film starred
comedian Billy Falbo. It was unique for its time and genre, adding
successful comedy to the nudity and sensationalist material." They
totally fail to remember Russ Meyer's classic color nudie-cutie, The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959), which The Adventures of Lucky Pierre emulates
in a cookie-cutter fashion. That is the film which truly was "the first
of its kind to be filmed in color", if not ever. It should be noted,
Russ Meyer also had a far better eye for the attractive woman and great
figure ... but then, Lewis (unlike here at A Wasted Life) was known not to be a fan of the buxom form.
The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959),
Full Film:
Over at All Movie, Robert Firsching cites the inspiration of the inspiration in his synopsis of The Adventures of Lucky Pierre: "When Russ Meyer ushered in the age of the nudie-cuties with The Immoral Mr. Teas, he chose to employ a parody of Jacques Tati's popular 'Mr. Hulot' comedies [E.g.: Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953 / scene) or Mon Oncle (1959 / trailer)].
Not to let a good idea pass him by, exploitation master Herschell
Gordon Lewis copied that formula here with an hour of comic blackouts
featuring Billy Falbo as 'Lucky Pierre', whose wordless misadventures
always seem to involve nude ladies. Segments include 'Pardon My
Pigment', 'The Plumber's Friend', 'For the Birds', 'The Photographer's
Apprentice', and 'Drive-In Me Crazy'. On the whole, the film has
extremely annoying music and photography which is often unflattering
despite the vivid Mary Poppins-type colors. It's innocuous fun, though,
and at least manages to be occasionally amusing, unlike most of the
tedious nudie-cuties of the time."
Cinepassion
points out: "Whether or not doused with copious blood, human flesh in
Lewis's ingeniously debased comedies remains a tool for audience
frustration."
Lucky Piere himself was played by Billy Falbo (1923 — 3 Nov 1999). According to imbd,
Falbo was a "comedian at Las Vegas hotels such as Caesars Palace, the
Flamingo, Dunes, Desert Inn and MGM Grand, who often opened for Frank
Sinatra and other stars. He was a regular performer at the original
Chicago Playboy Club and in later years he entertained on many Caribbean
cruises."
Of the bared bodies, Gale Hale went on to play a part in David F. Friedman production The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill (1966 / trailer), while burlesque entertainer Toni Carroll (above and below) seems to have ended her non-existent film career with this movie.
Toni Carroll sings Be My Little Bumble Bee:
Living Venus (1961, dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis)
Written
by Herschell Gordon Lewis, James McGinn, Seymour Zolotareff (a known
pseudonym of David F. Friedman), and William Kerwin; produced by H.G.
Lewis, David F. Friedman, and Preston Collins. Famous for being the
feature film debut of Harvey Korman, who worked previously with Lewis
(and William Kerwin) in the 1959 industrial film Carving Magic (see Part I).
At Something Weird, Lisa Petrucci writes: "Herschell Gordon Lewis's second film and the first he directed, Living Venus is
loosely based on the life of Hugh Hefner but so fictionalized as to
avoid any possible legal repercussions. [...] Well-made, compelling, and
featuring some fleeting nudity, Living Venus is often overlooked in favor of Lewis's more extreme titles, which is a shame since it's surprisingly good."
Fitting
for a film based on the life of Hugh Hefner, there's a Playmate in the
cast: Linné Ahlstrand (1 July 1936 — 18 Jan 1967), Playboy Playmate
of the Month for July 1958, plays "Diane". Ahlstrand previously had a
small part as "Natalie, the bar-girl" in Monte Hellman's legendary debut
film, Beast from Haunted Cave (1959). Her centerfold was photographed by Frank Bez.
Trailer to Beast from Haunted Cave:
Pulp Informer
has the plot: "Jack (William Kerwin) works for a conservative magazine
called NEWLYWED. He gets into trouble with the boss. Jack then proceeds
to tell his former boss that he will create his own publication and
outsell NEWLYWED. Jack convinces a tall and shapely waitress named Peggy
(Danica D'Hondt), to work for him and appear in his new magazine. Soon
after, he obtains the phone number of a struggling photographer named
Ken (Harvey Korman). Jack and Ken become partners. Their new men's
magazine is called PAGAN, and their featured model is Peggy. She ends up
becoming the star of their new periodical. PAGAN is a huge success, and
Jack's ego grows just as big. He becomes an even bigger asshole than he
already was. A love triangle forms between Jack, Peggy, and Ken. Will
they all live happily ever after?... What do you think?....." Search My Trash, like Ms. Petrucci at Something Weird,
doesn't find the movie all that bad: "Of course, the main selling point
of this film at the time of its release was its occasional topless
nudity (still something of a sensation in the early 1960's), carried by a
plot that promised insights into the sleaze biz — and yes, the film
delivered, and the girls were rather cute, too. But it's actually a
pretty decent low budget melodrama as well. Sure, the plot is pretty
clichéd, but the whole thing is pretty well-paced, the actors are
uniformly up to the job — with William Kerwin giving what might be the
best performance of his lifetime — and the whole thing doesn't take
itself too seriously. This all doesn't make Living Venus a
masterpiece of any sort, not even one of director Herschell Gordon
Lewis's best films, but a very decent effort when nudies were usually
made with half a braincell for some quick return at the box office (not
that these are necessarily unfunny to watch of course) ..."
The "Living Venus" herself, Danica D'Hondt (above) as "Peggy", had a less than spectacular film career in Hollywood, the highpoints being a small part in A House Is Not a Home (1964 / full movie — where she's credited above Raquel Welch and Edy Williams) and the time capsule Unkissed Bride (1966). Miss Canada of 1959, perhaps the biggest career mistake D'Hondt made was turning down the role of "Ginger" in Gilligan's Island
(1964-67). Her daughter Ameríca Athene Olivo has followed her mother's
footsteps as a B actress, and has had meaty roles in fun films like The Thirst: Blood War (2008 / trailer), the failure that is the 2009 reboot of Friday the 13th (trailer), Neighbor (2009 / trailer), Bitch Slap (2009 / trailer), Circle (2010 / trailer), and the Maniac remake (2012 / trailer).
Danica D'Hondt in Unkissed Bride (1966):
Nature's Playmates (1962, dir. "Lewis H. Gordon")
"Nude twisting! Nude trampolining! Nude beatniks! These are among the many highlights of Nature's Playmates. [Internet Archives]" Written by David F. Friedman (as Seymour Zeletarell) and Bently Williams (as Ben T. Williams).
TCM
has the plot: "Chicago private detective Russell Harper (Scott Osborne)
and his assistant, Diana (Vickie Miles), are hired by Mrs. Sandra
Elliott (Teri Stevens) to find her husband who has disappeared. Mrs.
Elliott tells the detective team that her husband, formerly a nudist,
may be found in a Florida nudist camp. Mrs. Elliott explains that the
sole identifying mark on her husband is a tattoo on his arm. The
detective team leaves for Miami, and after some reluctance on the part
of Diana to remove her clothing, they begin to search the nudist camps
in the Miami area. Diana soon begins to enjoy nudism; at one of the
camps she enters a Twist contest with one of the nudists. They win the
contest, and she introduces the man to Russell. Russell notices a mark
on the man's arm that he suspects is covering a tattoo. When confronted,
the man admits he is the missing Mr. Elliott (Peter Lathrop). A
confirmed nudist, Elliott states that he will not live with his wife who
continually harangues him on the subject. Russell and Diana call Mrs.
Elliott and ask her to come to the camp to persuade her husband to
leave. Mrs. Elliott arrives the next day, and the two detectives
persuade her to remove her clothing and enter the camp. She does so, and
the Elliotts are happily reunited. The two detectives, who have fallen
in love in the course of the case, leave the camp with the intention of
marrying."
Lead
actress "Vicki Miles" is no less than Allison "Bunny" Louise Downe, or
Mrs. Herschell Gordon Lewis (from 1962 — 1971). Aside from a variety of
other Lewis movies, Bunny can be seen in Barry Mahon's Pagan Island (1961 / trailer) and The Beast that Killed Women (1965 / scene); Doris Wishman's Diary of a Nudist (1961 / full movie) and Blaze Starr Goes Nudist (1962 / trailer), and more.
Speaking of Doris Wishman, in his book Down and Dirty: Hollywood's Exploitation Filmmakers and Their Movies,
Mike Quarles points out, "She actually appeared in an H.G. Lewis-Dave
Friedman nudist camp picture (with her clothes on) as Doris Wisher."
There is a "Doris Wisher" on the cast list of Nature's Playmates.
Daughter of the Sun (1962, dir. "Lewis H. Gordon")
Written
by Lewis & Friedman — not that there is really all that much of
a story. It is included in Rolf Giesen and Ronald M. Hahn
German-language book Die schlechtesten Filme aller Zeiten ["The Worst Films of All Times]. It was produced by "Lucky Pierre Enterprises". (Hah Hah Hah!) Mubi
keeps it short when explaining the plot: "When she is discovered to be a
nudist, a school teacher (Rusty Allen) is called before the board of
education to defend herself. A young male teacher (Keith Lawrence)
decides to accompany her to her nudist camp to find out for himself
exactly what goes on there."
Rusty Allen
(10 March 1944 — 1 Nov 2004), above and below, born "Terry Kay Dennis"
went on to not have much of a film career, her last film project being
Jerald Intrator's less than spectacular The Sexperts: Touched by Temptation (1965).
At good ol' Something Weird, Nancy Nudenik says: "Never in my life have I felt so clean, so natural, so alive! And you will too after watching Daughter of the Sun,
[...] shot at the Spartan Tropical Gardens in Miami, Florida. [...]
Surprisingly, most of the members are actually somewhat attractive.
Unclothed activities abound: naked weightlifting, naked swimming, naked
volleyball, and of course, naked lounging around soaking up the rays.
[...] In a wonderful exploitation gimmick, Daughter of the Sun's nudist-camp scenes were shot in Eastman color, while the non-naked scenes were filmed in good ol' black & white."
Boin-n-g (1963, dir. "Lewis H. Gordon")
Filmed in beautiful Barrington, Illinois; written by Lewis & Friedman, produced by Friedman and Stanford S. Kohlberg,
the latter of whom once owned a chain of 50 drive-in theaters and
supposedly came up with the idea of putting movie theatres in shopping
malls. Basically: Lewis & Friedman go meta.
Trailer to
Boin-n-g:
John Harrison of Reel Wild Cinema writes the following at Something Weird:
"[...] Herschell Gordon Lewis bode(s) farewell to the nudie-cuties via
this semi-autobiographical comedy filled with sly comments on the
sexploitation industry and those who populate it. Suffering through a
double-bill of The Adventures of Lucky Pierre and Nature's Playmates
at the Studio Theatre [...], best buddies Al Harding (William Kerwin /
"Thomas Sweetwood") and Bob Stevens (Bill Johnson) decide they could do
better and, just like that, enter the nudie film business. [...] The
blissfully inexperienced duo are joined by gauche cameraman Schmurtz
(Robbie Bee), and quickly discover that anything that can go wrong, does
[...]. [...] Al and Bob don't get time to look at it before screening
the film for skinflick distributor Sonny Halitosis (comedian Lawrence J.
Aberwood, acting as 'Lawrence Wood'), who exclaims, 'I'll take it! It
was the worst picture I ever saw! It'll be a smash at the box office!'
[...] And, as always, the original organ score by Lewis is an absolute
pearler."
H.G. Lewis seems to have viewed this as his best nudie cutie. In John McCarty's The Sleaze Merchants,
he says "We [Lewis & Friedman] were quite successful, but after
a time I became increasingly disenchanted with them [nudie-cuties].
After all, there are only so many ways to show girls in a nature camp
playing volleyball. I told Dave I didn't want to make any more nudies. I
felt out picture BOIN-N-G! was the best one yet made and that we
weren't going to beat it. I told him I could see the grosses dropping.
We sat down to figure out what else might suit us, and we put down,
tentatively, the stark single word GORE."
Goldilocks and the Three Bares (1963, dir. "Lewis H. Gordon ")
Once considered a lost film, but someone at Something Weird checked their attic. Supposedly aka somewhere as Goldilocks' Three Chicks. The movie's title is slipped into the dialogue at 1:05:30. Filmed in "Buffocolor" and "Seemorescope", according to Nationmaster.com,
this flick is the "second to last nudie-cutie from the legendary
exploitation team of Herschell Gordon Lewis and David Friedman." Billed
as the "first nudist musical" — a soubrette perhaps better held by
another movie released that year, Loel Minardi's Sinderella and the Golden Bra (trailer) — it did, in any event, long precede the self-congratulatory titled The First Nudie Musical (1976) by 13 years. (That said, unlike either Sinderella or Goldilocks, First Nudie is a really entertaining film from start to the end.)
Fan-made Trailer to The First Nudie Musical:
The least verbose synopsis we could find was the one at both TCM and imdb:
"Lounge singer Eddie Livingston (Rex Marlow) and comedian Tommy
Sweetwood (William Kerwin) work at Joey Maxim's Roaring Twenties
nightclub in downtown Miami. One day, Tommy is thumbing through a nudist
magazine in a local drugstore and making wisecracks to Eddie. Tommy
tries to pick up an attractive blonde woman (Allison Louise Downe aka
Vickie Miles) who responds with walking out of the store with disgust,
followed by the apologetic Eddie. Later that evening, while Tommy is on
stage repeating a routine he worked up about the nudist magazine, Joey
Maxim brings the offended blonde to a table. Eddie learns that the woman
is Alison Edwards, the club's new publicist. Eddie tries to elect the
reason for Alison's indignation, but Myrna (Netta Mallina), Eddie's
girlfriend and agent, jealously intervenes. Eddie begins to date Alison,
and Tommy begins to date Cynthia Martin (Judy Parsons), a photographer
friend of Alison's. Both men become curious as to why their new
girlfriends refuse to see them on the weekends. Tommy follows both women
one day and discovers that they spend their Saturdays and Sundays at a
nearby nudist camp. Eddie becomes very uncomfortable and jealous when he
learns that he is dating a nudist and he openly resents Alison's
subterfuge. As a result, Eddie publicly embarrasses her during a live
radio program. Cynthia and Alison get together and invite the boys to
give nudism a chance, so Eddie and Tommy accompany the women on a
fun-filled weekend at the camp. Afterwards, Eddie and Tommy realize that
nudism is not so bad after all and decide to remain together with their
women."
The
guy staring so intently into the camera during the trailer (found
further below) is former light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim nee
Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli (28 March 1922 — 2 June 2001) as the owner
of his eponymous nightclub where Eddie and Tommy perform. As he says on
the poster: "It's me...Joey Maxim, the former world's light heavyweight
champion! I'm one of the stars! My first screen appearance." His film
career went nowhere fast.
DVD Drive-In says, "The 63-minute running time of Goldilocks feels
like an eternity, but to the film's credit I can't think of another
nudist camp flick with horseback-riding! And of course there are the
token naked pool parties, nude sunbathing, nude yachting, ad infinitum.
You get naked Bill Kerwin, naked Vicki Miles, naked Rex Marlow (who?),
naked Mal Arnold, naked Delores Carlos, and naked Craig Maudslay, Jr.!!!
But long before the final 20 minutes (where all the nudity appears),
there are long, LONG musical performances and even LONGER comedy
routines by a painfully unfunny Kerwin. In the end, Friedman and Lewis'
nudist camp musical isn't as entertaining as some of their other nudies,
but it has its moments and they're better moments than entire films by
other directors!"
Trailer to Goldilocks and the Three Bares:
According to DVD Talk,
among the film's "Notables" are: 33 breasts, giant novelty sunglasses, a
gratuitous apocalyptic newspaper headline, a lengthy snail-speed car
chase, and a gratuitous prize-fighter Joey Maxim (who wears his script
on his sleeve).
What we see as notable: famously 9-fingered crooner Rex Marlow made only one other film, Deadwood '76 (1965 / trailer), with the great Arch Hall Jr (of the masterpiece The Sadist [1963]). Among the nudists: Dolores Carlos, the covergirl above (also found in Naked Complex [1963 / trailer], Herb Jeffries's Mundo depravados [1967 / scene], and Mafia Girls [1969 / trailer]), and Maria Stinger
(1931—1967), below. A mild Florida celebrity at the time, in 1954 Maria
was crowned Miami's Marilyn Monroe in a beauty contest sponsored by the
The Miami Herald. She is said to be the first model to pose for Bunny Yeager. She killed herself with an overdose of pills.
Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963, dir. Lewis H. Gordon)
Lewis & Friedman's last nudie-cutie / nudist film. At The Daily Public, Lewis claims that it was while making Bell, Bare and Beautiful — a "four-day wonder" — that he and Friedman came up with the idea of doing a gore film.
The plot of the movie, as described at imdb,
is hardly Shakespearean: "Rick Bradshaw (William Kerwin) is a young
millionaire who consults with his therapist, Dr. Everett (Al Gordon),
about a persistent dream about an unknown, beautiful woman. Dr. Everett
takes Rick to an artist, who sketched a likeness of Rick's dream girl,
and the picture is run in the newspapers. Within a few days, Rick is
swamped with replies from dozens of women, but the genuine one comes
from the agent of burlesque queen Gina Adair (Virginia Bell). Rick
follows Gina and her act to Miami, searching in vain for her at her
favorite nudist camp. Later, Rick approaches Gina at the theater where
she works, but he is assaulted by her manager, Barney (David F.
Friedman), who controls Gina because of an unpaid loan once given by her
father. After doing some investigating about Gina and her true
connection to Barney, Rick repays the loan when he finally finds Gina at
the nudist camp. But a jealous Barney sends a thug friend after Rick to
recover the loan note. But Rick beats up and detains the gangster,
informs the police who arrest Barney, and goes off with Gina to discuss
their marriage."
Trailer to Bell, Bare and Beautiful:
Over at Boobpedia, it says: "Bell, Bare and Beautiful [...] is also significant as the only starring feature role of Cincinnati stripper Virginia Bell. While [...] Boin-n-g!
(1963) was being shown on the distribution circuit, theater owners Eli
Jackson and Leroy Griffith suggested producing a film starring Jackson's
wife, the well-known exotic dancer Virginia Bell. Lewis recalled, 'I
had never heard of Virginia Bell, but other people assured me she was a
big star in the burlesque circuit. Eli and Leroy wanted to shoot this
film in a hurry, and the reason was that Virginia Bell was pregnant.'
Herschell Gordon Lewis gave the film the title Bell, Bare and Beautiful as a pun on the name of the star of the film and a take-off of the popular Jimmy Stewart film, Bell, Book and Candle (1958 / trailer).
Not a fan of large busts himself, director Lewis commented, 'Virginia
Bell had, as her primary asset, a 48-inch bosom. She was also three
months pregnant, and I could only hope, while we were shooting the
picture, that she wouldn't trip and fall on me.' In later years David
Friedman always maintained that Bell had no sex appeal at all
off-stage." One might argue, going by the trailer to the movie, she
didn't have any on film either, were it not for her earlier loops (like
below) which display an appealing playfulness.
Virginia Bell's Ding Dongs:
Virginia "Ding Dong"
Bell (14 Aug 1932 — 18, July 2010) needs no introduction to any
heterosexual breast fan that has internet. A short (5 ft 2 in [1.57 m])
American pin up model and burlesque dancer, her legendary attributes (a
48-inch bust) were natural and the stuff of dreams. She made a few
loops, never anything hardcore, and retired in 1970, a year after her
last (short) film appearance somewhere in the Dino de Laurentiis
production, Fraulein Doktor (1969 / full movie).
Blood Feast (1963, dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis)
"I've often referred to Blood Feast as a Walt Whitman poem. It's no good, but it was the first of its type." Herschell Gordon Lewis
Director
Herschell Gordon Lewis finally puts his real name of his product! Tired
of nudie cuties, he and David F. Friedman went for the gore and broke
new ground to such an extent that they entered film history. In theory,
Lewis's nudist wife Allison Louise Downe wrote the script from their
storyline, but elsewhere in the world it is said the movie was more or
less made on the go.
Trailer to Blood Feast:
Blood Feast
is proof that a total piece filmic shit, incompetent on almost every
level, can truly be an influential masterpiece. Added note: it is
perhaps the first movie in the US to offer a Barf Bag at screenings as a
gimic.
Repulsive Cinema says it like most of us might say it: "Blood Feast
was one of those legendary films I always read about when I was a kid
and was dying to check out, and it will always have a special place as
one of my all time favorite movies as it is everything it sets out to be
and more. Blood Feast is a true exploitation classic, hilarious, gory,
campy and completely brilliant. Truly a must see for anyone interested
in Horror and Exploitation films."
Crimson Quill pretty much agrees, but is conflicted: "Whether it [Blood Feast]
was actually any good is an entirely different matter. To this day,
Lewis is often regarded as the closest thing horror has to its own
Edward D. Wood Jr. and his résumé consists of numerous features which
seemingly fit the 'so bad it's good' category rather snugly. [...] This
is where I request reading between the lines. In no way, shape or form
is Blood Feast anything other than a bad movie. However, Lewis
was a rebel with a cause, that being to shun plotline in favor of
offering graphic imagery to a vulnerable audience, and his subversive
assault on the senses was truly ahead of the game. For its place in time
and regardless of the fact that it sucked on almost every level
imaginable, I cannot bite one of the hands that fed me most generously
during my filmic development."
The name star of Blood Feast is former Playboy centerfold
Connie Mason (born 24 August 1937), the Playmate of the Month for its
June 1963 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Pompeo Posar.
Neither Lewis nor Friedman ever had anything nice to say about her
acting capabilities, and indeed, in a movie full of bad performances,
she almost shines by not giving a performance at all. Still, she does
rate high on the Babe scale.
Over at All Movie,
Robert Firsching supplies the following synopsis: "Mal Arnold plays
Fuad Ramses, a mad Egyptian caterer with bushy eyebrows who is gathering
body parts to use in a 'Blood Feast' to honor the ancient
goddess Ishtar. He's been hired by Dorothy Freemont (Lyn Bolton), the
mother of young Egyptology student Suzette (Connie Mason), to cater a
special party. Luckily, Suzette happens to be dating a cop (Thomas Wood)
who is also in her class and is on the case of a gruesome serial killer
who removes body parts from his female victims. The cop finally solves
the case and chases Ramses into the back of a garbage truck, where he is
bloodily compacted."
Talking the Talkies with Peter Waters
shares some highpoints and inside stories to the film: "One of the most
shocking gross-out moments comes during a killing scene where Ramses
cuts out a girl’s tongue (actress Astrid Olsen was cast as the girl
because they needed someone with a mouth big enough to fit an entire
second tongue in). Often credited as the 'beginning of the splatter
film', this scene was even more nauseating off screen, as the night
before there was a power outage, and the tongue (a cow tongue from a
local butcher shop) had been stored in the refrigerator at the Suez
Motel. Reportedly it could be smelled two blocks away. But with no time
to waste, Lewis shot the scene anyway and Olsen had to act alongside a
rancid cow tongue with her only compensation a paltry paycheck and being
a part of horror history. [...] Lewis became notorious for his money
and time-saving techniques; for instance he would almost never do a
second take of a shot.* Shooting on film was costly, especially in
color, and time equals money on a film set. So even if it was at the
cost of continuity, any mistakes, however noticeable, were often left in
the film."
*If
you get down to it, Herschell Gordon Lewis deserves the soubrette "One
Shot" far more justly so than William Beaudine ever did, as Lewis
usually did indeed take but one shot of a scene.
Wikipedia
adds some intriguing insights, too (status: 01 Oct 2016): "It is the
oldest film to have appeared on the UK video nasty list. It is also
often cited erroneously as one of the first films to show people dying
with their eyes open (earlier examples include D. W. Griffith's 1909
film The Country Doctor [film], the 1931 film The Public Enemy [trailer] and the 1960 film Psycho [trailer]). Fuad Ramses was described by author Christopher Wayne Curry, in his book, A Taste of Blood: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, as 'the original machete-wielding madman' and the forerunner to similar characters in Friday the 13th [1980 / trailer] and Halloween [1978 / trailer]."
The sequel, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, hit the screen in 2002; the 2016 re-envisioning of Blood Feast (trailer) features an appearance by H.G. Lewis.
Scum of the Earth! (1963, writ. & dir. "Lewis H. Gordon")
"Depraved, Loathsome, Nameless, and Shameless."
The 1974 S.F. Brownrigg [30 Sept 1937 — 20 Sept 1996] movie of the same title, aka Poor White Trash Part II, needless to say, is not a remake. Supposedly akaThe Devil's Camera, but we couldn't locate online confirmation of that — but we did find the cover to an interesting book of yestryear.
Lewis
and Friedman make their first "roughie", in sunny Miami, Florida.
Supposedly filmed for a whopping $11,000 — Michael Bay really could've
learned something from Lewis and Friedman.
Scum of the Earth! is arguably the first roughie, as Russ Meyer's first, the almost masterpiece Lorna (1964 / opening), followed a year later, as did Joseph P. Mawra's Olga's Girls (1964 / trailer) and Michael Findlay and John Amero's Body of a Female (1964 / Rialto Report). But to bring in a name seldom raised in the argument of the first roughie: Ed Wood's typically incompetent The Sinister Urge, which shares obvious narrative aspects with this Lewis & Friedman film, was released in 1960.
Trailer to The Sinister Urge:
Imdb says Scum of the Earth! was filmed just two weeks after Blood Feast finished filming with most of the same cast and crew, and shot in just six days. Nevertheless, at least according to TV Guide, Scum of the Earth! was released before Blood Feast. (F This Movie, on the other hand, claims "Scum of the Earth was released only three months after Blood Feast was unleashed on the unsuspecting public.")
Mondo Digital writes, "[Scum of the Earth!]
reveals what cheesecake photographers really do to snag pretty girls in
front of their cameras. The latest victim is the impossibly naive Kim
([...] Vickie Miles, a.k.a. Allison Louise Downe), who's trying to save
up for college and agrees to earn a few extra bucks with the help of
kindly photographer Harmon ([...] Thomas Wood, a.k.a. Bill Kerwin,
billed here as "Thomas Sweetwood" and sporting a bizarre skunk hairdo).
Along with scuzzball Larry ([...] Mal Arnold [of Vampire Cop (1990 / trailer)]),
Harmon talks his girls into compromising positions where they remove
their tops and perform acts best left implied, some involving hairy and
horny strongarm Ajax (nudist-camp vet Craig Maudslay, Jr.). Larry scoffs
at the constant threats to go to the police: 'You got nothin' on me,
daddy-o; I'm a minor!' (never mind that he looks way past thirty).
However, Kim proves to be more trouble than she's worth, particularly
when the porn peddlers force her to do a 'nature study' with equally
tortured modeling veteran Sandy (Sandra Sinclair) and another girl, in
which they're coerced into — horror of horrors — posing in their bathing
suits while waving party hats and baseball bats. Murder and mayhem
ensue, with a frantic oceanside finale containing a most unexpected
color homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945 / trailer)."
The Video Vacuum is of the opinion that "Even though Lewis skimps on the skin and shows off none of the trademark gore he's known for, Scum of the Earth! remains
compelling thanks to a handful of memorable performances and the sordid
atmosphere. While no one in the cast pops their tops or gets their
tongues ripped out, Lewis still peppers the movie with some truly
wonderful dialogue like 'I'll keep my shirt on as long as you take yours
off!' and 'Our business is pleasure! Let's do it in front of the
camera' to keep you entertained."
In regard to the acting, 10 K Bullets
is of the opinion that "Allison Louise Downe's performance as the
central character is rather stilted and amateurish, but [...] she
somehow does manage to project the naivety and innocence of her
character. [...] Both William Kerwin and Sandra Sinclair turn in
excellent performances as the photographer and the ex-model turned
recruiter and they help to carry the entire film. Most of the other
characters are cartoonish caricatures as scripted and realized on the
screen. Cartoonish in the sense of Charles Addams or Gahan Wilson with a
dash of Bill Ward, of course."
Lawrence
J. Aberwood, as Lang, steals the film (but lacks the Donald Trump wig)
in one scene in which he spits his famous harangue against "used goods":
"All you kids make me sick! You act like little Miss Muffet, but down
inside you're dirty; do you hear me? Dirty! You're greedy and
self-centered and think you can get away with anything. You're no better
than the girl who sells herself… to a man. You're worse because you're a
hypocrite. And now little Miss Muffet is in trouble, and she's all
outraged virtue. Well, you listen and you listen well; you're damaged
merchandise and this is a fire sale. You walk out of here, and your
reputation won't be worth fifteen cents. You'll do as I tell you! Do you
hear me? You'll do as I tell you!"
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