15 June 1926 — 26 September 2016
"He seen somethin' different. And he done it.
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 his own, favorite 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 he 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. Were it not for innovators like him, A Wasted Life probably
wouldn't be.
One of the truly great has left the
building.
The films below are not necessarily
presented in the order they were made and/or released.
Go here for Part
I: 1953-60.
Go here for Part V: 1969-72.
Addendum: With The Gore Gore Girls (1972,
see Part V), HG
Lewis left the exploitation film world and went into "direct advertising",
making good money as a successful junk-mail guru. Rumors abound of a three-year
period in prison — according to our favorite newspaper, for example, The Guardian:
"Lewis was a sort of cross between Ed Wood Jr, Roger Corman, Russ Meyer,
Dale Carnegie and maybe even Bernie Madoff. […] Lewis was a formidable and
unnervingly driven entrepreneur and compulsive wheeler-dealer who did three
years' jail time in the 1970s for fraud, having conned people through crooked
schemes, like a fake car rental company and — incredibly — a phoney abortion
referral service, and for (nearly) all these services he borrowed money from
the bank using as collateral the cinemas of which he claimed to be the un-mortgaged
owner. It was a breathtaking and crazy illegality, but nothing dented his
almost sociopathic self-belief and work ethic."
They don't document their sources, however,
and Lewis himself was wont to downplay the rumors, as he did in the interview found
in John Waters' book Shock Value (1981): "In the abortion thing, I was
simply the advertising agency. There never was any particular legal action on
that. I don't know quite where that came from but it refers to nothing. Where I
lost my fortune, temporarily, was through an automobile-rental deal in which I
was the principal investor. The thing went down the tube and everybody got
nailed… The guy who supplied us with automobiles… didn't. It's one of the sad
episodes of mankind." As for his going to jail, Lewis stated: "That
didn't occur at all. I don't know where these stories begin. That [a jail
sentence] was certainly the intent of the U.S. government at the time but… everything
was averted very nicely."
Wherever he was, according to online
sources (imdb, for example) he still had an occasional and usually extremely
odd film credit on diverse projects before finally returning to the directorial
chair in 2002 for Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat. Let's take a look at some of them,
most of which are tenacious assertions at best, or only of the acknowledgement
form.
National Lampoon's Lemmings
(1973, dir. Michael Keady & Tony
Hendra)
The entry on HGL found on the French Wikipedia
(accessed 29 Dec 2016) claims that HGL was "comme scénariste" — a
screenwriter — on this forgotten and re-discovered & released (direct to
video) HBO mockumentary documenting a live persiflage of Woodstock-type
concerts; the show opened at The Village Gate on January 25, 1973, and ran for
350 performances. HGL's participation of this shot-in-NYC production was un-credited,
it would seem. Do the French know something no one else knows? (Doubtful.) At
the moment, the English Wikipedia entry on Lemmings overlooks HGL's
participation.
If you bother watching Lemmings and don't
understand the humor, that's OK. As MUBI
states, "Showcasing legendary funnymen John Belushi, Chevy Chase and
Christopher Guest before they were stars, this Woodstock parody from the minds
behind National Lampoon magazine features inane musical numbers and spoofs
sacred cows of 1960s counterculture." Like, who still remembers the 60s?
Soundtrack to
"Woodshuck: Three Days of Peace, Love
and Death":
Bridger
(1976, dir. David Lowell Rich)
Aka Jim Bridger et Kit Carson. "David
Lowell Rich (31 Aug 1920 — 21 Oct 2001) was an American film director and
producer. He directed nearly 100 films and TV episodes between 1950 and 1987.
He was born in New York City [Wikipedia]."
More than one online source, including the
all-powerful imdb, states that Herschel Gordon Lewis was not only the sound
editor of this substandard TV movie, but also did un-credited work on the
script by Merwin Gerard (The Screaming Woman [1972 / movie]
and The Invasion of Carol Enders [1973 / trailer]).
The latter assertion is echoed, oddly enough, by the entry on HGL found on the
French Wikipedia
(accessed 29 Dec 2016). Sure, why not? And we have a bridge to sell you.
14 Boring Minutes of
Jim Bridger et Kit Carson:
Director David Lowell Rich is perhaps best
remembered for the cheesy TV movies The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973 / full movie)
and Satan's School for Girls (1973 / full movie),
and the equally substandard feature films Have Rocket — Will Travel (1959 /
trailer,
a Three Stooges* flick), Eye of the Cat (1969 / trailer),
Madame X (1966 / trailer),
A Lovely Way to Die (1968 / title track)
and the disaster that is The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979 / trailer).
Bridger is not a masterpiece. TCM
(which does not include HGL in its credits list) has the plot: "A
true-life adventure of legendary mountain man Jim Bridger (James Wainwright of Battletruck
aka Warlords of the 21st Century [1982 / trailer]
and The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover [1977 / trailer])
who, with the fate of the Pacific Northwest at stake, is given forty days to
blaze a trail through the Rockies to the California coast and told that failure
means loss of the territory to England. This two-hour movie was cut to ninety
minutes for its rerun and subsequent syndication."
* Are we the only ones in the world who can't stand the Three Stooges?
Wanted: The Sundance Woman
(1976, dir. Lee Philips [10 Jan 1927 — 3 Mar
1999])
Aka Mrs. Sundance Rides Again. The French Wikipedia,
the imdb, and other online sources claim that HGL did un-credited screenwriting
work on this, the second TV sequel to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969
/ trailer).
Most other sources simply credit TV scribe Richard Fielder alone. The plot,
according to Christopher D. Ryan
(cryan@direct.ca) at imdb: "The Sundance Kid's widow Etta Place (Katharine
Ross) joins up with Pancho Villa (Hector Elizondo)."
The first BC&SK sequel, by the way, was
the 1974 TV movie Mrs. Sundance (movie),
with Elizabeth Montgomery playing the lead.
Director Lee Philips was also an actor, and
long ago played the lead in the semi-cult Del Tenney
produced thriller Violent Midnight (1963), aka Psychomania, which also features
a young James Farentino.
A murder from
The Shadow of Chikara
(1977, writ. & dir. Earl E. Smith)
AKA The Curse of Demon Mountain, among many
names. Shot on location in someplace called Arkansas.
More than one online source, including the all-powerful imdb, states that
Herschel Gordon Lewis did the sound for this forgotten western horror, while
the entry on HGL found on the French Wikipedia
(accessed 29 Dec 2016) claims he did uncredited screenwriting work on the
project. Sure, why not? And we have a bridge to sell you.
The Curse of Demon Mountain:
The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review,
which claims "the twist ending comes as a genuine surprise," has the
plot: "At the end of the American Civil War, the dying Virgil Cane (Slim
Pickens) tells Southern Captain Wishbone Cutter (Joe Don Baker) about a cache
of diamonds hidden in a cave along the Buffalo River and the route to get
there. Returning home, Cutter finds his wife (Linda Dano) has left him for
another man. He sets out with his Irish-Cherokee companion Half-Moon O'Brian (Joy
N. Houck Jr.) and geologist Amos Richmond (Ted Neeley) to find the diamonds.
Along the journey, they meet a young woman Drusilla Wilcox (Sondra Locke), the
only survivor of a massacre by Indians, and take her with them. As they head up
into the mountain, Half-Moon realises that it is the Mountain of Demons, which
is cursed by the spirit of Chikara who promised to kill all who ventured into
its domain."
The Shadow of Chikara, a regional
independent production, is the only directorial effort of Earl E. Smith, a man
better known for supplying the story to worst of all the Dirty Harry movies, Sudden
Impact (1983 / trailer),
and the scripts for Charles B. Pierce (16 June 1938 — 5 March 2010) regional
films like The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972 / trailer)
and The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976), the latter of which was remade by Alfonso
Gomez-Rejon in 2014 (trailer).
Trailer to
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976):
Barnaby and Me
(1978, dir. Norman Panama [21 April 1914-13
Jan 2003])
The entry on HGL found on the French Wikipedia
(accessed 29 Dec 2016) claims that HGL was a "comme scénariste" — screenwriter
— on this, "a 1978 Australian TV movie about a girl and her talking koala
who are pursued by criminals" generally attributed to the TV scribe James
S. Heneson. But: Sure, why not? And we have a bridge to sell you.
The plot, according to Amazon: "The
title character is a talented Koala Bear, who is to Australian fans what Benji
is to Americans. Pausing in his escape from a vengeful mobster, American con
artist Leo Fisk [a zonked-out Sid Caesar] falls in love with Jennifer [Juliet
Mills], whose daughter Linda [Sally Boyden] keeps Barnaby as her pet. The kooky
koala teams up with Caesar for a series of picaresque adventures. It's hardly The
Sting (1973 / trailer), but it's easy to take."
Director Norman Panama once directed a psychotronic
disaster known as The Maltese Bippy (1969).
Trailer to
The Maltese Bippy:
Old Boyfriends
(1979, dir. Joan Tewkesbury)
The entry on HGL found on the French Wikipedia
(accessed 29 Dec 2016) claims that HGL was (an assumedly un-credited) "comme
scénariste" — screenwriter — on this drama generally credited to Paul
Schrader and Leonard Schrader. It was the directorial debut of the unknown
director Joan Tewkesbury.
First 13 minutes,
with a soundtrack that sounds as if it's
from a thriller:
20/20 Movie Reviews
explains the movie: "Presumably, we're supposed to feel some degree of
sympathy for Dianne Cruise (Talia Shire), the troubled heroine of Joan
Tewkesbury's talky — and rather tedious — drama, Old Boyfriends, but the
overwhelming sentiment one feels is one of mild contempt for her perpetual
state of self-absorbed discontent. She's an egocentric wrecker of lives
who's destined to stumble from one doomed relationship to another, never able
to find happiness or fulfilment, and always wondering why. Following the
failure of her marriage, Dianne goes AWOL from her job as a psychiatrist (!) to
travel around the countryside on a dull voyage of self-discovery, in the belief
that once she can figure out who she was when she loved the important lovers
from her past she will know who she is now, and maybe — sniff! — learn to love
herself. Yeah — someone you really want to spend 103 minutes with, right?"
Personally, we've never understood movies in which women or men can only gain a sense of themselves and who they are through the relationships of their past, as if they themselves are nothing but empty shells that only become human through past fucks and/or heartbreaks. It would seem to us that people who do that must, in the end, be incredibly empty of anything that might be considered a self.
Personally, we've never understood movies in which women or men can only gain a sense of themselves and who they are through the relationships of their past, as if they themselves are nothing but empty shells that only become human through past fucks and/or heartbreaks. It would seem to us that people who do that must, in the end, be incredibly empty of anything that might be considered a self.
Talia Shire has been in better films, like
this one —
The Dunwich Horror (1970):
The Aliens Are Coming
(1980, dir. Harvey Hart)
The entry on HGL found on the French Wikipedia
(accessed 29 Dec 2016) claims that HGL was a "comme scénariste" — screenwriter
— on this TV movie, entitled Le Cauchemar aux yeux verts in France, which most
other sources ascribe to TV scribe Robert "Bob" W. Lenski
(11 June 1926 —19 June 2002). But: Sure, why not? And we have a
bridge to sell you.
The unsold pilot, a semi-retooling of the
1967-68 series The Invaders (opening titles),
premiered as a two-hour movie and went nowhere, and was followed by the revamp
of The Invaders in 1995 (trailer).
TV Promo to
The Aliens Are Coming:
Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
supports the thesis proffered by the French: "An alien spaceship lands on
earth and the aliens on board start taking possession of various people. […] One
of the working titles for this one was The New Invaders. I can find no evidence
that this actually was a pilot, but it certainly looks like it, what with its
open-ended ending and the hint that the heroes plan to continue fighting the
aliens. If it was a pilot, it's just as well that it didn't make it to a
series; our lead hero is supposed to be witty and cute, but I found him dumb
and annoying, and the listless direction and a weak script (co-scripted by
Herschell Gordon Lewis, of all people [italics ours]) destroy any chance of
suspense and excitement. […] The cast also features Ed Harris."
Harvey Hart (30 Aug 1928 — 21 Nov 1989) was
a Canuck director best known for the occult film The Pyx (1973 / trailer)
and the lesser known Dark Intruder (1965).
Trailer to
Harvey Hart's Dark Intruder,
starring Leslie Neilson:
Dream On!
(1981, writ. & dir Ed Harker)
The entry on HGL found on the French Wikipedia
(accessed 29 Dec 2016) claims that HGL was a "comme scénariste" — screenwriter,
assumedly uncredited — on this forgotten experimental drama, the only known
directorial (and scriptwriting) credit of Ed Harker, pictured above, who went
on to work on optical effects for the classic RoboCop (1987 / trailer)
and the less than classic The Wraith (1986) before disappearing onto LinkedIn.
Trailer to
The Wraith:
Dream On! was shot in 16mm film from 1975
to 1980, and was blown up to 35mm in 1984 [OV Guide]. Over at Artist Direct
Hal Erickson of Rovi trashes the movie: "Dream On! is a tale of struggling
LA actors seeking out an audience. This talented but impoverished troupe stages
a 'guerilla theatre' production, wherein each actor takes on a variety of
characterizations. Given that the actors include an ex-hooker and a pair of
mismatched homosexuals, perhaps the troupe is using their production as a means
of escaping the torments of their own lives. Perhaps, nothing — that's just
what they're doing. Most of the unknown players in Dream On! have remained
unknown, with the spectacular exceptions of Ed Harris and Paul 'Pee-wee Herman'
Reubens." (Unknown does not mean unsuccessful: Luce Rains and Philip Baker
Hall are busy character actors.)
Another connection to HGL: Dream On! is the
last known feature-film credit of HG Lewis's second wife, Yvonne Gilbert, who
also appeared in another movie HGL had nothing to do with, Chicago 70 (1970,
see Part V),
and is killed in HGL's classic Two Thousand Maniacs (1964, see Part III).
She and HGL were still married when she made this movie…
Saturday Night Sleazies, Vol. 1
(1990, dir. Stephen C. Apostolof)
First 15 Minutes of
Not a documentary or collection of trailers
as often assumed, this is simply the first of three Rhino double-feature video
releases. And contrary to popular opinion and what imdb
says, HGL's suburban wife-swapping drama Suburban Roulette (1968, see Part IV)
is not one of the movies. The double feature presents two Stephen C. Apostolof
(25 Feb 1928 — 14 Aug 2005) disasterpieces: Suburbia Confidential (1966) and College
Girls aka College Girl Confidential (1968).
First 15 Minutes of
Suburbia Confidential:
In any event, HGL has nothing to do with
this video release… although, who knows: maybe some of his trailers are
included. (Doubtful: all three Rhino video releases of the Saturday Night Sleazies series feature Stephen C. Apostolof
films, and he never had anything to do with HGL but, instead, worked regularly
with Ed Wood Jr.)
Stephen C. Apostolof
was eventually the subject of a documentary, Dad Made Dirty Movies (2011).
Teaser to
Dad Made Dirty Movies:
Sorority Babes in the Dance-A-Thon of
Death
(1991, dir. Todd Sheets as
"Roger Williams)
Know your influences. The trashy
direct-to-video — often lauded as one the worst films ever made by those who
have seen it — gives "Special Thanks" to H.G. Lewis, or so says the imdb.
Todd Sheets is a
highly productive regional trash filmmaker from Kansas City. (Where's that?) The Last Exit
describes him as "A horror-movie and heavy metal fan who churns out very
gory home-made b-movies for fellow fans. Hard-working, prolific, writes his own
music and seems to have fun with what he does but, unfortunately, doesn't seem
to have what it takes and has no original ideas of his own. Several of his
movies are extremely rare or unreleased."
The Pit and the Pendulum
says: "Obviously cashing in on the amusing title of Sorority Babes in the
Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988 / trailer
/ VHS cover below) and bizarrely produced by the director of that movie, David
DeCoteau, Sorority Babes in the Dance-A-Thon of Death is just awful in every way.
The two movies have very little in common other than both being crap, but Sorority
Babes in the Dance-A-Thon of Death takes the amateurishness to a whole new
level."
P&P also has the plot: "Four
sorority sisters conjure up a demon from hell from within an ancient crystal
ball. However, one of the sisters is changed into a rampaging ghoul bent on
raising hell through partying! Only two elderly antique dealers can rescue the
gals (and sex-wanting frat boys) from certain doom, but not until they've taken
their ghoulfest to the discotheque and turned it into the dance-a-thon of
death!"
Dance —
from
Sorority Babes in the Dance-A-Thon of Death:
Sorority Babes in the Dance-A-Thon of Death:
It would seem that HG Lewis films are the
prime examples of professional productions in comparison to Sheets' films.
Psycho-lettes
(1996, writ & dir Pedro Temboury)
This is an early short from z-moviemaker Pedro
Temboury, a fan and disciple of Jess Franco. This Spanish-language short (no
subtitles) was filmed in 1996, in Málaga. The plot is simple and trashy and
obviously indebted to HGL and She-Devils on Wheels (1968, see Part IV),
both of which get acknowledgement in the end credits.
Plot: A bunch of female cyclers go looking
for men on the back roads of Málaga. Their mission: cut the balls off of as
many men as possible, and use them — the balls, not the men — to make a psychedelic
potion for the ultimate trip. The Guardia Civil tries to capture them. Filmed
in 16mm. Music by the Pink Flamingoes.
The Full Short:
Psycho-lettes from
Pedro
Temboury on Vimeo.
Divine Trash
(1998, dir. Steve Yeager)
A documentary on the great filmmaker John
Waters made by a man that actually appeared as a walk-on in Water's first
masterpiece, Pink Flamingoes (1972). Kenneth Anger and Russ Meyer declined to
be interviewed for this film, but H.G. Lewis did not — but then, his
participation was surely paid for. Blood Feast (1963, see Part II)
is mentioned, with scenes shown. Talking heads include Waters' parents and
siblings; underground film stalwarts Jonas Mekas, Mike and George Kuchar, and Ken Jacobs; fringe filmmakers Paul Morrissey, Herschell Gordon
Lewis, Jim Jarmusch, and Steve Buscemi; Mink Stole and Mary Vivian Pierce; and
others.
Trailer to
Divine Trash:
At imdb, j.hailey (jhailey@hotmail.com)
says: "The life and times of Baltimore film maker and midnight movie
pioneer, John Waters. Intercut with a 1972 interview of Waters are clips from
his first films and recent interviews with his parents, his brother, Divine's
mom, actors and crew, other directors, film critics, a film curator,
psychologists, and Maryland's last censor, who shudders at the memory of
Waters's pictures. Also included is footage of Waters making his early movies,
culminating in an up-close and in-depth look at Pink Flamingos: the script, the
set, the filming conditions, its editing, its distribution, and its impact. In
sweet ways, this documentary is also a celebration of Divine (1945–1988)."
Trailer to the Classic
Pink Flamingos:
As the New York Times points out, "Mr.
Yeager's fine and fascinating biography of Mr. Waters pays scant attention to
his Hollywood career. The movie […] follows his work only through the making
and marketing of his 1972 underground succès de scandale, Pink Flamingos, which
made film history with its notorious scene of Divine (aka Glenn Milstead)
ingesting dog feces. As Mr. Waters demurely remembers that shattering moment:
'It was a magic day in our happy young lives'.
Go here for Part VII.
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