Herschell Gordon Lewis Day *

* (Halloween countdown post #6/restored)

 

‘As a filmmaker, Herschell Gordon Lewis was a businessman above all else, and his 12-year movie career was spent either chasing or creating trends. But the one trend that he is directly responsible for — the splatter film, where Grand Guignol theater is translated to the screen for the sole purpose of allowing the viewer to ogle the dripping viscera of the human body — has endured, inspiring an entire new genre of film and breaking down the barriers of what is allowable in onscreen violence. All of Lewis’ artistic choices were made for strictly mercenary reasons, and retaining a competitive edge over Hollywood was prime consideration. In simply showing more onscreen than other filmmakers would dare, Lewis inadvertently created a monster that still stomps messily among us and influenced American culture (popular and otherwise) forever.

‘His film career began one day when he was complaining to an associate at his ad agency that the only way to make real money in the business was to shoot features. When the man asked why he just didn’t make one, Lewis realized he didn’t have an answer, and the seeds for The Prime Time were sown. Lewis produced but did not direct this inaugural project, a mildly sleazy melange of juvenile delinquency and beatnik jive, and his experiences with the film encouraged him to take the reins of further productions. He was dismayed by what he considered to be unnecessary wasting of time and resources while the picture was made, and he was determined to trim every financial corner in hopes of larger profits. He debuted as a director with Living Venus, notable primarily for introducing Harvey Korman in his first feature film role.

‘Around this time he went into partnership with David F. Friedman, an ex-carny and road show man who had the background and instincts to help exploit Lewis’ films to their utmost potential. They wasted no time in jumping into the nudie film business, producing low-budget product for display at striptease clubs. The Adventures of Lucky Pierre cost only 7,500 dollars to make and was a hit, a silly burlesque-style rip-off of Russ Meyer’s The Immoral Mr. Teas. The pair then turned to nudist colony films, one of the few ways that filmmakers could legitimately show skin in those stringent times. Their films were successful enough, but both Lewis and Friedman were hungry for something that could separate them from the rest of the pack. While watching a gangster film one night on television, Lewis noticed that a character’s bullet-riddled body barely bled, and a brainstorming session with Friedman led to a whole new genre of film.

‘While blood had been shown onscreen before in other non-Hollywood productions, no one had devised a film that would focus directly on the carnage, with scene after scene of graphic, stomach-churning mayhem as the sole point of the show. The gimmick was something that might give the filmmakers an edge over their competition. After wrapping up their nudist colony epic Bell, Bare and Beautiful, the two were inspired by the Egyptian facade of the hotel they were staying at and developed a script on the spot about a sinister caterer who collects body parts for use at a feast designed to raise an ancient Egyptian goddess from the dead. Blood Feast was completed in two days and was a hit in 1963, filling drive-ins and outraging decent citizens. Lewis and Friedman had found their cash cow and were determined to milk it.

‘They would continue down the exploitation path with 2000 Maniacs, Color Me Blood Red, Alley Tramp, Monster a Go-Go!, Sin, Suffer and Repent, and Moonshine Mountain, and even tried his hand at two children’s films: Jimmy, the Boy Wonder and The Magic Land of Mother Goose. Lewis explored a number of exploitation subjects in the latter half of the 1960s, usually following proven trends in an effort to strike while the iron was hot. She-Devils on Wheels arrived early in the popular surge of motorcycle action dramas, while Blast Off Girls was a belated attempt to exploit rock & roll. Suburban Roulette was an uncharacteristically tame story of wife swapping, and Something Weird’s plot included LSD use along with witchcraft and extra sensory perception.

‘While Lewis may have been playing the field, he hadn’t given up on the gore genre completely. The bizarre horror comedy The Gruesome Twosome arrived in 1967, as did his lengthy vampire epic A Taste of Blood. But his final two horror features helped cement his legacy as the creator of gore films with an enthusiastic exclamation point. 1970’s The Wizard of Gore is a surrealistic, confounding tale of a mysterious magician who uses sleight of hand and mind control to physically tear his victims limb from limb. Even more grotesque, though, was The Gore Gore Girls (1972), a jaw-droppingly tasteless nudie-horror-comedy that found Lewis outdoing every outrage he had ever perpetrated on the audience. While the effects remained as cheap as ever, the audacious brutality and mutilations (set against corny humor and an inappropriately jolly musical score) earned The Gore Gore Girls the first X rating given solely for violence.

‘The film turned out to be the voluntary end of Lewis’ movie career. He had kept his advertising agency throughout his filmmaking years and it was flourishing, as was his expertise with copywriting. Finding it harder to outdo his fellow exploiteers as well as the more liberal Hollywood features of the time, he gave up the grind and went on to a very successful career in direct mail marketing and copywriting; indeed, the instructional tomes he’s produced on the subjects are considered essential reading for many professionals. Lewis ended up losing the rights to his films after putting them up as collateral for a car rental business venture that failed. He didn’t mourn, thinking that they weren’t worth much, but when home video exploded in the 1980s, Blood Feast found a whole new bloodthirsty audience, and as the years have progressed, Lewis’ films are more popular than ever. After years of musing over returning to the slasher genre he created, Lewis finally began production for Blood Feast 2 in 2001.

‘Herschell Gordon Lewis has never regarded himself as a great filmmaker, and it isn’t false modesty on his part that prevents him from making such a claim. His interest in a motion picture career was predicated solely on making money, something that he has always cheerfully admitted. Whether or not he succeeded to the extent that he desired is only for him to decide, but one thing is for certain, his work opened up avenues for a legion of hucksters and con artists to make millions off the cruel desires and tasteless urges of audiences.’ — Fred Beldin

 

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Stills

 

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Further

Herschell Gordon Lewis Official Site
HGL @ IMDb
‘The Cinema of Herschell Gordon Lewis’
‘Why the Godfather of Gore came to Calgary to make his latest film
Download HGL’s films @ Something Weird
Review: ‘The Eye Popping Sounds of Herschel Gordon Lewis’
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis Returns with Anthology “BloodMania”‘
‘Splatter auteur Herschell Gordon Lewis: “I’m no artist”‘
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis and the Corpse Reviver Shot’
‘Scum of the Earth – 7 Herschell Gordon Lewis Films’
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore’ @ Slant
‘Well, life is full of surprises. For all of us.’
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis may not be one of the two greatest filmmakers of all time’
‘Gore Pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis Gets His Due’
‘Dream – Herschell Gordon Lewis’ @ Arte
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis: Exploitation with a goblet of gore’
‘Master Of More Than Gore’
‘Bad Biology and Herschell Gordon Lewis’

 

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Extras

Trailer: ‘Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore’

THE LOST FILMS OF HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS

The Eye Popping Sounds of Herschell Gordon Lewis

Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Holiday Marketing Tip

 

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Interview
from Bright Lights Film Journal

 

Your background in academics was quite different from that of your partner David Friedman. Was this difference an advantage in that it allowed for two widely differing viewpoints, as far as how to market or sell a film?
The disparity of backgrounds was a heavy asset. I brought a sophisticated knowledge of advertising and communications; Dave Friedman brought a carnival barker knowledge of how to motivate people. The combination worked, and we learned from each other.

Did you ever think when you were making the now classic Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs that future filmmakers, not only those in the exploitation market, would cite your films as being influential?
I hadn’t anticipated being a footnote to motion picture history. I did realize we were producing a film of a type no one had produced before. The question was: Would any theatre play it?

Was there a particular film or even a particular scene in one of your films that really outraged the public and incurred the wrath of decency groups?
The infamous tongue scene in Blood Feast was the watershed gore scene.

Did it surprise you or does it surprise you when certain films, novels, or artworks come under fire from decency groups for containing what they consider to be extreme violence?
Decency groups don’t bother me as long as they proselytize their own followers. When they try strong-arm tactics in the mainstream, I’m very much opposed.

What did you think of the gore films of the mid-1970s and 1980s that came after Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs?
Most of the follow-up films were formulaic. I don’t sense a great deal of difference among the various Halloweens and Amityvilles and Screams, although certainly their effects far transcend any I was able to include.

Was the dialogue in your films improvised or was there always a complete script that you adhered to?
After Blood Feast the films were scripted. This was self-protection to assure minimal film wastage.

When looking back to your films, are you ever surprised that you were ale to get so much from relatively small budgets?
I’m not at all surprised that I could get so much from a small budget. My rules were absolute: 1. Don’t shoot a rehearsal. 2. Make do. 3. Don’t quit for the day until you’ve shot every scheduled scene.

Did the small budgets inspire you to become more creative in the setting up of scenes, camerawork, special effects, etc.?
Yes, small budgets were the driver, forcing us to substitute imagination for dollar expenditure.

Does it surprise you when serious, or if you want to use the word “highbrow,” film journals such as Cahiers du Cinema discuss or profile your career and your films?
I once was nonplussed that serious publications took my work seriously. I no longer am, because I see the profound effect our early films had on film production.

Do you see filmmaking as an artform, as something to be taken seriously?
I see filmmaking as a business and pity anyone who regards it as an artform and spends money based on that immature philosophy.

Do you think that all works of art must contain exploitation elements?
Art is in the eye of the beholder. It isn’t necessary for all art to include exploitation materials, but certainly it’s necessary to include devices that seize and control attention from the target-group the artist is trying to reach.

How do you think the independent film market has changed since the days when you were an independent? Has it changed for the better?
The independent film market no longer exists. The industry is an Arabian bazaar, with nonaffiliated producers clamoring for attention along with the major studios. The successful independent invariably sells his/her product to a major company or direct to cable.

Just For the Hell of It (1968) is considered to be one of the most disturbing and violent juvenile delinquent films ever made, two years before Clockwork Orange was released. Were comparisons ever made between the two, and what did you think of A Clockwork Orange?
I never have drawn a parallel between Just For the Hell of It and A Clockwork Orange. Many feel A Clockwork Orange is pompous and obscure; I don’t…and I love Beethoven’s music.

A number of your films contain the theme or subject of psychic phenomena as well as witchcraft and magic or what you might term occult subjects. Are these subjects that are of interest to you?
I’m mildly interested in psychic phenomena but am no fanatic. I’d be delighted if some sort of proof ever came to light.

Who are some of your favorite directors? And what are some of your favorite films?
I admire the Coen Brothers and like just about every film they’ve made.

In films like Color Me Blood Red (1965) and even The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961), you poke fun at the pretensions of art and the world of art. Are you suspicious of the intentions of filmmakers who try to package exploitation as art?
I think I’ve answered that question. Yes, I’m suspicious of filmmakers who regard themselves as artists and auteurs.

How did you respond to critics who viewed your films as bizarre, either in content or style?
I don’t regard having a film called “bizarre” as an insult. If a critic offers that comment, I’d thank him for it.

 

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16 of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s 38 films

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Blood Feast (1963)
‘Groundbreaking in so many evil ways, Blood Feast is the simple tale of an insane Miami resident who kills women in putrid manners, in hopes of resurrecting an Egyptian goddess. Yes, it’s a load of narrative malarkey, yet Lewis’ one-note flick is charmingly despicable. It took some major balls to make a gross-out of this kind back in ’63, and Blood Feast doesn’t shy away from its vileness; the film’s most memorable (for all the wrong reasons) image is that of the antagonist pulling a hot blonde’s tongue right out of her throat. It’s a moment akin to the moon landing for gore-hounds.’ — Complex

Trailer

the entire film

 

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Scum of the Earth (1963)
‘The film truly belongs to Lawrence Wood, who plays Mr. Lang with such an insane joy that it’s impossible not to root for the sleazy old pornographer. Whether he’s giggling as a toy monkey somersaults across his desk or he’s politely explaining why nothing is actually his fault, Wood appears to be having such a good time that it’s just infectious. Wood’s best moment comes when Kim expresses some reluctance about modeling for more pictures and suddenly, Mr. Lang starts to shout at her about how she (and all the other kids) are hypocrites. “You’re damaged merchandise and this is a fire sale!” he shouts as sweat streams down his face and Lewis zooms in for a close up of his mouth, “You’ll do what I tell ya!” Wood screams, “Do you hear!?” It’s a scene of lunatic genius that, in the best tradition of both Herschell Gordon Lewis and the grindhouse in general, comes out of nowhere and is all the more effective because of it.’ — unobtainium13.com

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
‘While Two Thousand Maniacs! may not be as rudely in-your-face as Blood Feast, it is a much more accomplished and effective picture, one which still has the power to make first-time viewers squirm uncomfortably in their seats. Essentially a macabre version of Brigadoon, Two Thousand Maniacs! sees the southern residents of Pleasant Valley seeking vengeance for Civil War atrocities by capturing two carloads of northerners and subjecting them to a variety of ingenious and stomach-turning tortures. Among the grisly highlights are a blonde sexpot (SHELBY LIVINGSTON) having her thumb sliced off by a muscle-bound hayseed, after which the demented townsfolk treat her wound by chopping off her entire arm! While her arm is being served up as barbecue(!), her husband JEROME EDEN is liquored up with moonshine, then drawn and quartered by four horses which gallop off in different directions.’ — Something Weird

Trailer

the entire film

 

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Monster a-Go Go (1965)
‘Director Herschell Gordon Lewis needed another movie to round out a double-feature with Moonshine Mountain. So he bought Bill (The Giant Spider Invasion) Rebane’s unfinished Terror at Halfday, added a couple of extra scenes, some new dialogue, some narration, and voila – Monster A Go-Go was born. The plot, such as it is, is that an astronaut has gone missing after crash-landing in suburban Illinois. At the same time, a monster that looks suspiciously like the lost spaceman (and is highly radioactive) has been terrorizing teenagers and scaring the pants off of the locals. Scientists work to study the monster, but he escapes into the Chicago sewers, only to disappear suddenly.’ — tvtropes.org

Excerpt

the entire film

 

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Color Me Blood Red (1965)
‘Though Color Me Blood Red is the least discussed of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s unofficial “Blood Trilogy” (which also includes Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs), it’s probably my favourite. It’s lighter on gore, but there’s hardly any boring filler, its concept is great (a mad artist using blood for paint), and it’s hysterical (sometimes intentionally, other times unintentionally). Best of all is its lead actor. Gordon Oas-Heim gives an outrageous performance as loony painter Adam Sorg. He shouts his way through the film with Zach Galifianakis-esque outbursts, bugged out eyes, and a sweaty forehead. He’s a wonderful thing to watch.’ — Dave Jackson

Trailer

the entire film

 

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Something Weird (1967)
‘Between the Blood Trilogy and 1970’s The Wizard of Gore, director Herschell Gordon Lewis explored a wide variety of themes outside the hard-gore arena while continuing to court viewers with the sensational and the exploitable. One of his most unusual offerings of this period was this category-defying tale from 1967. It would be too easy to simply suggest that Something Weird lives up to its title. What’s truly remarkable is that this exploration of psychic phenomena, criminology, drug therapy, and the supernatural actually manages to remain coherent throughout its running time! The concept began as a script by producer James F. Hurley, who later complained that director Lewis had compromised his serious vision. (Interestingly, Hurley’s original intent was reflected in his own subsequent film The Psychic in 1968, which utilized Lewis as cameraman. Viewing this film, one can see immediately why Lewis felt the story needed some “juicing up.”)’ — images journal.com

Trailer

 

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A Taste of Blood (1967)
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis is one of my favourite directors and this was a huge let down for me. The master of gore became the master of bore in this retelling of Dracula. The pacing of this film is incredibly slow. There are many continuity errors including a chase scene where at one moment it’s midday and then suddenly it’s night and back to midday…and back to night. I thought I missed something at first and went back but no. Each scene is drawn out. A lot. I had to hold myself back from skipping through scenes. It could have easily been 40 minutes shorter. I will give him credit for trying something different from what he normally does. I think that’s important in any craft…sometimes it doesn’t work out. Skip it if you’re not a fan of HGL though.’ — Nikola Night

Trailer

the entire film

 

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The Gruesome Twosome (1967)
‘This 1967 Herschell Gordon Lewis feature has the unique distinction of having one of the most bizarre openings in low-budget horror cinema history. After editing, the film was short in length. As filler, Lewis added two wig blocks with construction paper faces talking to each other during the opening. One of the wig blocks is stabbed as blood gushes out everywhere. Even after inserting this opening sequence, the film only runs 72 minutes. Crazy Mrs. Pringle and her mentally challenged son Rodney run a wig shop near a Florida college campus. The wigs are advertised as 100 percent real human hair. The shop also rents vacant rooms to college co-eds. The renting of rooms is only a disguise for Pringle to lure young women to the shop so Rodney can scalp and murder them.’ — Plan 9 Crunch

Trailer

Watch the film here

 

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The Girl, the Body, and the Pill (1967)
‘Always in search of uncharted exploitation territory, Lewis turns his attention this time to the then-controversial topic of birth control. Given the nature of the film, it is surprising that it contains practically no overt sexual situations beyond a couple suggestive dissolves. One of Lewis’s more multifaceted productions, The Girl, the Body, and the Pill follows the subject through multiple perspectives. We see a liberal high school teacher (Pamela Rhea) advocating for sex education as a means of promoting proper hygiene among her rapidly developing adolescent students. Her efforts to promote planned parenthood meet with fierce opposition from the school board as well as the parents of several of the students. Actually, one parent in particular, the hyperprotective puritanical father (Bill Rogers) of a virginal daughter whose boyfriend wants to go all the way, is the loudest voice to oppose such education. The film additionally follows the exploits of the school’s most promiscuous student, Randy (Nancy Lee Noble), and that of her considerably more promiscuous single mother(Valedia Hill).’ — Wikipedia

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Blast-Off Girls (1967)
‘Sleazy music promoter Boojie Baker convinces a pop band to come work for him. He arranges play dates, publicity, record contracts, and the band’s loyalty by getting his hired girls to exercise their feminine charms on all who stand in his way. Thus he creates the new music sensation, The Big Blast, but the band is unhappy about Boojie keeping most of the money. When they try to leave, Boojie sets them up for trouble with the law, but offers to bail them out if they sign the contract. Can’t anyone stop this scum bucket?’ — letterboxd.com

Trailer

the entire film

 

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She-Devils on Wheels (1968)
‘1968 saw no less than nine feature films from the prolific Herschell Gordon Lewis. Without a doubt, the best-remembered of the batch was this innovative girl gang mini-epic. Lewis didn’t invent the biker film, but the female “Man-Eaters” of She-Devils on Wheels (written by Louise Downe) were the first of their kind. The Man-Eaters live up to their name in all but the most literal fashion. Led by Queen (Betty Connell) and the huge, poetically-inclined Whitey (Pat Poston), they’re the terror of their community. To them, men are cattle–to be chosen from “stud lines” at their whim and to be tossed aside after use. Young initiate Honeypot (Nancy Lee Noble), however, hasn’t quite got the idea; she tends to stick to one particular “stud.” A challenge is set to the candidate: she’ll become a full-fledged Man-Eater once she proves her loyalty by dragging the beaten body of her beau from the back of her own motorcycle!’ — images journal.com

Trailer

the entire film

 

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Just for the Hell of It (1968)
‘Hear the name Herschell Gordon Lewis, and you may picture in your mind’s eye gouts of blood and gore, intestines being dangled in front of the screen and the somewhat dubious acting skills of playmate Connie Mason. There’s a non-gore stream to the directing output of the man though, and although there is some blood right towards the end of the film, Just for the Hell of it eschews the trademark gore for the most part. What we have here is a foray into nihilistic morality and hippy-beatnik violence, which ends on quite a surprising note for a film made nearly forty years ago. For those of you with a penchant for vintage exploitation, you can do a lot worse than Just for the Hell of it. Aside from any thematic concerns, you’ve got the great sixties decor, clothes and soundtrack. After these surface thrills you can appreciate the pretty confronting violence and themes. Lewis has crafted a fairly potent essay on mindless evil, despite the sometimes clunky performances and low budget.’ — Girls Guns and Ghouls

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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The Wizard of Gore (1970)
‘What WIZARD OF GORE does differently than most other magic films, especially of its time, is introduce popular technology into its trickery. The titular wizard, Montag, doesn’t only mesmerize his theater audiences but those viewing at home as well, with Lewis perhaps boldly starting a ‘fear of TV’ trend that would fully manifest in later features like NETWORK (1976) and VIDEODROME (1983). That the various slayings in the film also take place in the home rather than on the stage as they appear to – or do they? – root this almost firmly in the type of home invasion/slasher feature that would become popularized in 1978 with HALLOWEEN. What Lewis’s film may lack in subtlety it makes up for in blurring lines that were already blurry in the first place. The real spectacle isn’t all of the young women being dissected on screen and covered in – what was rumored to be – sheep guts, it is in Montag’s speeches about what we don’t know and can’t begin to figure out.’ — Brattle Blog

Trailer

the entire film

 

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The Gore Gore Girls (1972)
‘The Gore Gore Girls stands alone in the Lewis repertoire in several ways. Though no stranger to sex and nudity in his non-horror work, the director had always kept these elements a safe distance from his gore films, feeling such a blend was too risky even for him. But competition had upped the ante, so the move was finally made here (Lewis remembers less nudity than the film actually contains, incidentally). The combination of sick gore and sick humor remains as potent today as ever. Many viewers (including some horror fans) still find it unwatchable. Even Something Weird owner Mike Vraney (in his audio commentary interview with Lewis, where he’s joined once again by Jimmy Maslin of Shock Films) admits his discomfort with the film’s most extreme sequence. Lewis is neither defensive nor apologetic: he made the film, he states, for adults only; and for that matter, for adults who possessed a certain sick sense of humor. No attempt was ever made to disguise the nature of the film, and the idea that anyone would take it seriously is simply bewildering to the director. This was an attempt to once again out-“gross” what anyone else was doing; and it unquestionably delivered the goods.’ — images journal.com

Trailer

 

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Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002)
‘Thirty-nine years after making his groundbreaking independent horror film Blood Feast, director Herschell Gordon Lewis returns with a sequel. This time around, Faud Ramses III (J.P. Delahoussaye) , the grandson of Blood Feast’s protagonist, moves into his granddad’s catering shop. It isn’t long before Faud proves to be a chip off the old block, as he lures buxom young women into his lair and carves them up for sandwiches. Nobody ever has, nor could, accuse H.G. Lewis of being a genuinely good filmmaker – his career is built on lower-than-B-grade trash after all, but similar to the likes of Lloyd Kaufman, his movies must be viewed using a wholly different set of expectations than critical standard. In this sense, Blood Feast 2 is a raging success. Not only is it excessively gory (sickly, even, in parts), but it’s also legitimately funny. Visually, it looks cheap and uninspired – Lewis employs no glitzy camera tricks, displays no directorial flair, and blocks as easily as possible for an obviously quick shooting schedule. Again, being an H.G. Lewis film this is something to be expected, alongside lingering close-ups of the extreme mutilation conducted during the kill scenes and uniformly hammy acting from the cast.’ — dreadcentral.com

Trailer

 

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The Uh-oh Show (2009)
‘Originally conceived under the title of Grim Fairy Tales, The Uh-Oh Show! is gore and exploitation legend Herschell Gordon Lewis’s minimally scary second film of the new millennium. While his previous film was a sequel to arguably his most famous work, Blood Feast, this one’s a completely original idea. It blends his usual trademark extreme, absurd gore with light satire on reality TV and pop culture. The most important thing this horror comedy makes clear is that the man has not lost his sense of humor and fun in the slightest nor has he forgotten how to sling blood around or hack off body parts.’ — best-horror-movies.com

Trailer

THE UH OH SHOW Movie Review

 

 

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p.s. Hey. ** Misanthrope, Me? Awww. Well, the two ‘Avatar’ movies are in the top three all-time highest grossing movies list, so go figure. Zac’s and my new film has a swamp with fake alligators and fog machines, you’ll love it. I’m so sorry to hear about the Neo-Decadent writer. I don’t know his work, but I’ll go look it up. That’s really sad. Hugs, George. ** David Ehrenstein, As you well should. I saw Dusty Springfield lip-synch three songs at a scarcely populated gay bar on La Brea, I think called Pulse, in he early 80s when she was at her nadir before the Pet Shop Boys rescued her. It was pretty depressing, but I’m glad I got to see her. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Wonderful about the class. I’m very excited that you’re back to writing, and of course I’ll be greatly looking forward to the results. ** T, Hi. Me too, now that you mention it. Cherbourg! Hometown of ‘PGL’! Next week will probably be fine. We have work to do, but I don’ think we’ll be marathoning. Hit me up when you’re back and know your sched for the duration. And enjoy the sea and gulls. Have a rugby-unimpaired weekend. ** Corey Heiferman, Hi. The Vollman book I spotlit yesterday isn’t so complicated if you want to start him smoothly. ‘Miracle’ is great, obviously. My fave Genet is ‘Funeral Rites’. Is Genet doing anything for you? Yes, we are forced to play that game. And the world premiere game most immediately. I do really hate how hierarchical the film world’s rollout system is. But, for now, we’re in the game, I guess. My weekend? Mm, see if I can get into a sold-out performance (by Jonathan Capedevielle, former Gisele Vienne superstar) tonight. Fiddle with some fiction. Plan out next week’s film work. Try to decomplicate a complication. Stuff like that there. April is as good a time to visit Paris as any other, for sure. It’s always great here except for during heatwaves, and even then it’s still pretty good. So the answer is yes, and an enthusiastic yes even. Enjoy your differently configured weekend. ** Steve Erickson, Timmy’s stans are getting what they deserve, sorry. Yes, I just saw that about the remix! So cool! I’ll get it and the EP this weekend. Everyone, Big double header treat. Novelist and longtime d.l. Jeff Jackson has a band called Julian Calendar, as you might know. They have a new EP out, and if that’s not good enough, the writer/ critic/ filmmaker/ composer Steve Erickson has a remix of one of the songs on said EP that he, in his own words, ‘radically reworked, influenced by both ambient and industrial music’. Must get, you surely must agree. The EP is called ‘Swimming Lessons’, and it’s right here. Spooky about band camp. Its destruction would be world destroying. My weekend’s plans were vaguely detailed by default to Corey up above. Nothing too anticipatory, at this point anyway. Enjoy yours. ** 2Moody, Hi. Vollman is very prolific, maybe too prolific, but that spotlit one is a keeper. I don’t remember my haunts having a particular overall theme. Just a scattershot of ‘scary’ motifs and things. The highlight was that we had a big walk-in, refrigerated meat locker in our basement, and the haunt ended with me in costume leading visitors close to it then shoving them inside, slamming the door shut, and forcing them to stay in the freezing pitch-black there for a couple of minutes. Nowadays I would be taken to court multiple times if I tried that. I should say that my family wasn’t involved. They didn’t like I was inviting strangers into our house. I’ve kind of sworn off writing non-fiction, but I do wish someone would write that book. I would be willing to be an advisor or something. Nice camping tidbit. Scary too. For me. Yes, your friends are freaks. I’m a million percent in agreement with you. Well, there are a wad of Lewis films in toto right up there if you wish. I think you know what to expect. May sublimity take a quick swipe at me and then head over and smother you this weekend. ** Okay. What can you say about Herschell Gordon Lewis. I would say that if you were to compare horror movies to, say, haunted house attractions, ‘The Nun 2’ and its many brethren would be the Universal Horror Nights, and HGL’s films would be the homely, well meaning home haunts. Which is obviously a compliment coming from me. Anyway, I restored HGL’s Day as the next in my series of Halloween gifts to y’all. See you on Monday.