Phil's Halloween Horrors Marathon, Day 26: Phil reviews HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE (2010) DVD from Something Weird Video-October 26, 2012

HGL DVD Cover (2011)

HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE
Starring:  Herschell Gordon Lewis, David F. Friedman, Frank Henenlotter, John Waters, Bunny Yeager, Ray Sager, Jerome Eden, Mal Arnold
Produced by Mike Vraney, Jimmy Maslon, Bill Usher, Jack Calvert
Directed by Frank Henenlotter and Jimmy Maslon
Distributed by Something Weird Video

Folks October is quickly winding down so let's talk about Day Twenty-Six of my Halloween Horrors Marathon! Imagine if you will: Demented Southern town folks killing off Northern visitors for revenge. Highway roaming she-devils looking for fun and fights. Nubile nudie cuties parading around in the buff. Bored suburban teenagers looking for kicks. A sadistic cater sacrificing young women to an Egyptian goddess. These depraved, sick, and perverted images are considered to be some of the most important and most iconic images to be captured ever in cinema's rich history. Ranging from the sublime to the subversive, the bloody to the sexy, one man dared to venture where other filmmakers never dreamed of, and as a result, has left us some of the greatest horror and exploitation films ever made. Now Mike Vraney and his company Something Weird Video has paid tribute to this iconic filmmaker with this, their first ever documentary feature film. Directed by Jimmy Maslon and Frank Henenlotter, SWV's  HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE shines the spotlight on this beloved and often overlooked pioneer filmmaker and his contributions to the world of cinema.

The documentary chronicles the film career of the man known as "The Godfather of Gore." From his humble beginnings teaching English and Humanities at Mississippi State which he later evolved into the advertisement business. When Lewis bought a half interest into a small, cheap movie studio in Chicago, he started Mid-Continent Films which produced two films: THE PRIMETIME and LIVING VENUS, which was his feature film debut as a director. It was during the making of THE PRIMETIME he met exploitation pioneer David F. Friedman, who helped Lewis distribute LIVING VENUS. With the release of Russ Meyers' THE IMMORAL MR. TEAS, the next film Lewis and Friedman made was the nudie cutie called THE ADVENTURES OF LUCKY PIERRE. After a couple of years making these nudie cuties and nudest camp films, Lewis came up with a completely different idea for a movie. A type of movie that the major movie studios wouldn't or couldn't make, but theater owners could make money at the boxoffice. Thus in the year 1963 BLOOD FEAST was made, and everything would never be the same again.

The other half of the documentary focuses of Lewis' partnership with Friedman as he created what has been called THE BLOOD TRILOGY which consisted of BLOOD FEAST, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS, and COLOR ME BLOOD RED (which takes up most of the middle of the documentary). These films introduced that famous four-letter word now forever associated with horror: GORE. The world of horror would never look the same thanks to Lewis and Friedman. After the completion of THE BLOOD TRILOGY, Lewis parted ways with Friedman and began to make a plethora of films within the exploitation genre such as MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN, JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT, SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS, and SOMETHING WEIRD (which Vraney named his company after). Soon he returned to the horror genre with A TASTE OF BLOOD, THE WIZARD OF GORE, THE GRUESOME TWOSOME, and THE GORE GORE GIRLS, which was Lewis' swan song. After that film's release, he became one of the leaders in the field of Direct Marketing advertising (Lewis would return to the director's chair with the 2002 sequel BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL YOU CAN EAT).

Icon director Herschell Gordon Lewis

Maslon and Henenlotter really packed the film with some great, informative, and funny interviews from people like John Waters, Joe Bob Briggs, Connie Mason, Mal Arnold, Jim Dennett and others, and by Henenloter himself. All these stories and opinions give the film life and also give praise to Lewis, to which this reviewer thinks is long overdue. These two directors threw everything in this film, including the kitchen sink! Also the on camera interviews with Lewis were just fascinating; detailing how he made a lot of his films, where he shot it, how he got the money, and how he made his gore-soaked films. Another great source of information came from Friedman, who shared his memories of the good 'ol days of exploitation filmmaking. Sadly, this documentary was one the last films he ever appeared in (he'll also be appearing in Henenlotter's upcoming SWV documentary THAT'S SEXPLOITATION). On February 14, 2011 Friedman passed away at the age of 87.

The DVD comes packed with over an hour of deleted scenes (which could almost make up another film!), a rare Lewis short film entitled HOT NIGHT AT THE GO-GO-LOUNGE, a gallery of Lewis exploitation art, and an extensive Lewis trailer reel!

Something Weird Video's HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE is required viewing and a must-own for every single horror fan out there. The film serves as introduction to people who may have never seen any of Lewis' films while simultaneously satisfies his fans with an in depth biography of the man who invented a whole new film genre. 5 out of 5 stars!! Highly recommended!!

HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE is available on the Something Weird Video website. To purchase a copy, please visit www.somethingweird.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the screaming! 

Phil reviews HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE DVD on The Midnight Horror Sinema Show-Jan. 5, 2011

Hello again my faithful readers! I've been pretty busy over on THE MIDNIGHT HORROR SINEMA SHOW. My newest review is on the recently released documentary HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE. The film was directed by Frank Henenlotter, who directed the film FRANKENHOOKER, which was the first film I reviewed for my new film blog. The film chronicles the career of the man who invented the term "Gore" with films like BLOOD FEAST, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS, and COLOR ME BLOOD RED. This was the first feature film release by Something Weird Video, home to some of the world's most insane, craziest, and bizarre films ever made on the face of the Earth! So click here to read my review, then go check out the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

Phil's Horror Watch, Day 18: Phil watches BASKET CASE (1982)-October 18, 2011

Phil's Horror Watch continues with Day Eighteen! So for this evening's cinematic fright, I thought it would be fun to stroll down memory lane and visit the old grindhouse theaters that populated New York's 42nd Street. There, you could see some of the most outrageous films ever made! Take for example tonight's film. I guarantee that you have never seen a film like BASKET CASE before, nor could you ever forget it!

Theatrical Movie Poster (1982)

According to Something Weird Video, the film goes something like this: "Carrying a mysterious wicker basket around with him, Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) arrives in Manhattan and checks into a sleazy Times Square hotel. What’s in the basket, you ask? Why, Duane’s hideously misshapen Siamese twin brother, Belial, of course! Originally born attached to Duane’s side, the little monster was surgically removed by some quack doctors and rudely left for dead in a plastic garbage bag. But Belial survived, and Duane has hit the Big Apple with his beastly bro to wreak havoc on the surgeons who separated them. Things get complicated, however when Duane gets romantically sidetracked by the sexy, wig-wearing receptionist of one of the doomed doctors, and his jealous telepathic sibling reacts...well, poorly."

Now doesn't that sound like a fun film to watch in a 42nd street grindhouse theater? Well guess what? It DID play at a 42nd street grindhouse theater! Budgeted at only $35,000, the film was released by Analysis Film Releasing Corporation in April of 1982, but it gained a cult following once it was released onto home video by the mid 80's. The special effects for Belial consist largely of a puppet in some scenes and stop motion in others, which only added to the magic and the allure of the film.

The film was written and directed by Frank Henenlotter, and it was his film debut. Henenlotter would go on to direct other classics such as BRAIN DAMAGE, FRANKENHOOKER, and two sequels: BASKET CASE 2 and BASKET CASE 3: THE PROGENY. His latest film, a documentary called HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE, was just released on DVD by the good folks at Something Weird Video.

BASKET CASE is a bonafide cult classic and still one helluva fun ride to watch! Take from me folks. Horror, B-movies, and exploitation films are my main passions in life, and I can assure you that this film is just awesome to watch!

BASKET CASE was just released on Blu-Ray by Something Weird Video this past September and is still available on special edition DVD. To purchase a copy, visit their website at www.somethingweird.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

Phil's Horror Watch, Day 2: Phil watches BLOOD FEAST (1963)-October 2, 2011

Welcome back to my month long screening of horror films for this hellish month called October! So continuing my horror film escapade, I decided to watch a true classic of the genre that without it, horror films would not look like they do today. Infusing violence and gratuitous gore, director Herschell Gordon Lewis and produce David F. Friedman unleashed upon the world BLOOD FEAST, and the face of horror would never look the same again!

Theatrical Movie Poster (1963)

The film's about an Egyptian caterer named Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold) who kills a series of women to use their dismembered body parts to revive the dormant Egyptian goddess Ishtar. Hot on his heels is Police Detective Pete Thornton (William Kerwin) who plans on capturing Ramses before he sacrifices his love Suzette Fremont (Connie Mason) to Ishtar.

By 1963, Lewis and Friedman, having made several "nudie cutie" films together, decided to try to do something different. Sex was still forbidden to see on the big screen, so the two decided to go in the complete opposite direction. On a five day shoot with a budget of $25,000 (Lewis and Friedman were the ENTIRE crew), the duo forever changed the landscape of cinema, and decorated the screen with blood red gore. The film went on to gross over $3 million dollars, and two other films followed shortly. TWO THOUSAND MANIACS and COLOR ME BLOOD RED continued with the gore and these films are now known as The Blood Trilogy. These films were also recently released on Blu-Ray by Something Weird Video (which its name was taken from a Lewis film). After the trilogy, both Lewis and Friedman went their separate ways, but Lewis went to to direct other classics such as THE WIZARD OF GORE, A TASTE OF BLOOD, and THE GORE GORE GIRLS.

In 2002, Lewis returned to the world of filmmaking (along with Friendman back as producer) to direct the sequel BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL YOU CAN EAT. He has just recently directed the film THE UH-OH SHOW, which was made back in 2009. Currently, most of Lewis' films are available on DVD and can be purchased on the Something Weird Video website at http://www.somethingweird.com/

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!