Favourite Five Series: JESS FRANCO (Part One)

I have seen Seventy Jess Franco films. I have never seen seventy films from one director. It is possible I may never see seventy films from another director other than Jess Franco. Mr. Franco made a shitload of films. IMDB lists 203 films under director but according to Wikipedia Franco made “about 160”.  I do know that at this point in my viewing it has become difficult to find titles I have not seen. I was thrilled to add Mondo Macabro’s recent Blu-ray of Night has a Thousand Desires to my collection; it marked my seventieth Franco flick. Severin will be releasing Two Female Spies with Flowered Panties (1980) August 29th; which I seen, but it was a very sketchy copy. And apparently if you order through the Severin store you will get yourself a pair of flowered panties and/or other related goodies with your film. I had to watch some pretty grungy versions of the Maestro’s resume to get those seventy stroked off my list. A few VHS rips on YouTube and XHamster were bordering on unwatchable. Some were rented from Zip before they ended the service, Bluemoon Streaming and Fandor. And some were purchased; I plan on adding as many Franco DVD and Blu-rays to my library as possible. When you watch multiple films from any one director you will notice similarities in style, technique, cast, music etc. Franco knew how to get bang for his buck and would often make more than one film on a set, using the same actors, actresses and costumes. Several actors and actresses made multiple appearances in Franco films. You could almost break down the films based on that. That is a post itself! I will be focusing on at least a few of the Franco regulars in my Goddesses of Underground Cinema posts. Franco has made films of every possible genre; horror, spy, comedy, action, documentary, etc and one thing they all have in common is sex and nudity in varying degrees. Even his early films like The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962) were controversial for their time. Franco loved a bush shot. Long, lingering shots of bush are plentiful in his post 60s stuff. Sometimes there is nothing else going on in the shot, it is just bush. Seems to me there are more long lingering shots of bush than there is tits and/or ass. A bush zoom was used to segue way into the next scene in a few films. Quite often that bush belonged to Lina Romay. Film’s greatest love story! Franco made over a hundred films with Romay and the two were together until her death in 2012. Franco himself passed away just a little over a year later in 2013.

There were periods where Franco’s work felt a bit redundant, but when you’ve made “about 160” films you are bound to repeat yourself to some extent. I have enjoyed the hell out of a good chunk of Jess Franco’s filmography and consider him a favorite director. As long as folks like Mondo Macabro and Severin keep unearthing lost Franco films I will continue to buy and enjoy them. I love you Jess xo

I shortlisted twenty-two Franco films for THREE lists of Favorite Five Films; Here is Part One in no particular order…

SINNER/DIARY OF A NYMPHOMANIAC (1973)

Starring: Montserrat Prous, Anne Libert, Kali Hansa, Jacqueline Laurent, Howard Vernon, Manuel Pereiro, Francisco Acosta

Jess Franco made a lot of films with female revenge plots. Strong, resourceful, sexy women unapologetic about who they are and what they do. Linda Vargas is the film’s Sinner. The opening scene in a club ends with Linda calling the police, slashing her own throat and falling on top of a man. The balance of the film explains why. The lovely Montserrat Prous who plays Linda was in seven Franco films but this one, bar none was the jewel in her crown. She is picture perfect; I felt so sorry for Linda! I had more empathy for Linda then I have ever had for any character in a Franco film. Every guy she meets is a piece of shit. The cast of regulars have never been better, especially Kali Hansa who plays Maria, Linda’s best friend and lover. Although I noted the films are not in any particular order, there is no doubt about it, Sinner is definitely my number one Franco flick.

Linda Kills herself at the beginning of the film and frames degenerate Mr. Ortiz (Manuel Pereiro) for her murder.

Linda (Montserrat Prous) with her friend and lover Maria (Kali Hansa).

Rosa, Ortiz’s wife (Jacqueline Laurent) clutching Linda’s diary.

Read my full review of Sinner HERE.

FACELESS (1987)

Starring: Helmut Berger, Brigitte Lahaie, Caroline Munro, Gérard Zalcberg, Anton Diffring, Howard Vernon, Telly Savalas

Faceless is more or less an eighties version of Franco’s 1962 film The Awful Dr. Orlof. Dr. Flamand’s wife has acid thrown in her face early in the film and the good doctor aims to do something about it; namely get her a pretty new face. With the assistance of his lover Nathalie (Brigitte Lahaie) and goon Gordon (Gerard Zalcberg) there is much face ripping and re-attaching. A cameo from Howard Vernon as Dr. Orloff, Anton Diffring as a Nazi doctor, and Telly Savalas as the father to a coke-snorting,  big-haired model played by Caroline Munro; not much to dislike here! Great cast, well-paced, gory action that screams the eighties.

Dr. Flamand (Helmut Berger) examines a new “patient” while Nathalie (Brigitte Lahaie) looks on.

Brigitte Lahaie as Nathalie “assisting”.

A gory face removal.

Read my full review of Faceless HERE.

NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND DESIRES (1984)

Starring: Lina Romay, Daniel Katz, Carmen Carrión, Albino Graziani, José Llamas, Alicia Príncipe, Mari Carmen Nieto

Irina and her lover Fabian tour nightclubs with their psychic act. Irina is plagued with terrible nightmares that she believes to be real. Fabian played by Daniel Katz is one of Franco’s all time biggest dick characters. He even looked like a weasel. That weaselly hair and those douchy clothes. I hated him. But I loved hating him. Lina Romay on the other hand plays one her most likable characters and gives a really solid performance; one of her best I think. Fabulous locations and set pieces and an intriguing story with lots of groovy surreal imagery.  Night has a Thousand Desires has everything I enjoy about Franco films and more.

A hysterical Irina (Lina Romay) in one of the film’s many trippy moments.

Lorna (Carmen Carrión) kisses the forehead of Irina in another trippy scene.

Irina (Lina Romay) finds blood on her hands and cannot remember how it got there.

Read my full review of Night has a Thousand Desires HERE.

VAMPYROS LESBOS (1971)

Starring: Soledad Miranda, Dennis Price, Paul Muller, Ewa Strömberg, Heidrun Kussin, José Martínez Blanco, Andrea Montchal

One of the first Franco films I ever seen and 70 films later it is still a favorite. Franco throws out the rules of vampire lore for this salacious outing. Linda (Ewa Strömberg) travels to a remote island to settle an estate with a wealthy Countess. The lonely, blood-thirsty Countess has other plans for Linda. Symbolism runs rampant in this sexy, psychedelic and surreal vampire love story.  Fabulous sets, beautiful cinematography and a badass soundtrack. Soledad Miranda as Countess Carody and Ewa Strömberg as Linda Westinghouse have fabulous chemistry; both are superb in their roles. Truly a shame that the talented Soledad Miranda died so young.

Countess Nadine Carody’s (Soledad Miranda) performance at a club at the beginning of the film.

Countess Nadine Carody (Soledad Miranda) working on her tan.

Linda Westinghouse (Ewa Strömberg) splashed with blood.

Read my full review of Vampyros Lesbos HERE.

EUGENIE… THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION (1970)

Starring: Maria Rohm, Marie Liljedahl, Jack Taylor, Paul Muller, Christopher Lee

Based on the work of Marquis De Sade, the title really says it all. The fresh faced Eugenie (Marie Liljedahl) is a guest at the palatial manor of Madame Saint Ange (Maria Rohm) where her daisy like virtue is plucked petal by petal. Madame and step brother Mirvel (Jack Taylor) waste no time corrupting the young woman who by the story’s end is stripped bare both physically and emotionally. This is worth watching for Maria Rohm’s performance alone. A gorgeous, confident, classy and well-dressed degenerate of highest rank. Who wouldn’t do whatever the hell she asked? Certainly not Eugenie’s father; who sold his daughter for the opportunity to fuck Madame. I can’t imagine anyone better than Rohm in this role; in the Franco fold or otherwise. She is perfection. Marie Liljedahl still looks like a bloody teenager and fits well here as does the Lego-coiffed Jack Taylor. Amazing sets and costumes, a fabulous soundtrack and just an overall slick-looking film. Franco’s masterpiece.

Madame Saint Ange (Maria Rohm) helps Eugenie (Marie Liljedahl) with the suntan lotion.

Mirvel (Jack Taylor) taking care of business.

An epiphany for Eugenie (Marie Liljedahl).

Favourite Five Series: RUSS MEYER

The name Russ Meyer has become synonymous with sexploitation. Seriously, is there a better known director of sexploitation than Russ Meyer? Meyer proudly wore the moniker “King of The Nudies” and even had it carved on his tombstone. The photography and moving picture bug bit Mr. Meyer early. His mother pawned her wedding ring to buy him his first 8mm camera when he was a teenager. Before directing his first film Meyer shot footage during World War II (apparently you can view some of his photography in Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1970 film Patton). Meyer also took glamour shots for magazines like Playboy; including pictures of his wives Eve Meyer and Edy Williams. Meyer made his first feature film in 1959; The Immoral Mr. Teas. He was able to finance his next film with the proceeds. Meyer continued to make successful features with the proceeds of previous films working on a tight budget and doing most of his own writing, directing, editing and distributing. The exception being the 1970 film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and 1971’s The Seven Minutes which were financed by 20th Century Fox. Sexploitation flicks come in many shapes and sizes and no one did them quite like Meyer. His large breasted beauties were smart, dangerous, free-spirited, conniving, spoiled, charming, clever, eccentric and always sexy. His female characters are not just victims they are antagonists and heroines. Energetic, violent, sexy and funny; it is always a good time when I sit down to watch a Meyer flick. Part of the fun of watching a Meyer flick is his lovely leading ladies and their Wholly enthusiastic performances; Kitten Natividad, Uschi Digard, Haji, Alaina Capri and Lorna Maitland to name a few. However, if it wasn’t for Faster Pussycat!… Kill! Kill! and Tura Satana’s bad-ass performance as Varla I may not have even discovered any of Russ Meyer’s other naughty nuggets. Faster Pussycat!… Kill! Kill! opened the flood gates. Meyer has twenty-nine director credits listed on IMDB (five of these are shorts). I have seen eighteen of Meyer’s twenty-four full-length features and they are all pretty damn fun. I have never seen a Russ Meyer film I did not enjoy.

What I’ve Seen: Pandora Peaks (2001), Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979), Up! (1976), Supervixens (1975), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1970), Vixen! (1968), Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! (1968), Good Morning and Goodbye (1967), How Much Loving Does a Normal Couple Need? (1967), Mondo Topless (1966), Motorpsycho! (1965), Faster Pussycat… Kill! Kill! (1965), Mudhoney (1965), Lorna (1964), Wild Gals of the Naked West (1962), Eve and the Handyman (1961), The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959)

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BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA-VIXENS (1979)
Cast: Kitten Natividad, Ann Marie, Ken Kerr, June Mack, Patrick Wright, Henry Rowland, Robert E. Pearson, Michael Finn, Sharon Ceccatti, Don Scarborough, Aram Katcher, DeForest Covan, Steve Tracy, Uschi Digard, Stuart Lancaster, Candy Samples

Lamar’s propensity for putting his penis in his wife Lavonia’s butt is threatening to ruin their marriage. Lavonia loves Lamar but is sexually unsatisfied and is getting nookie elsewhere. Meanwhile, Lamar’s boss Junkyard Sal is looking for Lamar to do some overtime in her bed. Lamar and Lavonia eventually visit their local dentist for marriage counselling to no avail. Finally Lamar finds faith through Eufaula Roop, the local evangelical radio preacher. Meyer’s output definitely got saltier as the years went by. At this point in his filmmaking career there was full frontal nudity, softcore sex and graphic violence. Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens is definitely a whole lotta naughty but in the most hysterically funny and outrageous way possible. I laughed often from beginning to end and Kitten Natividad is especially charming and convivial.

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MOTORPSYCHO! (1965)
Cast: Haji, Alex Rocco, Steve Oliver, Holle K. Winters, Timothy Scott, Coleman Francis, Sharon Lee, Steve Masters, Arshalouis Aivazian, Russ Meyer, George Costello, Fred Owens, Richard S. Brummer

Motorpyscho! follows the violent adventures of a bike gang led by a Vietnam vet. The gang makes an enemy of a veterinarian after they rape his wife. The veterinarian teams up with a woman whose husband was killed by the same gang and together they plan to exact their revenge. A more serious affair then the other films on this list and apparently one of the first portrayals of a disturbed Vietnam veteran. Motorpsycho! is one of the few films in Meyer’s library where the action focuses on a male character. There is of course an array of lovely ladies but with the exception of Haji they are more minor characters. Speaking of which, Haji is fabulous here! There is definitely signs of Meyer’s style but for the most part this is a straight up biker flick and one of my favourites in the sub-genre. Violence, betrayal, murder and rape; all the things that make for a solid biker outing. Sadly the DVD quality was the pits but it is well worth seeking out nonetheless. I sincerely hope a better copy of this film exists out there. I was not happy with any of the pictures I saved so I sourced these from wrongsideoftheart …

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UP! (1976)
Cast: Edward Schaaf, Robert McLane, Elaine Collins, Candy Samples, Su Ling, Janet Wood, Linda Sue Ragsdale, Harry, Raven De La Croix, Monty Bane, Marianne Marks, Larry Dean, Bob Schott, Foxy Lae, Ray Reinhardt, Kitten Natividad

Up! follows the exploits of a group of small town folks after the murder of nazi Adolf Schartz. A whodunnit narrated by Kitten Natividad sans clothing. We meet restaurant owners Paul and Alice, new comer Margo Winchester, the local law Homer Johnson, Gwendolyn, Limehouse, The Ethiopian Chef and a host of others as they fornicate their way to the final reveal. A cat-shit crazy, action-packed murder mystery with tons of laughs, sex and nudity. A huge castle in a small American town owned by a nazi wouldn’t be complete without a sex dungeon. Everyone is having sex with everyone in UP! in many places and in many different positions! The film has an almost whimsical feel about it bordering on surreal. Up! really is a riot and a must-see if you are a fan of Meyer’s work.

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SUPERVIXENS (1975)
Cast: Charles Pitts, Shari Eubank, Charles Napier, Charles Pitts, Henry Rowland, Christy Hartburg, Colleen Brennan, John Lazar, Stuart Lancaster, Deborah McGuire, Glenn Dixon, Haji, ‘Big Jack’ Provan

Clint Ramsey is an attendant at a local gas station somewhere in the desert. His crazy jealous girlfriend SuperAngel is constantly calling him at work to check up on him. On this day SuperAngel insists Clint come home to “service” her. The two have a loud violent argument and the police are called in. Clint takes off to the bar while SuperAngel seduces the cop, Harry Sledge. When Harry can’t get it up SuperAngel’s insults and taunts lead to her demise. Harry intends to pin the murder on Clint who is forced to flee. Clint meets a series of beautiful women along the way as well as their angry boyfriend, father and husband. Clint eventually meets SuperAngel’s doppleganger SuperVixen and the two fall in love; but will Harry Sledge threaten to spoil everything? Supervixens was my follow-up to Faster Pussycat and it was the perfect choice. Crazy, violent, sexually-charged shenanigans of the first order. Despite SuperAngel being a SuperPsycho, to this day, I still find her death particularly brutal. Supervixens is the perfect introduction to Meyer’s sexier 70s output. Shari Eubank is a real highlight and does a fantastic job playing both SuperAngel and SuperVixen!

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FASTER PUSSYCAT… KILL! KILL! (1965)
Cast: Tura Satana, Haji, Lori Williams, Ray Barlow, Sue Bernard, Michael Finn, Dennis Busch, Stuart Lancaster, Paul Trinka

Yep. Still the mother of them all. Faster Pussycat!… Kill! Kill! has aged like fine wine. It is no wonder at all that Faster Pussycat!… Kill! Kill! has become a cult classic. A trio of sybaritic dames challenge a young couple to drag race which ends with the death of the boyfriend and the kidnapping of the girl. A chatty gas attendant tells the trio about a treasure hidden on a rundown remote piece of land owned by a crotchety old man living with his two sons. The trio’s leader Varla hatches a plan to make off with the old man’s loot but karma eventually catches up with the ladies. These women don’t mess around; fist fighting, car racing, knife throwing, kicking, go-go dancing, kidnapping, murdering divas! Man-crazy Billie, Faithful Rosie and tough as nails Varla; three very different personalities that seemed destined to clash. Lori Williams (Billie), Haji (Rosie) and Tura Satana (Varla) are picture perfect in their roles and all are believable bad-asses living on the fringe. Faster Pussycat!…Kill! Kill! is really Tura Satana’s trip. Her tongue stings like a whip and her angry fists leave a mark that stays with you long after the pussycats have left the screen. Faster Pussycat!…Kill! Kill! is one of the all time great exploitation films!

Also up for consideration: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1970), Good Morning and Goodbye (1967), Common Law Cabin (1967)

Alaina Capri in COMMON LAW CABIN (1967) directed by Russ Meyer

Favourite Five Series: RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER

What I’ve Seen: Katzelmacher (1969), Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970), The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Satan’s Brew (1976), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Lili Marleen (1981), Whity (1971), Martha (1974), Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), The American Soldier (1970), Beware of a Holy Whore (1971), In a Year with 13 Moons (1978), Querelle (1982), Chinese Roulette (1976), I Only Want You To Love Me (1976), Lola (1981), Love is Colder Than Death (1969), Pioneers in Ingolstadt (1971), Veronika Voss (1982), World on a Wire (1973), Gods of the Plague (1970)

I posted a list of my favourite directors in July 2012 and Rainer Werner Fassbinder made the forty-seven hole. If I was to do this same list today it would look considerably different; Fassbinder would easily make my top ten. Since compiling that director list I have seen fifteen additional titles from the Fassbinder. I have now seen a total of twenty-two films from the director. While I would hardly say that makes me a Fassbinder expert it certainly gives me enough titles to compile my favourite five. Many of the same talented faces turned up again and again through my Fassbinder journey; Irm Hermann, Günther Kaufmann, Volker Spengler, Ulli Lommel, Ingrid Cavan and Katrin Schaake to name a few. Fassbinder himself is in the vast majority of the films on my list in both main roles and brief appearances. When I think of the cinema of Fassbinder I think style, drama, humor and a one of kind presentation that makes his films a viewing experience quite unlike any other. And perhaps, above all, I think of the performances of Hanna Schygulla and Margit Carstensen. Both actresses have been cast in lead roles and the strength they bring to their characters is something phenomenal. Fassbinder’s 1972 film The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant was the first I seen from the director and it made a lasting impression on me. The film takes place in one room; the bedroom and studio of Petra Von Kant. Petra is a successful clothing designer but an unhappy woman. She spends most of her time alone with the exception of her assistant Marlene who she consistently berates and abuses. We learn early in the film that Petra’s marriage ended badly, she has a strained relationship with her mother whom she supports financially and a teenage daughter who lives at boarding school. Her cousin Sidone visits one afternoon and introduces her to Karin. Petra is immediately smitten with Karin who she takes under her wing. Karin is new in town and Petra intends to help her embark on a modelling career. There is an unspoken commitment expected from Karin who is painfully aware of Petra’s love for her. Karin promises nothing and makes no apologies for her aloof behavior; she really appears quite detached from the situation. This drives Petra crazy and when Karin inevitably leaves her it pushes Petra right over the edge. Every one of the all-female cast puts their best foot forward in this emotionally-charged melodrama. Petra’s eccentric dwelling and designs reflect her personality in this wonderfully organized yet chaotic way. It is easy to write Petra off as a crazy bitch but I don’t think that is entirely fair. Petra is a smart, successful woman who has allowed her own drama to get the better of her. Margit Carstensen’s performance is intense and poignant but never sympathetic; you do not feel sorry for Petra. It is very much what makes the film work for me, no empathy just bitter tears as its title suggests. Twenty-two Fassbinder films later and The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant is still ultimately my favourite by the director which is why it is the first film on this list. Running a very close second in my heart is another Margit Carstensen lead role from 1974; Martha. Officially Martha was actually a made for TV movie; despite this I feel it is some of Fassbinder’s best work so I have no problem with including it on this list. Martha, like Petra, is a troubled, lonely woman who is not immune to emotional hysteria although this is where the parallels end. Martha is a quiet woman approaching middle-age and unmarried. She has been charged with the care of her ungrateful and nasty mother after her father dies during a trip to Rome. Martha’s boss is in love with her but she does not reciprocate and turns down his offer of marriage. However, as her mother’s insults and taunts escalate she becomes increasingly desperate. Martha dreads the idea of becoming an old spinster left to care for an icy and uncaring mother. She finds solace in the arms of Helmut; he eventually proposes and she accepts. Martha’s unhappiness spirals into a nightmare of mental and physical abuse as Helmut takes over every last aspect of Martha’s life. Helmut has her mother committed, offers her resignation to her employer (a job she loves) and forces her to move from her family home. Helmut essentially keeps Martha prisoner with threats and subtle mind games and she eventually falls apart. It all ends in the worst way possible that had me cursing Fassbinder and calling him a bastard! That bloody ending! Helmut is worse than any villain in a horror film; he is one of the most unlikable characters I have ever stumbled upon. Karlheinz Böhm is brilliant in the role of Helmut and Margit Carstensen is absolutely devastating as Martha. There was no doubt in my mind what three of the five films on this list would be and Martha holds a firm placing for me right behind Bitter Tears. The aforementioned third film also features Margit Carstensen but in a more minor role; Fassbinder’s 1973 sci-fi odyssey World on a Wire. World on a Wire is based on the novel Simulacron-3 by Daniel F. Galouye and stars Klaus Löwitsch as central character Fred Stiller. The film was initially made for TV and was presented in two parts. The film itself is over three and a half hours long; and yes, I have included two made-for-TV films on my list. What of it? Professor Vollmer is the technical director of a new supercomputer program created for the Institute of Cybernetics and Future Science. The program is a simulation of an alternate universe whose inhabitants interact as human beings in a world not unlike our own. Vollmer begins to suspect other forces are controlling the project and becomes increasingly paranoid when he suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances. Vollmer’s colleague Fred Stiller is charged with taking over Vollmer’s position. Disconcerting events begin to surface the minute Stiller is in his new position. Gunther Lause, who worked with Vollmer has valuable information to share with Stiller but suddenly disappears. The deeper Stiller investigates the more surreal and threatening the program becomes forcing him to flee his position. Eventually the two worlds collide in the most fantastical way. World on a Wire may be Fassbinder’s most impressive film visually. Without any special effects he manages to construct sets and set pieces that perfectly capture a futuristic and other-worldly feel. Modern sterile fixtures including plenty of mirrors and other reflective surfaces are used to great effect. The performances, especially Klaus Löwitsch are fantastic and the outstanding story kept me intrigued every last minute of its runtime. Paranoia, betrayal and love in a futuristic hell like only Fassbinder could create. Choosing the last two films for this list of five was more challenging than I expected it would be. I volleyed around six films and was so torn I re-watched four of them (I will discuss the films I left off the list a little later). The next film to make the cut was Fassbinder’s 1973 film Whity starring Günther Kaufmann. Kaufmann had minor roles in several Fassbinder films but this is the first I watched that had the actor in a lead role. After completing my fifty favourite director list, Fassbinder was one of the first I embarked to see more from and Whity was the beginning of that journey. One could argue that they find something undiscovered in every subsequent viewing of a Fassbinder film; I could not disagree with this statement. Whity, for me, is the film in Fassbinder’s oeuvre that I discover something new each time I visit it. Kaufmann plays Whity; Butler and servant to the depraved and dysfunctional Nicholson family. When not servicing the Nicholsons Whity spends his time at a saloon in the company of his lover Hanna who performs there nightly. Whity is in fact a Western melodrama; a period piece that resembles something akin to a warped version of Dallas. Whity is humiliated and abused by the Nicholsons much to the chagrin of Hanna who does not understand his loyalty to this most heinous of bloodlines. The colors used in Whity are particularly lush even inside the gloomy Nicholson’s residence. The Nicholsons themselves however look like death warmed over! The foundation chosen for the family members gives their skin tone the look of a walking corpse. They look as sickly on the outside as they are on the inside. The Nicholsons played by Ron Randell, Katrin Schaake, Harry Baer and Ulli Lommel are convincingly nefarious and perfect but the spotlight belongs to Günther Kaufmann. Kaufmann plays Whity with a subtle pathos relayed through gestures more than words that I found wholly compelling. The lovely Hanna, played by Hanna Schygulla, is the only light in Whity’s life and she shines bright. Whity is betrayal, perversion, delusion, influence, dominance and at the end of it all, love; a beautifully warped and wicked bit of cinema. Hanna Schygulla is the titular character in the final film on my list; Fassbinder’s 1979 film The Marriage of Maria Braun. To truly appreciate Hanna Schygulla as an actress I think that The Marriage of Maria Braun is mandatory viewing. The Marriage of Maria Braun is the first in Fassbinder’s BRD Trilogy (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) a trio of films that focus on the life of a German woman during (and/or following) World War II. Maria marries a soldier named Hermann Braun whom is called to duty immediately following their union. Maria restlessly awaits her husband’s return but instead is informed of his death. Maria takes a job as a hostess where she meets Bill. Meanwhile, Hermann has returned from the dead and catches Maria and Bill post-coitus. The two men fight and Maria smashes a bottle over Bill’s head inadvertently killing him. This does not bode well for the newly reunited Brauns. Once again they are separated when Hermann takes responsibility for the death and goes to prison. Maria meets a wealthy industrialist who offers her a job and becomes his lover; Maria also continues to make regular visits to Hermann in prison. Fassbinder has written some truly awesome roles for female characters; this list is a testament to that. Schygulla’s Maria character is an intelligent and sassy woman who easily adapts to the business world and becomes a success. Maria is as strong as she is sentimental and despite everything, in her way, she stays faithful to Hermann. Schygulla is confident and poised as the bold Maria. And that ending! Again a Fassbinder ending that left my mouth agape. What is with Fassbinder and those nasty, crazy finales? To recap, my five favourite Fassbinder films with cast list and images:

THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (1972)
Cast: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Irm Hermann, Gisela Fackeldey, Eva Mattes

MARTHA (1974)
Cast: Margit Carstensen, Karlheinz Böhm, Barbara Valentin, Peter Chatel, Gisela Fackeldey, Adrian Hoven

WORLD ON A WIRE (1973)
Cast: Klaus Löwitsch, Barbara Valentin, Mascha Rabben, Karl Heinz Vosgerau, Wolfgang Schenck, Günter Lamprecht, Ulli Lommel, Adrian Hoven, Margit Carstensen

WHITY (1973)
Cast: Günther Kaufmann, Ron Randell, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Harry Baer, Ulli Lommel, Elaine Baker

THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN (1979)
Cast: Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny, Gisela Uhlen, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Gottfried John, Hark Bohm, George Eagles

I mentioned earlier that there were four other titles that were strong candidates for this list. The first of the four is Fassbinder’s 1971 film Beware of a Holy Whore; which made my list of favourite films watched in 2014 (Fassbinder’s Martha and World on a Wire also made the same list). The film is about the making of Whity and the drama on and especially off set. Beware of a Holy Whore is full of humor, colorful sexy sets and costumes and jam-packed full of Fassbinder regulars. A favourite among Fassbinder fans and well worth checking out. The second candidate is Fassbinder’s 1978 film In a Year with 13 Moons; chronicling the last few days of cross-dresser Elvira. Elvira visits a slaughterhouse, the convent where she grew up, and an old lover among other interactions. It is very sad and beautiful and Volker Spengler gives a heart-aching performance as Elvira. Kudos also to Ingrid Cavan who is especially charming as Elvira’s best friend. The third candidate was Fassbinder’s 1976 film Chinese Roulette. It was really tough leaving this one off of the list. Chinese Roulette is a guessing game the family and acquaintances play together in the film’s final chapter. Ariane and Gerhard Christ have both been engaged in long term affairs and make arrangements to meet their lovers at their house in the country. Needless to say things get awkward when the two couples meet face to face. They make the best of the situation at least until their manipulative pre-teen daughter decides to also join the party. A solid story with smart and seething dialog and outstanding performances from Anna Karina, Margit Carstensen, Ulli Lommel, Volker Spengler, Alexander Allerson, Macha Meril and Andrea Schober. The final consideration was Fassbinder’s 1982 film Veronika Voss. The film is loosely based on the career of Sybille Schmitz. Veronika Voss was a formerly successful actress who now struggles to get roles. She meets a reporter named Robert who becomes caught up in the complicated emotional rollercoaster that is Ms. Voss’s life. This is the second film in Fassbinder’s BRD Trilogy (The Marriage of Maria Braun was the first and Lola is the third) a trio of films that focus on the life of a German woman during (and/or following) World War II. A gorgeous black and white masterpiece with a poignant performance from Rosel Zech as Veronika Voss. In reality, I have enjoyed every Fassbinder film I have seen with the exception of I Only Want You To Love Me (1976) and would recommend checking out any and all of them! I bought myself Criterion’s The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant a new release from this past January. I also treated myself to the Criterion Eclipse series Early Fassbinder set. Fassbinder is a force of nature whose work can affect my emotional state unlike any other.

I Kill Them – Antiteater: Music from Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Western Melodrama WHITY (1971) – played during the opening credits.

Favourite Five Series: Something Weird Video Triple Features

This is it, my final Stepping Into Something Weird and The Films of Michael Findlay post! This has genuinely been the most fun I have ever had doing a feature for Goregirl’s Dungeon! Seventy-five Something Weird titles watched and nineteen Something Weird DVDs added to my personal collection; a collection I intend to grow. I look forward to continuing my journey through the rest of Something Weird Video’s catalog in the months and years to come. I hope I was able to turn you on to some of these gorgeous grindhouse gems and early exploitation extravaganzas!

Thank you to my good friend and Co-host David Arrate over at My Kind of Story and My Kind of Story Images for his contributions and assistance during Stepping into Something Weird and The Films of Michael Findlay.

Let us just get right down to business here shall we? Here is My Favourite Five Something Weird Video Triple Features! All five of the triple features on this list should be in every single exploitation fans collection!

The Touch of her Flesh/The Curse of her Flesh/The Kiss of her Flesh

Michael Findlay’s Flesh trilogy received my highest combined rating of all the triple features on this list. The Curse of Her Flesh received a perfect rating and made my favourite five something weird films (part two), The Kiss of Her Flesh was not far behind with a 4.5/5 and The Touch of Her Flesh a 3.5/5 for a combined 13. The trilogy follows weapons expert Richard Jennings who flips a switch after catching his voluptuous wife in bed with another man and goes on a three film killing spree where numerous broads (and a few men too) are killed in a number of creative ways that include various weapons, poison and a booby-trapped dildo! The Touch of Her Flesh seems so conservative in comparison to The Curse of Her Flesh and The Kiss of Her Flesh but all three are an absolute shitload of fun! I can say the same thing about this entire trilogy that I said about The Curse of Her Flesh; outrageous, nasty, hilarious, naughty, sleazy, entertaining brilliance! Having seen six Findlay efforts offered through Something Weird Video I can say with confidence that Findlay is one of the most outrageous and entertaining directors in their library! I said it before and I am going to said again right freaking now; every film on this list is a must have for exploitation fans but none of them more so than Michael Findlay’s Flesh trilogy!

For more images from The Touch of Her Flesh click here.

For more images from The Curse of Her Flesh click here.

For more images from The Kiss of Her Flesh click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

Get ready to be Shocked and Appalled with an All Out Assault on Humanity! Here’s the infamous “Flesh Trilogy,” three of the most outrageously insane Sexploitation Sickies of the 60s from husband and wife filmmakers Michael and Roberta Findlay which mix sex and violence into a malignant cocktail still potent today.

The madness starts with The Touch of Her Flesh where Richard Jennings discovers his wife Claudia in bed with another man, goes berserk, and is promptly hit by a car. In a classic case of overreaction, the now-crippled Jennings not only vows revenge on his wife but on all women everywhere, slaughtering strippers, hookers and go-go girls in a series of psycho killings which climax with a lovely little buzzsaw beheading.

Next Jennings extends The Curse of Her Flesh to the man he caught with Claudia as well as “everyone connected with him,” leading to murders by machete, a poisoned cat’s paw, and even a lethal G-string!

Finally in The Kiss of Her Flesh, Jennings fights the ultimate Battle of the Sexes with a tire iron, blowtorch, and, believe it or not, a lobster claw. Yipes! Hilariously depraved, deranged, disturbing, and definitely not part of our PC-world, here are three gruesome gems sure to make your jaw hit the floor!

Special Features
• Original Findlay Trailers for The Curse of Her Flesh, Satan’s Bed, The Touch of Her Flesh and The Ultimate Degenerate
• Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities

Submission/Vibrations/Fluctuations

This triple feature was a no-brainer for the list. It contains two films that I gave a perfect rating to and made my favourite five Something Weird Video lists part one and part two! Submission is a little tale about an infantile woman named Vickie and her violent criminal boyfriend Barry who keeps her submissive with toys, candy and sex while bumping off and robbing rich broads. The unique and spellbinding Submission also received the full review treatment. Vibrations is about the complicated relationship between two sisters with an incestuous past; a sexy, well-acted masterpiece! The weak link in this trilogy being Fluctuations. Fluctuations had me hypnotized for the first 15 minutes, than it started to get tedious, and tedium turned to irritation and irritation turned to anger and then I wanted to take the disk out and stomp on it 40 or 50 times and then set it on fire. And then I remembered that Submission and Vibrations were on the same disc so I didn’t. It has a sound loop of two people having sex and the woman sounds like she has asthma and every 8 or 9 minutes or so a male voice says “I’m cumming”. It is the sort of thing you would put on to torture someone. In fact, the only reason I would ever put Fluctuations on ever again is if I was torturing a man in my apartment. And I’ll tell ya one thing, I’d be taping headphones to the bastards ears so I didn’t have to listen to it. On the plus side some of the imagery is interesting briefly and Findlay favourite Kim Lewid is in it. Submission and Vibrations are so freaking brilliant I could not possibly leave this trio off the list; despite the inclusion of Fluctuations. You can look at Fluctuations as a historical curio, or endurance test; whatever. You are buying this set for Vibrations and Submission. Do it now! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!

For more images from Submission click here.

For more images from Vibrations click here.

For more images from Fluctuations click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

It’s a triple bill of sexploitation skin and sin mixing Joe Sarno sophistication with sleaze and schlock, exactly as they played Times Square back in 1970!

Good VIBRATIONS go in ultra-kink when sex-happy Julia moves in with her uptight young sister and becomes irresistibly drawn to a next-door storage room where mistress Georgia holds nightly orgies with an oddball sex cult. Armed with a giant joy buzzer, Georgia likes to turn herself on, turn her fiends on and, ultimately, turn Julia and her sister on: “I specialize in pleasure. Pleasure so intense, it’s akin to torment, exquisite torment…” An offbeat, psychologically twisted skinflick from the always excellent Joe Sarno!

Plus: The kink-a-thon continues with FLUCTUATIONS, a Bizarre don’t-even try-to-make-sense-of-it bombardment of sexual imagery that plays like stream of-consciousness from a degenerate: threesomes, foursomes, lesbians, bondage, hair-whipping(!) and, believe it or not, even kung-fu. Avant garde masterpiece or pure gutter trash? Perhaps both…

AND: A psycho sex-fiend keeps his infantile girlfriend Vicky (Jennifer Welles) in SUBMISSION with candy bars, toys and, yes, hot wax. But when they plan on killing a wealthy lesbian, Vicky discovers she likes a woman’s touch and plans a nasty surprise for her boneheaded boyfriend.

Special Features
• Digitally Remastered!
• Bonus Deleted Scenes: 7 minutes of never-before-seen footage deleted form the final cut of SUBMISSION
• Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities!
• Total running time: Over 3 1/2 hours of Grindhouse guignol!

Olga’s House of Shame/White Slaves of Chinatown/Olga’s Dance Hall Girls

Olga’s House of Shame is one of those films I always instantly associate with Something Weird Video. For years I have meant to watch it and for some unexplainable reason just never did. It was the first set during this feature that I added to my personal collection and it was worth every last penny too! I enjoyed the hell out of all three of these films. I actually re-watched the entire trio a week back. On my initial watch I was all about Olga’s Dance Hall Girls. It does after all have a Satan worship subplot and two of my favourite goddesses of exploitation; Uta Erickson and Linda Boyce! What it is missing; and this is important, is Audrey Campbell who plays Olga in all three of Joseph P. Mawra’s films. Dance Hall Girl’s director is unknown and for some strange reason this unknown director decided not to use Ms. Campbell. I didn’t mind Lucy Eldredge as Olga but she is certainly no Audrey Campbell! I still enjoyed the film but on a re-watch I felt even more warmly towards White Slaves of Chinatown and Olga’s House of Shame. Audrey Campbell is a solid actress as she proves in both Sin in the Suburbs and One Naked Night (not an SWV film) and she brings something special to this series that should not have been replaced by anybody. The three films are done in a sort of documentary style with narration and in some cases a wee bit of improvised dialog. The series is exploitative to be sure, but didn’t entirely live up to its bad-ass reputation; the idea and themes are nastier than the actual execution. That said the imagery is incredibly memorable. Some of my most popular tumblr posts have been for these films. I must give a thousand thanks to my tumblrgasmic friend over at the aptly named Olga’s House of Shame who generously reblogged many of my Olga sets. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU OLGA’S HOUSE OF SHAME! The bad-ass Olga tortures, blackmails, hooks on drugs and prostitutes countless young damsels over the course of the films. So many of my favourite exploitation godesses turn up like the aforementioned Erickson and Boyce and my girl Gigi Darlene is here getting her blonde ass in trouble again! Audrey Campbell’s co-star Judy Young who plays her daughter Kathy in Sin in the Suburbs has a feature role in Olga’s House of Shame! Young’s character Elaine is tortured mercilessly before Olga molds her into her Doppelganger! How could you Olga?! She’s your own daughter! Another absolutely positively must own trio that also features my very favourite supplements of any of the triple features listed here!

For more images from Olga’s House of Shame click here.

For more images from White Slaves of Chinatown click here.

For more images from Olga’s Dance Hall Girls click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

Meet Olga: a woman who “possessed a mind so warped she made sadism a full-time business,” and the maniacal character in five of the most notorious, hilariously twisted sexploitation films from the sic, sick sixties.

In the first of the series, Olga uses pot parties and comic-book violence to turn Gigi Darlene and other female captives into her WHITE SLAVES OF CHINATOWN before putting them to work as drug-addicted hookers. But Olga has her tender side too and, in the mood for romance selects an occasional slave for a little lesbian loving: “The disease called Olga cannot be fought!”

Then, after relocating to New Jersey, OLGA’S HOUSE OF SHAME is open for business! With the help of Nick, her malignant brother and a sweet-faced Elaine, a victim-turned-protégé, Olga runs a crime syndicate while gleefully engaging in such extracurricular activities as bondage, torture, and the always popular “horse discipline.” The most outrageous of the series, OLGA’S HOUSE OF SHAME also features a surprise announcement for an unmade Olga with a truly mind-boggling title…

Finally, things take a bizarre turn with the most obscure Olga of them all, OLGA’S DANCE HALL GIRLS, in which a new brat-faced Olga recruits suburban housewives as “hostesses” for a dance hall which is really just a front for – are you ready? – a satanic cult!

SPECAIL FEATURES:
Digitally Remastered!
Olga Trailers for the entire Olga series: WHITE SLAVES OF CHINATOWN, Olga’s Girls, OLGA’S HOUSE OF SHAME, Madame Olga’s Massage Parlor, and OLGA’S DANCE HALL GIRLS!
The Olga sequence from Mondo Oscenita featuring rare footage from the “lost” Olga film, Madame Olga’s Massage Parlor!
Special Booklet Interview with Olga star Audrey Campbell!
A pre-Olga Audrey poses for Byron Mabe in the Nudie-Cutie Shortie, Audrey Campbell, Art Lover!
Gallery of Sexploitation Ad Art with Exploitation Audio!
Total Running Time: Over 3 1/2 Hours of Pain & Pleasure!
OUCH! For maximum effect, view while shackled.
Warning: This program contains nudity, violence, and bullwhips.

Aroused/Help Wanted Female/Rent-a-Girl

This one is a real mixed bag of nuts! Extra salty nuts! Aroused made my top ten favourite horror films of 1966;a feature I did November 2012. I felt much warmer towards Aroused on this re-watch and upped its score a full point to a 4.5/5! This is a must see for fans of William Lustig’s Maniac as I pointed out in my short blurb I wrote for the film. Look at the shot I posted below that David included in a tumblr post he did! Almost identical to a shot Lustig included in Maniac. It also features mannequins and a killer who offs prostitutes! Aroused is one of Something Weird’s best horror films and one of their best films period; it is sleazy-creepy perfection! The wacky Help Wanted Female is a charming companion piece to Aroused. Help Wanted Female is funny and quirky with a touch of violence and a few surprises as well as a very appealing group of characters and performances. Friends Jo-Jo and Luana are a couple of hustling babes; Jo-jo a Kung Fu master and Luana a prostitute. Luana doubles her price for regular customer Sebastian Gregory but ends up getting more than she bargained for. I did a full review of Help Wanted Female so you should read it and it has lots of pretty pictures to go along with it. Unfortunately I found Rent-a-Girl to be a bit of a weak link in the set. It certainly isn’t Fluctuations but it has a pretty muddy pace and some unnecessary and exceptionally long and dull scenes. There was a scene of two people painting a woman that was especially dull. I wonder if whoever came up with the expression “It was like watching paint dry” came up with that after watching Rent-a-Girl. It isn’t completely without some charm however. Rent-a-Girl had a great opening scene that got me really excited for the film and it has a game of strip billiards featuring Darlene Bennett, June Roberts and Judy Adler (I “think” that is Judy Adler in that scene). I’d actually probably squeeze this film in for a pass for having just enough memorable moments. The trio is certainly worth owning for Aroused, Help Wanted Female and the bonus features.

For more images from Aroused click here.

For more images from Help Wanted Female click here.

For more images from Rent-a-Girl click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

RENT-A-GIRL
Pretty New Yorker Karen Anderson becomes involved with a shady modeling agency. She is easily persuaded to do cheesecake poses and soon asked to reveal all. Little does she know, in her infinite innocence, that her employers actually procure young nymphets as sexual playthings for their wealthy clientele. The girls are whipped, beaten, painted, sprayed and burned. Poor Karen eventually gains first hand knowledge of the gang’s sick practices and flees (with a newly-branded buttock) to the cops.

AROUSED
“There’s a maniac loose out there! He’s gonna kill again! He’s probably ripping some girl apart right now!”

Fact of Life: you can’t go wrong with any film that features the two major cornerstones of big-screen entertainment — hookers and a psycho killer. Which means, of course, that you can’t go wrong with Aroused, a grim and gritty little piece of primo Sixties exploitation — nestled somewhere between a skinflick and a horror film — that still holds up remarkably well today.

A “sex killer” prowls the streets of Manhattan preying on prostitutes. “This guy’s a nut! He’ll grab any woman he thinks is a whore!” And why exactly does he pick on hookers? Because — “Nya, nya,nya, nya.nya…” — his mama was a ho! Now, as another deeply disturbed resident of The Big Apple, the killer — whose identity is slowly revealed during the course of the film — sits on a fire escape silently watching working girl Pat Wilson turn a trick. Finally, when she’s finished, he climbs in the window, attacks Miss Wilson while in the shower, wraps the shower curtain around her head, and strangles her. Then he…well…yeah. He does. He climbs on top of her….

Young Detective Johnny (STEVE HOLLISTER, who also plays the doomed young man in the color inserts added to Love Hunger) is so upset by the crime — “What a way for a human being to die!” — that he tries to catch the killer by joining forces with Ginny Smith (JANINE LENON, whose first name is billed as “Djanine”), the seen-it-all, done-it-all, knife-wielding hooker-without-a-heart-of-gold-slash-lesbian-lover of Pat: “We’re just pieces of meat hanging on a hook waiting for a butcher!” But when one of Ginny’s galpals agrees to act as psycho bait — oops! — it all goes wrong and she gets hacked up before Johnny can get to her.

Ginny, meanwhile, is suspicious of one of the lugs who work at Gus’ Bar, the Official Hooker Hangout, sneaks into his loft, and finds it decorated with mannequin parts! In an ending that bears a striking resemblance to the climax of Bill Lustig’s Maniac, Ginny returns to the creep’s apartment with some of her prostitute pals, surrounds the screaming loon on his bed and, with her trusty knife, turns him into “a boy soprano….”

Set in a New York that’s eternally at night and choking in sleaze. Aroused is a surprisingly fun piece of filth: the murders are nasty, there’s plenty of skin and, believe it or not, we actually care about the characters — especially when Johnny’s dutiful wife finds herself unwittingly sipping coffee with the killer: “You’re a whore like all the others….” Sure, they’re all cardboard cliches spouting crime-magazine dialogue but, hey, that’s what B-movies are all about. You’ll also recognize most of the music as library cues used endlessly by Doris Wishman. lt’s a shame director ANTON HOLDEN didn’t make more like this. Though Something Weird has sold Aroused from day one, it’s now finally been digitally remastered from a crisp 35mm print.

“And the moral is…no moral.”

HELP WANTED FEMALE
Don’t be fooled by the innocuous title. Happily hiding behind it is a delightfully demented, luridly loony, off-kilter sexploitation gem that mixes LSD and murder with two sexy mankillers.

Jo-Jo runs a karate school — “Jo-Jo’s Kung Fu” — and robs middle-aged men in her spare time. Her galpal, Luana, is a high-priced hooker who goes on a 5200 date with SEBASTIAN GREGORY who stars as… well… Sebastian Gregory. She strips and dances as Gregory gobbles down a sugar cube: “LSD? Say, you won’t start going ape on me, will you, Daddy?” Ape, no; babble, yes. “I might start talking too much. I might tell you things I don’t want you to hear….’ And talk he does, telling Luana what happened to his ex-girlfriend Barbara as the film takes a definite turn for the weird….

“Barbara had a wild erotic imagination,” says Gregory by way of explaining why cat-eyed Barbara deliberately burns him with an ember from the fireplace: “My pain aroused her!” She then takes out a knife and asks him to slice her thigh. “To inflict pain with pleasure only led to the inevitable: to kill for pleasure!” Next thing you know, the two pick up a high-school hitchhiker and have her pose for nude photos before Barbara stabs her in the gut and Gregory slits her throat. On a roll, Gregory then strangles Barbara with a plastic bag over her head and cuts up her body. All of which he calmly relates to Luana who doesn’t believe a word he says. Until she sees blood in the bathroom, an aluminum-wrapped “head” in the fridge, and a trunk full of bones. Oops.

Freaking, Luana bonks him on the noggin and runs home to Jo-Jo, but Gregory follows, leading to a karate-chopping battle of the sexes (“I could rip your arm off if I choose but instead I’ll just rip the back muscles a little!”) and a wacky twist ending….

The sexploitation market of the Sixties was aimed primarily at middle-aged men, and Help Wanted Female is both a cautionary tale warning that audience of the perils of predatory females, and a victory by one of their own over such women — sort of a instruction manual and dream-fantasy all in one. As the ultimate surrogate for that audience, Sebastian Gregory is perfect as the man who’s both the mark and the menace. With his gruff looks and the tough-guy attitude of a barroom brawler, Gregory starred in such skinflicks as Hollywood After Dark (’68). Like Mother like Daughter (’68), and The Hangup (70). Like contemporaries John Alderman and William Kerwin, Gregory is very much a “real” actor giving very much a “real” performance, though one that requires him to be more silly than scary. At one point, he’s underneath the sheets with Luana — meaning they both have the bedsheets pulled over their heads — as he frantically jabbers on about World War II in a voice that sounds like a parody of Richard Burton!

With an offbeat sense of humor, a couple of luscious bodies, and a smattering of the macabre. Help Wanted Female is a kookie cult film just waiting to be discovered — with or without acid. From an original 35mm theatrical print.

Special Features
• Digitally Remastered!
• Original Theatrical Trailer for Aroused!
• Bonus Kink-O-Rama Short: Lesson of the Strap!
• Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities!
• Total Running Time: Over 3 and 1/2 Hours of Sex and Psychological Sickness!

Warning: This Program Contains Nudity, Sexual Situations and a Unique Way of Bathing Darlene Bennett!

Blood Feast/Two Thousand Maniacs/Color Me Blood Red

Well…duh? You can’t have a Something Weird Video collection without Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Blood Trilogy! Yeesh! Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs and Color Me Blood Red; three Gordon horror classics! The infamous Blood Feast which has made appearances all over the place in the Dungeon including my top ten horror films for 1963 and my favourite five Herschell Gordon Lewis films not to mention getting the full review treatment. Blood Feast is a long time favourite of mine! A caterer is murdering women all over Miami and swiping body parts to prepare for a feast to honor his goddess Ishtar. Blood Feast is good old-fashioned hilarious gory fun! Two Thousand Maniacs is a personal favorite of Lewis himself and another film from the director that made a top ten list, this time for my favourite horror films of 1964! A Southern town, population 2000 lures tourists to their yearly centennial celebrations where they become unwilling participants. Each death is a creative and unique masterpiece and its got Blood Feast’s William Kerwin and Connie Mason! Hee Haw! Rounding out the trio is Color Me Blood Red. Unhinged artist Adam Sorg discovers human blood makes great paint after his girlfriend cuts herself. When his blood-red painting is a hit he starts slicing and dicing to get more supplies. Lewis’s leads are usually a lot of fun and Gordon Oas-Heim’s Sorg is no exception. He is crazier than a rabid weasel! Color Me Blood Red is an enjoyably gory and darkly humorous Gordon offering. This ain’t called The Blood Trilogy for nothing! When the Godfather of Gore puts the word blood in the title you know he is going to deliver! Go buy this now.

For more images from Blood Feast click here.

For more images from Two Thousand Maniacs click here.

For more images from Color Me Blood Red click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

THE BLOOD TRILOGY Blu-ray

Three Time the Gore for One Low Price! In High Definition!
See the world’s first three gore films from legendary exploitation film pioneers Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman – Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs!, and Color Me Blood Red! Experience every splat, every slice and every drop of fake blood and guts in full 1080p glory!

BLOOD FEAST
Most people think America lost its innocence when JFK was assassinated. Actually, it happened four months earlier when BLOOD FEAST opened at a Peoria, Illinois, drive-in. With its bright colors, bubbly babes, and minimal production values, Blood Feast resembled the average nudie flick. However, the pretty young beauties in Blood Feast didn’t get naked. They got dismembered. Yes, folks, the infamous, notorious, ultra over-the-top Blood Feast is the world’s first “gore” film. Less a horror movie than extreme exploitation, it may even be argued that Blood Feast is the first horror roadshow since 1934’s Maniac.

Shot in five days in Miami for under $25,000, Blood Feast’s simple-minded script and wildly overwrought Amateur Night theatrics also helped transform it into the world’s first gore comedy. Blood Feast is, in fact, simultaneously disgusting and hilarious. It’s as if the local loony bin had made a home movie and got a little carried away with the killings.

TWO THOUSAND MANIACS
The TWO THOUSAND MANIACS of a small town celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Civil War by forcing a handful of Northerners to serve as “guests” for a variety of macabre, blood-crazed fun and games.

The festivities include a screaming man placed in a rolling barrel lined with nails, a hit-the-bull’s-eye carnival game with a pretty gal and a boulder, and a blonde sexpot whose arm is hacked off and barbecued! But before they can slaughter the only smart Yank (Thomas Wood), he and the lovely Terry Adams (Connie Mason, “Playboy’s Favorite Playmate”) try to escape…

A marvelously perverse cult classick, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! is also the second of the infamous “blood trilogy” (which includes Blood Feast and Color Me Blood Red) from producer David F. Friedman (Trader Hornee) and director Herschell Gordon Lewis (The Wizard of Gore). Yeeeee-Ha! Oh, the South’s gonna rise again!

COLOR ME BLOOD RED
When his girlfriend, Gigi, cuts her finger on a frame, maniacal artist Adam Sorg discovers a new shade of crimson that will make his artwork so special – human blood!

He stabs her in the head and smears her face on a canvas and – voila – a macabre masterpiece is created. His bloody new painting causes a sensation on the local art scene, a crazed Adam continues creating sanguine specialties by extracting art supplies from victims outside his beach house. It all goes bad, however, when he zeros in on April (Candi Conder) whose scarlet pugment he plans to remove with an axe…

A witty mix of dark humor and gory horror, COLOR ME BLOOD RED is also the third installment of the Blood Trilogy (following BLOOD FEAST and TWO THOUSAND MANIACS!) from director H.G. Lewis (THE GORE GORE GIRLS) and producer David F. Friedman (SHE FREAKS). Starring Don Joseph and Candi Conder.

Special Features:
Original Theatrical Trailers!
Audio Commentaries by HG Lewis and D.F. Friedman!
Rare Outtakes!
Campy Classic Carving Magic, with William Kerwin and Harvey Korman!
Rare Gore Short Film from 1964, Follow That Skirt!
Lewis and Friedman Exploitation Art Galleries!

HAVE A GORETASTIC WEEKEND ALL!

Cheers,
GG

Favourite Five Series: Something Weird Video Double Features

Something Weird Video offers dozens of double features in their catalog. Most of their DVD double features cost about $14.95; a very fair price even for one film. Obviously if you can find a solid and enjoyable duo all the better. It wasn’t really intentional but the vast majority of the 75 films I watched for Stepping Into Something Weird were part of a double or triple feature. This favourite five is also a guilty pleasure post that allows me to talk about some of the films I thoroughly enjoyed that did not make it into my top ten. Below my little blurbs I included detailed information from The Something Weird Video Website. The special features included with every last one of these duos are absolutely superb and alone practically make these sets worth owning!

***Select pictures courtesy of my co-host David Arrate***

Bad Girls Go to Hell/Another Day Another Man

Something Weird Video offers several Doris Wishman double features. My dream duo would have been Indecent Desires and Another Day Another Man; both films I gave a perfect rating to but this pair is definitely the next best thing! Another Day Another Man and Bad Girls Go To Hell are both mighty fine example of Doris Wishman’s work. That Gigi Darlene is always getting her blonde ass in trouble! In Bad Girls Go to Hell Ms. Darlene as Ellen/Meg really does go through hell and is roughed up and/or raped by nearly everyone she meets! The extra special highlights were Dawn Bennett playing Della a body stalking wearing lesbian and my man (and Wishman regular) Sam Stewart playing Ed a kind hearted fella who takes in the misguided blonde; kind hearted that is until he falls off the wagon and goes berserk! Helluva finale too! In Another Day Another Man Barbara Kemp as Ann and her hubby fall on some hard times and Ann if forced to prostitute herself to pay the bills. And it could not be easy keeping your chin up with that tower of hair! Once again Sam Stewart is a huge highlight as Bert the pimp and Mary O’Hara is fab as Barbara’s best friend Tess. Both these films made my favourite five Doris Wishman list; check it out here.

For more images from Bad Girls Go To Hell click here.

For more images from Another Day Another Man click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

Gigi Darlene learns that BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL when she’s attacked by a janitor with bad teeth, accidentally kills the guy, then flees to New York…where her troubles really begin! With its crazed plot, rampant nudity, and predatory sex maniacs BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL is one of director Doris Wishman’s wildest “roughies” which, amazingly, was theatrically re released in 1998!

Plus: Ann, a “Miss Prim” with a giant hairdo, doesn’t approve of her friend tess’s employer, Bert the pimp. But when Ann’s Husband suddenly gets a mystery illness, Ann has to find some way to pay the bills and, yup, quickly becomes one of Bert’s girls…With a hoarsely tragic ending and Wishman’s trademark camera work that seems to be constantly distracted by inanimate objects, ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER MAN also stars Gigi Darlene as a hooker whose hayseed boyfriend gets manhandled by sexy twins Rita and Darlene Bennett.

Two lunatic masterpieces from the woman who gave the world Deadly Weapons and Double Agent 73!

SPECIAL FEATURES
• Digitally Remastered
• Original Theatrical Trailers for Doris Wishman’s Bad Girls Go To Hell, Another Day Another Man, Indecent Desires, My Brother’s Wife, Too Much Too Often and A Taste Of Flesh
• “Let’s o to the Drive-In!” – An Interactive Feature Allowing Uninterrupted Playback of Almost Three Hours Worth of Doris Wishman Drive-In Madness
• Drive-In Adult Book Pitch
• Classic Drive-In Intermission Shorts
• Doris Wishman Gallery of Exploitation Art

The Psycho Lover/Heat of Madness

I’ve talked the hell out of The Psycho Lover; I gave it a full review and it made my ultimate top five favourite Something Weird films. The Psycho Lover is a thoroughly perfect, well-executed bit of horror and a must see for seventies genre fans. Though the Heat of Madness definitely has a completely different vibe and feel; I think it is fair to say that both film’s antagonists are bat-shit crazy. In Heat of Madness Kevin Scott plays photographer and artist John Wilright. Wilright is a talented but moody loner. He makes ends meet by snapping nude shots for calendars; work he is not proud of. He is instantly smitten when he meets the conservative Susan (Jennifer Laird) and the two start dating. It isn’t long before Wilright’s lesser personality traits begin showing themselves. Wilright slowly descends into madness over the course of the film. Meanwhile Susan is the heiress to a large fortune and Wilright is being investigated in accordance with her father’s will. Heat of Madness is a slow boil with two excellent performances from its leads Scott and Laird. The pace is a touch slow but I didn’t find it bothersome. A neat little film and character study and a marvelous finale. While just about anything in my mind would be inferior to The Psycho Lover I very much enjoyed Heat of Madness and thought it was a solid pairing.

For more images from The Psycho Lover click here.

For more images from Heat of Madness click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

The only thing worse than being a homicidal maniac is being treated by a doctor who’s just as crazy! Marco, a PSYCHO LOVER who strangles women that “threaten his maleness,” becomes a patient of lizard-like Dr. Kenneth Alden, who uses wacky nightmares to brainwash Marco into killing the doc’s nasty wife who won’t give him a divorce. A gaudy mix of sex, violence, pop-psych, and even some quick necrophilia, this drive-in shocker (a.k.a. “The Loving Touch”) is a fun descent into B-movie psychosis.

PLUS: Oddball photographer, Johnny’s dismissive attitude to sex radically changes when he’s hired to illustrate a book called “Great Sex Murders” and soon has models staging mock whippings, robberies and assaults. Trouble is, all the fake violence fuels the poor guy with the HEAT OF MADNESS, and pretty soon he thinks one of his naughty models is actually his fiancée and promptly goes berserk…

Two twisted sickies, proving once again that romance is always more exciting with a deranged lunatic.

Special Features
• Sex-Psycho Trailers for “The Psycho Lover,” “Aroused,” “The Exquisite Cadaver,” “The Flesh and Blood Show,” “Poor Albert and Little Annie,” “Scream Bloody Murder,” “Twisted Nerve” and “The Woman Hunt”
• Obsessions leads to Murder in the Twisted Psycho-Sexual Short, “The Naked Flower”
• Teens become Targets of Pervert Predators in the Sid Davis Classroom Scare Short, “Name Unknown”
• Kink-O-Rama Short Subject, “Captain Bondage vs. Women’s Lib”
• Gallery of Underground Sexploitation Movie-Magazine Covers with Audio Oddities

Sin in the Suburbs/The Swap and How They Make It

Of the three Sarno double features Something Weird video offers Sin in the Suburbs and The Swap and How They make It is my favourite by a wide margin; this duo in fact received the highest combined rating of this list earning a 5/5 and 4.5/5 respectively (and my undying love). The other two offerings are Passion in Hot Hollows/Flesh and Lace and The Layout/The Love Merchant. Like The Psycho Lover, I have talked the hell out of Sin in the Suburbs giving it a full review and along side the aforementioned it was awarded a place on my ultimate five favourite Something Weird films. I found Sin in the Suburbs’s story and characters particularly compelling and the performances are among the best you will find in Sarno’s work. Better accompaniment could not possibly be found than the similarly themed The Swap and How They Make It. Two couples new to a suburban neighborhood are introduced to a circle of swingers who change their lives and relationships irreversibly. While The Swap and How They Make It is definitely an ensemble piece it is Mona played by the lovely Patricia McNair (as Lorraine Claire) that gets special focus. It is also McNair’s character and performance that lingered most in my mind afterwards. The Swap and How They Make It is a fantastic looking film with a strong story, smart dialog and some outstanding performances. A perfect duo and a highly recommended way to start your Sarno viewing if you are so inclined.

For more images from Sin in the Suburbs click here.

For more images from The Swap and How They Make It click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

Yes, before they made their marks as pop-culture dominatrices Audrey “Olga” Campbell – as well as her two costars from Olgas’s House of Shame – starred with Dyanne “Ilsa” Thorne (billed here as “Lahna Monroe”) in one of the greatest sexploitation films of the sixties: director Joe Sarno’s wild and witty SIN IN THE SUBURBS! Eager the make money off the rampant sexual shenanigans sweeping through their neighborhood, Yvette Talman (Miss Thorne) and her creepy brother Lou organize a sex club in which Mrs. Lewis (Miss Campbell) and other lust-loving suburbanites pay to participate in anonymous sex while wearing cloaks and masks: “If you’ll direct your attention to the center of the ring, the greatest animal act on earth!” But what Mrs. Lewis doesn’t know is that her teenage daughter is also a member of the club. Oops…

PLUS: With Mona’s husband too busy for love, and after Karen’s fling with a college kid fizzles, they decide to take a neighbor’s advice and “trade the old model for a newer one” when they join a group of wife-swappers called “The Exchange.” But when that college kid threatens to expose THE SWAP AND HOW THEY MAKE IT, he’s allowed to join the club until a cruel joke makes his swap especially sick…So be the first on your block to savor these scintillating, stylish and surprisingly intelligent skinflicks from director Joe Sarno….And be sure to invite the neighbors!

SPECIAL FEATURES
• Digitally Remastered!
• Audio Commentary by director Joe Sarno, Peggy Sarno (Miss “Cleo Nova”) and special guest David F. Friedman!
• Original Theatrical Trailer for THE SWAP AND HOW THEY MAKE IT!
• Bonus Joe Sarno Theatrical Short: A Sneak Peek at Strip Poker!
• Extra Swingin’ Suburban Trailers for: The Case of the Stripping Wives, Drop Out Wife, Matinee Wives, Suburban Wives, Suburbia Confidential and Swedish Wife Exchange Club!
• Gallery of Something Weird Sixties Sexploitation Art!
• total Running Time: Over 3 1/2 Hours of Suburban Roulette!

A Thousand Pleasures/Take Me Naked

I had seen Take Me Naked for the first and only time during a sixties feature I did November 2012. I enjoyed the wonderfully warped Take Me Naked and gave it a fair rating of 3.5/5. On this recent re-watch I felt more warmly about it and upgraded it to a 4/5. Take Me Naked features Roberta Findlay, and it is probably going to make me terribly unpopular to say it, but another lead actress (my vote would have to be Linda Boyce) could have earned the film a perfect rating. The crazy perverted bum plot is outrageous and the film is a shitload of sleazy skidrow fun. What tipped the scales to get this duo added to the list however was A Thousand Pleasures. Michael Findlay’s character Richard Davis picks up two hitchhiking broads named Jackie (Linda Boyce) and Maggie (Uta Erickson). Jackie unzips Richard in preparation for a blowjob. Richard nervously looks toward the backseat stating “You Can’t do that here”. Boyce basically poo-poos him and adds “Besides, I haven’t had lunch yet.” I almost sprayed my vodka and orange juice on my monitor! Richard ends up becoming their prisoner. Boyce and Erickson play lesbians who are repulsed by men but want to have a child of their own. They kidnap Findlay’s Davis with the intention of using him for his seed. In the interim they have a grown woman they refer to as “baby” who…well…she acts like a baby. Baby walks around in nothing but a cloth diaper, sucking her thumb and sleeping in a crib! Although sometimes she does things a baby should not be doing; like masturbating with a candle?! And then there is the quietly mental Belle (Janet Banzet) who plays the nanny(?), Donna Stone who plays Boobarella(?) and John Amero who plays the house muscle Bruno. A Thousand Pleasures is packed full of wacky dialog and the premise, as has been the case with all the Findlay features I have seen thus far is equally as insane. I laughed constantly from beginning to end of its short runtime. I loved it so much I ordered it for my collection immediately after watching it; it’ll be at my door any day now. The ultimate must have Findlay collection will be featured on my triple feature list (and many of you can guess what that is) Take Me Naked with A Thousand Pleasures is a fantastically entertaining duo that is well worth owning!

“These two must have escaped from a fruit cake.”

For more images from A Thousand Pleasures click here.

For more images from Take Me Naked click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

Yes, Michael and Roberta Findlay – the outrageous auteurs of the infamous “Flesh” trilogy (The Touch of Her Flesh, The Curse of Her Flesh, The Kiss of Her Flesh) – continue their bizarre Battle of the Sexes with this utterly deranged, diseased and degenerate double feature!

Peeping out the window of his skid row room, a Bowery bum in the becomes obsessed with Elaine “a living tomb of flesh” who lives in the building next door (and who’s played by Roberta Findlay in a rare starring role). But when his sexual fantasies are invaded by “a twisted mental hunchback” (director Michael Findlay, of course), the bum snaps, goes into a homicidal rage and, completely bonkers, brings Elaine a carving knife he thinks is a bouquet of flowers…Another maniacally morbid masterpiece, TAKE ME NAKED is a foaming-at-the-mouth mix of art film lyricism and horror movie excess as only the Findlay’s made ’em!

PLUS: Wife-murderer Richard Davis (director Michael Findlay again) picks up deranged hitchikers Maggie and Jackie, takes them to their house of A THOUSAND PLEASURES and meets their brain-damaged adopted daughter, “Little Baby,” a full-grown woman in a diaper. Maggie and Jackie, however, want a real child, but because they’re “true lesbians” who “hate the filthy touch of men,” decide to turn Davis into their very own sperm bank….

But please consult your doctor after viewing. These films are so sick, they might be contagious.

Special Features
• Digitally Remastered!
• Original Theatrical Trailer for TAKE ME NAKED!
• Additional Freaky-Findlay Trailers for: The Curse of Her Flesh, Satan’s Bed, The Sin Syndicate, The Touch of Her Flesh, and The Ultimate Degenerate!
• A Sex-Crazed Schoolgirl is Turned-On by Murder in a psychotic sequence from Janie, photographed and narrated by Roberta Findlay!
• Bonus Featurette: Michael Findlay Runs Amok in Ancient Greece in a 30-minute Lesbian-laced excerpt from Mnasidika!
• Gallery of Sick sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities!
• Total Running Time: Over 3 and 1/2 Hours of Pleasure & Perversion!

Scum of the Earth/The Defilers

One of the first double features I watched for Stepping Into Something Weird was Scum of the Earth and The Defilers. It was really the ideal way to kick off the feature. Two absolutely classic Something Weird Video flicks from Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman; friends and collaborators and two men who make up the cornerstones of SWV’s collection! Scum of the Earth focuses on the sleazy business of modelling where women are drawn in by the lure of easy cash and next thing they know they are posing with their tits out. Kim Sherwood is one such young woman in need of funds. Initially she poses for cutesy shots in dresses and bathing suits but is soon being blackmailed into posing nude. Generally considered to be one of the first roughies it is captivating viewing with an especially great performance from William Kerwin as photographer Harmon Johnson (looking pretty handsome with a beard). Scum of the Earth is one of Lewis’s most esthetically pleasing films too. A delicious slice of exploitative pie well worth taking a bite of. David F. Friedman only directed five films during his career and is better known in the industry as a producer. The Defilers stars one of Friedman’s frequent collaborators Byron Mabe who would direct several films he produced. Carl Walker Jr. (Byron Mabe) is a spoiled rich kid who spends his days and nights hanging about looking for a way to get “kicks” with his friend Jameison (Jerome Eden). Jameison is well-known as a womanizer but Carl has earned a reputation as a rough and unsavory partner among their lady friends. Carl is looking for the ultimate thrill and upon meeting Jane a young woman new to town has an epiphany. Carl and Jameison will kidnap Jane and keep her in one of his father’s abandon storage rooms. Carl does not want to kidnap Jane for money but power; the power to rape and rough up the unfortunate woman whenever he feels like. The plan inevitably results in dire consequences for all three. The Defilers is a pretty mean little film. A competently made and acted mean little film. Jamieson is pathetic; he agrees with pretty much anything Carl suggests so he can have access to a vehicle. Carl for his part is a psychotic sonofabitch. Mabe and Eden do a top drawer job as hipster assholes who should be beaten mercilessly. This is a great early roughie duo; two classics that are must-have’s for anyone interested in the birthing of the exploitation film.

For more images from Scum of the Earth click here.

For more images from The Defilers click here.

Taken from the Something Weird Video Website:

Here’s a double dose of drive-in depravity with two kinky classicks from producer David F Friedman!

THE DEFILERS are two hedonistic young men who, just for kicks, abduct a sexy blonde (Mai Jansson, “Mouth-Watering 20-Year-Old Scandinavian Screen Find!”) as their own personal sex toy. Directed by R. Lee Frost (Love Camp 7), this shattering story of the shameless “sick set” is the quintessential “roughie”: downright nasty but you can’t look away!

Plus: Trying to earn money for college, wholesome cutie Kim (Vickie Miles) is sucked into the degenerate world of the dirty picture racket when she agrees to model for the SCUM OF THE EARTH. Under the tutelage of a sleazy photographer, Kim is soon posing topless, before being blackmailed into appearing in raunchier shots where she’s mauled by a muscle-bound moron named Ajax. Worse, she’s soon embroiled in events which lead to a police raid, two murders and sucicide… Featuring most of the cast of Blood Feast, SCUM OF THE EARTH, is slick grindhouse exploitation from cult director Herschell Gordon Lewis (Two Thousand Maniacs) and a hilariously outrageous expose’ of sixties-style smut. And remember, “Deep down inside you’re dirty! Do you hear? Dirty!”

Special Features
• Digitally Remastered
• Audio Commentary by Producer David F. Friedman!
• Two Theatrical Trailers for THE DEFILERS
• Trailers for other Twisted Sixties Sexploitation Classicks: All Women Are Bad, The Curse of Her Flesh, The Pick-Up, Sex Killer, Sock It to Me Baby, and Ultimate Degenerate!
• Archival Short Subject #1: Sandy and Ajax together again in Intimate Diary of Artists’ Models!
• Archival Short Subject #2: The Bennett twins in Barry Mahon’s Naked Fury
• Classic Drive-In Intermission Shorts!
• Gallery of Drive-In Exploitation Art
• Audio Sex-Hygiene Book Pitch from the Projection Booth!
• “Let’s Go To the Drive-In!” – An interactive feature allowing uninterrupted playback for three hours worth of exploitation drive-in madness!