The Gore Gore Girls

This is one of H.G. Lewis' better movies. The acting is slightly better (but still pretty bad). The jokes are actually funny and the characters have more depth than most of his other movies. This is my personal favorite among H.G. Lewis' films because of the incredible amount of humor poured into it. Go-Go Girls are being mutilated all over town, one gets her face smashed into a vanity mirror, one gets her butt pulverized with a meat tenderizer (a very effective use of red jello, I might add) , y'know the usual. An overzealous reporter seeks out one of the snarkiest and most sarcastic detectives of all time to help her solve the case of the Go-Go Girl killer. This film gives a whole new meaning to "Live Nude Girls"! After all, they're a lot more fun than all those dead nude girls that permeate this movie. Watch for the cheesy striptease contest where even the reporter gets into the act (after downing quite a few cocktails, that is). Great fun! Keep an eye out (no pun intended) for a special appearance by Henny Youngman.

Color Me Blood Red

This is the third (but not quite final) installment in the H.G. Lewis "Blood Trilogy". Color Me Blood Red has a tamer story than most of his other films, but with a much more interesting idea. A frustrated artist is obsessed with finding the right shade of red. He tries many mediums but none of them quite have the perfect red that he's been seeking as the one element that will make his artwork into a true masterpiece. One day he accidentally cuts himself and notices how beautifully red his blood is. He smears the blood on a canvas and finally finds what he's been looking for. He starts cutting himself repeatedly to obtain more of that beautiful blood red. After a short time, he notices that he can no longer use his own blood, as there isn't enough of it and you can only cut yourself so many times before it becomes an issue. By now his paintings are actually starting to sell, but unfortunately he no longer has a healthy blood supply to satisfy the ever growing demand for his new and wonderful artwork. So he starts luring vapid and unassuming models to his home for some bloodletting ...oops sorry, I meant modeling. His artwork, with it's brilliant use of the color red, are now greatly sought after (which confuses me, because blood turns brown when it dries, doesn't it?) Strangely, the whole movie is framed in an "Annette Funicello beach party type" setting, with beach girls dancing and water sports, which is a odd yet interesting contrast to the goriness of the plot. An interesting note, is that when these movies were finally released on DVD, the producers enhanced the color of all the blood seen in the movie, so it's really really red and has a striking contrast to the rest of the movie color. My television can barely handle the enhanced red blood, but it's a great idea to go with since all H.G. Lewis' movies are filled with lots and lots of blood. Great fun!

She Devils on Wheels

First of all, I was shocked to actually find an H.G. Lewis film that had no gore or even a horror overtone. With this in mind, I really didn't know what to expect. Basically we have an all girl biker gang called the "Maneaters" that act like they have more testosterone than Mike Tyson. The mostly female cast seems to have had some trouble acting butch enough for this film, because it comes out so forced and scripted (which is terribly funny to watch these over-actresses at work, they so aren't feelin' it). Despite their incredibly lesbian qualities and overtones, they race motorcycles to see who gets the privilege of picking a "useful stud" from a lineup of men from who knows where, (that's never really explained). They sometimes make references to "roping in a Philly" but it never really happens. This is quite a change from anything H.G. Lewis had done before. When She Devils was made, it was right when he was making his gore movies. He may have just been trying to make some money and sexy biker chick movies were very popular at the time. Even though there's no gore (except maybe a small decapitation scene near the end) H.G. Lewis fans will still enjoy the atmosphere, the absurdity of it all, and the cheap crap that H.G. Lewis was all about. A funny tidbit about this movie that still makes me laugh... after every intense scene, there's a painting of a colorful she devil biker that spins around and around making one almost sick, but hey, H.G. thought this was cool, and maybe it was for the time, but it's camp value today is priceless.

Two Thousand Maniacs

This is the second installment of H.G. Lewis' "Blood Trilogy". It attempts to outplot and outgore it's predecessor "Blood Feast". A small town is celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the Civil War. To celebrate, the townsfolk trap people by putting detour signs along the main road, to lead hapless victims to their quaint little town of terror. They then kill these people in odd and tortuous ways (all of which are totally hilarious to this town of weirdos). A woman gets crushed by a boulder in a dunking booth type contraption. A man is rolled downhill in a barrel lined with nails. It's all in good fun though, and later there will be a huge feast... on a beautiful blonde. Apparently blondes are a delicacy in the south. Some of the trapped "tourists" manage to figure out what's going on (which is a pretty hard concept to grasp, considering how incredibly nice everyone is) and try to get the hell out of there. Almost all of H.G. Lewis' movies are pretty gory and disturbing, but with a tinge of humor to the whole thing. The humor in "Blood Feast" seemed very accidental. Maybe H.G. recognized this and went with it, because it shows more and more with each movie he made thereafter. Intentional humor is certainly abound in this sick little flick.

Blood Feast

Blood Feast is hailed as the first gore movie ever made. And is the first of the "Blood Trilogy" by H.G. Lewis. This is supposed to be a horror film and if it weren't for all the blood and gore, it would be an outright comedy. The acting is probably the worst ever caught on film. The sets are cheaper than cheap, the dialogue is wooden, calculated and downright stupid. In short, it's very unintentionally hilarious. Fuad Ramses is a creepy little dude that runs an egyptian catering service. Coincidentally, he's also a faithfull follower of an evil egyptian goddess named Ishtar. Apparently, the time has come to serve up a religious "blood feast" in order to bring Ishtar back to life. So he goes around town murdering young women and stealing certain parts of their bodies to cook up and serve to a dimwitted mother who is throwing a party for her daughter. The fact that nobody finds this guy weird really stands out. Any normal person would be terrified of him. He's obviously a younger guy with old man makeup. Why they didn't just get an older actor, I don't know. He stares at people a lot (supposedly hypnotising them) and is sneaking around with a bag full of body parts, totally inconspicuous. Must be seen to be believed.

The Gruesome Twosome

This film by Herscell Gordon Lewis (of the famed Blood Trilogy) is by far one of his weirdest movies. And that's really something when you're talking about the kind of movies he made. You see, H.G. Lewis mostly made disgusting gore movies, the first of their kind actually. Nobody seemed to notice the extremely bad acting, or the bad sound, or the bad sets, or the bad continuity, etc. All we cared about was that it was a new and ironically fun genre. In this particular farce, there is a sweet but odd (she constantly talks to a stuffed cat named Napoleon) old lady that has a wig shop near a college campus. She also has a room for rent that mysteriously stays vacant even when many young ladies come to inquire about the room. Coincidentally, the girls that come to rent the room are never heard from again, but their stylish haidos are being seen worn by the coolest cats on campus. It seems the old lady has a retarded grandson named Rodney that actually does the scalping. Half comedy and half gore. Not horror, gore. There's a difference. Horror makes you scared and gore usually makes you laugh. Anyway it made me laugh, and that's the important thing. This movie has the strangest intro of any movie I've ever seen in my life, and I've seen a heck of lot of movies, man. Has to be seen to believed!