Scum of the Earth - 7 Herschell Gordon Lewis Films

3. The Gore Gore Girls (1972)

18.02.2013goregore By this time in his career, H G was competing with the burgeoning hard core porn market in the Grindhouses, so he really had to pull out all of the stops to get his films an audience. This time - it was extreme, sadistic, over the top gore - gore of such a magnitude, it has rarely been matched in the annals of cinema. There is a serial killer on the loose knocking off dancers who work at a strip joint. They are being killed in the most egregious ways - faces smashed into mirrors, faces deep fat fried in pans of oil, throats cut, faces mangled to bits, nipples chopped off which spurt chocolate milk. A suave detective is hot on the case alongside a drunken female reporter and he chases down the murderer. The murderer cops it in grand fashion - a fall out of a window then a car runs over their head, smashing their skull to bits. H G Lewis knows this is all a piece of crap. At the end of the movie some text appears - "We announce with pride this movie is over!". And you will be thanking the stars that the film is over too. The murder scenes are obviously using dummies but they have a nasty feel to them as the camera just lingers on the mayhem for longer than is necessary - the scenes are very protracted. The film has a grimy, seedy air to it. The women couldn't striptease their way out of a plastic bag, they are the least erotic strippers I have ever seen. But there is some fun in the form of a women's rights invasion into the strip club. That bit is hilarious, the rest of the film is.... dubious entertainment.
Contributor
Contributor

My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!