Wow, what a treat this was to see!
Frank Hennenlotter, director of such classics as BASKET CASE and FRANKENHOOKER, co-directed this one as well and provides some great on-camera insights/stories on the wonderful Mr. Lewis.
Hershell Gordon Lewis, along with his partner, the legendary David F. Friedman, started out making cheapie nudie comedies and nature (read: nudist camp) films in the early days of their respective careers. They were very successful at this. Then, somewhere along the line, they were looking for something new to do.
They eventually settled on a new type of picture, one which would splatter the screen with blood and realistic wound effects, designed to shock, disgust and horrify. Mr. Lewis christened these films as “gore movies”. With good reason, too.
BLOOD FEAST, the first of these gore films, really delivered on the promised shock value and cemented a place in film history for both Mr. Lewis and Mr. Friedman. With its success, several more of these types of films were made until they felt that their market for gore movies was drying up. The partnership ended amicably and each went off to do their own things.
Mr. Lewis went on to do films occasionally – his own and for others as well. He also is credited for creating what he calls “direct mail marketing”; the rest of us call it “junk mail”. So when the postman delivers “junk mail” to your mailbox, Hershell Gordon Lewis may well have had a hand in it. He probably made more lucre from that than from his films. Either way, these things have provided him a good living.
David Friedman is a fascinating man, too. A former Carnival Barker, he really is a walking Encyclopedia of Hollywood and the art of the “B” movie. I could listen to him talk for hours.
HERSHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE really is a tour-de-force. It clocks in at just over 100 minutes, but the deleted stuff adds nearly an hour to your viewing time. It’s absolutely fascinating and I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who can take all the blood. Oh, and also for those of you who can take all those bare rear ends of the boaters and volleyball players.
Although she is not interviewed for the film, “actress” Connie Mason (she of the “vacant stare”) from both BLOOD FEAST and 2000 MANIACS, is seen at the end of the movie on stage with Mr. Lewis while he sings the lyrics to “Robert E. Lee Broke His Musket On His Knee”.
A very BIG thanks has to go out here from “The Splatting Nun” to Frank Hennenlotter to putting this project together. Also, props go to Mike Vraney of “Something Weird Video” for putting this out on DVD through his company. It’s a marriage made in Gore Heaven.
Frank Hennenlotter, director of such classics as BASKET CASE and FRANKENHOOKER, co-directed this one as well and provides some great on-camera insights/stories on the wonderful Mr. Lewis.
Hershell Gordon Lewis, along with his partner, the legendary David F. Friedman, started out making cheapie nudie comedies and nature (read: nudist camp) films in the early days of their respective careers. They were very successful at this. Then, somewhere along the line, they were looking for something new to do.
They eventually settled on a new type of picture, one which would splatter the screen with blood and realistic wound effects, designed to shock, disgust and horrify. Mr. Lewis christened these films as “gore movies”. With good reason, too.
BLOOD FEAST, the first of these gore films, really delivered on the promised shock value and cemented a place in film history for both Mr. Lewis and Mr. Friedman. With its success, several more of these types of films were made until they felt that their market for gore movies was drying up. The partnership ended amicably and each went off to do their own things.
Mr. Lewis went on to do films occasionally – his own and for others as well. He also is credited for creating what he calls “direct mail marketing”; the rest of us call it “junk mail”. So when the postman delivers “junk mail” to your mailbox, Hershell Gordon Lewis may well have had a hand in it. He probably made more lucre from that than from his films. Either way, these things have provided him a good living.
David Friedman is a fascinating man, too. A former Carnival Barker, he really is a walking Encyclopedia of Hollywood and the art of the “B” movie. I could listen to him talk for hours.
HERSHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE really is a tour-de-force. It clocks in at just over 100 minutes, but the deleted stuff adds nearly an hour to your viewing time. It’s absolutely fascinating and I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who can take all the blood. Oh, and also for those of you who can take all those bare rear ends of the boaters and volleyball players.
Although she is not interviewed for the film, “actress” Connie Mason (she of the “vacant stare”) from both BLOOD FEAST and 2000 MANIACS, is seen at the end of the movie on stage with Mr. Lewis while he sings the lyrics to “Robert E. Lee Broke His Musket On His Knee”.
A very BIG thanks has to go out here from “The Splatting Nun” to Frank Hennenlotter to putting this project together. Also, props go to Mike Vraney of “Something Weird Video” for putting this out on DVD through his company. It’s a marriage made in Gore Heaven.
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