Review by Roger Carpenter
After changing the landscape of American drive-in movies forever with 1963’s Blood Feast, Herschell Gordon Lewis quickly followed that film up with 2,000 Maniacs! and Color Me Blood Red. But Lewis was never one to sit around and relax after another drive-in triumph was in the can. In between these primitive gore classics he also directed other films including nudie cuties, roughies, documentaries, and even a family film entitled Jimmy, the Boy Wonder. But 1967 saw Lewis return to the horror genre with not one, but three, horror features. Two of these films are included in this package.
First up is the film that is highlighted on the packaging for this Blu-ray: The Gruesome Twosome. While H.G.’s first three horror opuses may have generated some (unintentional) laughs, his goal with The Gruesome Twosome was to inject some true black humor into the mix. This begins with the title of the flick. Just the name of the film alone is an indicator that Lewis isn’t taking himself too seriously.
Mrs. Pringle (Elizabeth Davis) is an elderly woman living with her mentally-disabled son, Rodney (Chris Martell). Together they run a wig shop that advertises “100% human hair!” You see where this is going….
Mrs. Pringle also has rooms for rent and, since there are plenty of luscious co-eds at the nearby campus just itching to live the swinging life, she has plenty of interest in the room, never mind that it seemingly never gets rented. As each young woman is shown the room they find themselves actually locked into a cluttered basement where the lurking Rodney uses various garden and kitchen implements to kill the victims before scalping them.
Kathy Baker (Gretchen Wells) is a nosy do-gooder who loves a good mystery. After one of her roommates disappears Kathy becomes worried that the pretty girl has become another victim of the mysterious killer who seems to haunt the town. Against her boyfriend’s will, she traces her friend’s last known whereabouts to Mrs. Pringle’s wig shop, which is a little too close for comfort for Mrs. Pringle. Kathy is shown the mysterious boarding room and is attacked by Rodney. Is it too late for Kathy or will her boyfriend show up to save the day? Will the inept police finally be able to track down the killer before Kathy’s demise or will her beautiful golden tresses be forever immortalized in Mrs. Pringle’s wig shop window? I bet you know the answer even if you’ve never seen the film….
H.G. Lewis’ films are not known to be particularly high quality. But they were perfect for a double- or triple-bill at the drive-in theaters which populated the south in the 60’s and 70’s. Even today, viewers are evenly split between excoriating the films for their low production values and poor acting or ignoring these low-budget problems in favor of enjoying the unadulterated kitschy value of an H.G. Lewis film. So I’m sure there are those viewers out there who think The Gruesome Twosome is Lewis’ best film and will gladly enumerate the reasons why they believe this is so. I’m not one of them. In fact, I think this, along with its companion feature, A Taste of Blood, are the two weakest horror films in Lewis’ oeuvre. That doesn’t mean they aren’t still fun. I’ve just always been more of a Blood Feast/Wizard of Gore/Gore-Gore Girls kind of guy.
The Gruesome Twosome isn’t quite as gory as Blood Feast or Color Me Blood Red but certainly does sport plenty of the red stuff along with at least a couple of scenes which I would imagine would have been scandalous in 1967. There is a terribly fake scalping scene early on, but again, one would imagine this scene might have been stomach-churning for 1960’s drive-in audiences. I’m not sure when the first semi-realistic scalping scene was filmed, but I would guess this shot would certainly be a contender for that award and, as such, would have been mind-blowing at the time. But the effects can only be viewed nowadays as ultra-primitive though the atmosphere of the scene does increase the impact. There is also the ubiquitous H.G. Lewis gut-fondling scene which, again, would probably have been vomit-inducing in 1967 but seems dated now. The rest of the bloody scenes are even more fake with knives being drawn across abdomens and electric knives being sawn across necks in the most unrealistic of ways.
The acting and plotting are also suspect. While Elizabeth Davis as Mrs. Pringle is pretty groovy, most of the rest of the cast isn’t. Some of that is due to the script. Davis, as Pringle, is clearly having a fabulous time. She overacts and announces her lines as if she is performing on Broadway. But far from becoming distracting, this actually plays in her favor and is really fun to watch. She has a stuffed wildcat to whom she addresses in every conversation even if the pair aren’t in the same room. She comes across as a nice, if eccentric, old woman. Unfortunately, her son Rodney, played by Chris Martell, is relegated to the stereotypical “drooling retard” role so prevalent in these types of films. It’s really just a basic, caricatured performance which pushes the plot forward but doesn’t add any real spice to the storyline.
Gretchen Wells as Kathy Baker is a little bit of a know-it-all and worry-wart. She’s nosy, whiny, and easily angered though also quick to forgive. She’s attractive enough for a female lead, but Wells was no actor and her character as scripted did her no favors. Rodney Bedell plays Kathy’s boyfriend Dave Hall, and he is at least as irritating as his on-screen girlfriend, alternately berating her and apologizing to her, depending on the amount of sexual frustration he is feeling in a given moment.
Overall, I think The Gruesome Twosome is one of Lewis’ weakest horror-themed entries, but that’s not to say the film isn’t fun. It’s still an H.G. Lewis film and Lewis always tried to create a film calculated for the maximum amount of fun.
Similar to Arrow Video’s earlier pairing of Blood Feast with Scum of the Earth, The Gruesome Twosome is paired with A Taste of Blood, Lewis’ attempt at the Dracula legend. A Taste of Blood is really a true anomaly in the H.G. Lewis pantheon of films. This was Lewis’ attempt at a “real movie.” The production value is higher than in any of his other films, and this is immediately discernable. The plot development and scripting is much better, too, as is the acting. This can be attributed to a budget that was roughly twice what Lewis normally worked with. All this being said, the film is essentially overblown, 30 minutes too long, and ultimately boring.
A Taste of Blood tells the story of well-to-do John Stone (Bill Rogers) and his lovely wife Helene (Elizabeth Lee). It seems John comes from a long line of European aristocrats. His last surviving heir has recently passed away and he is called to London for the disbursement of the estate. John returns with a mysterious case filled with two, even more mysterious, bottles of brandy. The case comes with instructions to drink a toast to his ancestors upon taking possession of the brandy. John does drink the toast but, unbeknownst to him, the brandy is cursed and will turn him into a vampire—the undead descendant of Dracula himself! John feels a craving for the blood-red brandy, and with every drink he takes he comes closer to the point of no return. He starts working from home, sleeping during the day, and becomes cold—to the touch as well as to his concerned and confused wife.
Eventually Dr. Howard Helsing (Otto Schlesinger) introduces himself into the plot. While Stone is the last living descendant of Dracula, Helsing is the last living descendant of the men who killed Dracula. Stone has been killing off his enemies until Helsing is the only human with the proper knowledge that stands between Stone’s death and his ability to rule the world. Together with a police detective and Stone’s closest friend—and romantic rival for his wife—they must track Stone down and put an end to the vampire circus.
It’s unfortunate that this film—clearly, the best work of Lewis’ career in terms of scripting, production value, and acting—suffers from too much story and not enough action. Lewis’ films typically ran 70 or 80 minutes. A Taste of Blood runs just three minutes shy of two full hours. Though Lewis criticizes other directors for their vanity projects in the commentary, this is clearly his vanity project—and he admits it even if he doesn’t recognize it himself. He knew he was getting a better budget and better actors across the board than he typically received. He also lucked into some great locations which allowed for further production value at a bargain price. He is clearly proud of this picture but it’s a case of not recognizing the same attributes for which you are criticizing others.
Nevertheless, the film still has much going for it. It is very clearly a better film in many ways when compared side-to-side with most other Lewis pictures. The three stars of the film, Will Rogers, Elizabeth Lee, and Bill Kerwin (as Stone’s romantic rival and best friend) are all very solid and natural. And I could watch Elizabeth Lee’s low-cut, form-fitting dresses for two solid hours and never get bored anyhow. While it’s not Lewis’ most fun film by a long shot, it’s interesting to see what he does with a film when time and money allows.
Even if you aren’t a fan of Lewis’ films, the audio commentaries provided for each are raucous and entertaining on their own. Recorded 20-something years ago by Mike Vraney for their original DVD releases, each commentary is simply a gem and worth the price of admission alone. I’ve never heard a Lewis commentary—or a Freidman commentary, for that matter—that was anything less than totally entertaining. You can tell both come from a carny/huckster/marketing background as they both talk non-stop about the films. They are both born storytellers, even if the stories aren’t always entirely accurate. (Side note: in case you don’t know, David Friedman and Lewis were partners for many years and turned out many exploitation classics. While remaining personal friends, they went their separate ways in business and both continued to be successful with their movies until their eventual deaths. Just Google or IMDb “David Friedman” if you don’t know about him.)
In late 2016 Arrow Video USA released a massive, gorgeous box set of 14 of Lewis’ best-known films, not all of them horror movies. Limited to just 2,500 pieces, the Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast is a simply astounding, 17-disc box set with a ton of wonderful extras and ephemera. But the price may be too steep for many Lewis enthusiasts so Arrow has been slowly releasing these films in Blu-ray double-features at more affordable prices. Blood Feast and Scum of the Earth was the first release in October 2017 while this double-feature disc was just released in February. Many of the special features from the box set have been carried over. These include high def transfers of both films along with optional subtitles. Both films have introductions by H.G. Lewis himself (who passed away at the age of 90 mere weeks before the Feast box set was released). There are interviews with horror filmmakers inspired by Lewis, including Peaches Christ and Fred Olen Ray, and there is also a feature with Lewis talking about censorship and his films. There is also a section of trailers and radio spots.
So, for those fans of cheesy exploitation flicks from the 1960’s and who can’t afford to shell out a couple hundred bucks for the fancy sets, this is a particularly exceptional alternative choice. One can only hope that Arrow will continue to release these double features over the next year or two until they all see the light of day. You can purchase the film directly from Arrow Video at http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/category/usa/ or from Amazon.
