We return to the works of H.G. Lewis once again, this time covering one of his most iconic films. Does it have a strange story? Yes. Does it have a mix of stilted and over-acting? Yes. Does it have boat-loads of gore? Very yes. This is definitely one of the more famous films he did and rightly so. I can guarantee that you have not seen a movie like it before and you will not see one after (well, sort of). Unlike Maniacs, the gore is much more pervasive, almost to a fault. It will definitely not be viewed as a film for everyone. Who cares what they think though? What matter is what I think. Find out the answer to that in my review of...
The story is simple, albeit done in a way to make it complicated. Straight-forward storytelling in a Herschell Gordon Lewis film? What do you want next- a million dollars?!? Anyhow, the story is about a lady reporter and her less-than-supportive boyfriend. She is told to go see an old-style magician performing in the city for a story. Her man goes along with her, but does not act happy about it. His show involves women coming on stage and meeting a horrible fate. A pair of them swallow swords, but they don't exactly come out smoothly. The strange thing is that they return to normal once the trick is over with. He also only appears to do one or two tricks per show, making this the shortest magic show since that guy got bitten by a tiger. Later each night, the same woman/women would be found dead of the same wounds! Do the police suspect anything? No. Do they ever question the Magician who did the same thing mere hours earlier? No. It never crosses their mind.
*
The key to the film is the crazy and bloody deaths. There is no cutting away and no chances to flinch. The 'shows' are, in fact, so bloody that you wonder how the guy manages to keep his license to perform. Plus, every night after the kills, he steals the body during the cover of 'red night.' Why? That's actually never clear. Like most of the film, it is just thrown out there and they say 'enjoy.' You get to see a man cut up a woman on stage with a chainsaw and use a punch-press on her stomach (the one you Juno fans know)- what else do you want? You certainly have to wonder why people flock to his shows, let alone sit there and watch the blood flow. See what happens in real life if someone kicks a dog in the middle of the street- it will be different. This is me putting logic in, so I'll stop. Oh look, more blood.
*
Finally, I must address the really strange and confusing ending. The popularity of our villain grows and grows exponentially. It reaches the point where the reporter's network wants to give him a live performance on television. Finally, a way to really improve the fourth hour of Good Morning, America! This is when things start to get really weird- think about that. His performance goes off as normal, until people watching it start to seem hypnotized and bleed. What? Huh? The woman tries to fend off Montag and seemingly kills him, only for him to re-appear after de-masking. Is this the end or just the beginning? Only time will tell! Oh wait, it actually is the ending. Never mind.
*
This movie is good, but definitely not for everyone. The actual story is a very loose framing device for lots of gore. It does not try to be a whole lot more than that, except for maybe at the end. Sure there is some social commentary (the audience's inaction being an address on violence in our culture), but that's not why the film was made. Lewis wanted to make a film in which a man in a top hat fondled a woman's entrails. You can't really fault a giving for living his dream, can you? If you are a film purist, you will not like this movie. If you enjoy exploitation at its finest, check this movie out.
*
I liked the film, but felt that it needed more nudity and characters that I despised. Oh joy, someone has granted my wish. Stay tuned...
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