I'd like to also say a big "Thank You" to all the marvelous reviewers, bloggers, and podcasters who both inspire and encourage me. Many of you I get to see twice a year at HorrorHound Weekends, and I look forward to the next one!
So let's get started... and what better place to start than with a look at the very beginning of gore? It was a pleasure, and serendipitous timing, to receive a copy of this to review for dvdsnapshot.com! This is a must-see, highly recommended documentary for any fan of genre cinema!
31 Flavors of Horror #1:
HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER
OF GORE
Official Synopsis:
Take an outrageous ride through the
wild world of exploitation films with this often-hilarious
documentary, Herschell Gordon Lewis, The Godfather of Gore!
Featuring interviews with cast, crew,
and critics such as director John Waters, drive-in movie critic Joe
Bob Briggs, and Herschell Gordon Lewis himself, The Godfather of Gore
traces Lewis' start in the innocent bare-naked world of “Nudie
Cuties” before he shocked the world with Blood Feast, the
first-ever gore film! Lewis then continued to assault audiences with
such audacious shockers as She-Devils on Wheels, Blast-Off
Girls, Just for the Hell of It, Two Thousand Maniacs!,
The Gruesome Twosome, The Gore Gore Girls, and the
incredible Wizard of Gore!
Experience a decade of motion-picture
madness – with tons of clips, rare outtakes, and testimony from the
people who were there – as Herschell Gordon Lewis, The Godfather
of Gore leaves you laughing and screaming at some of the most
amazing movies to ever play American movie theaters!
Our Take:
Blood Feast is a terribly made
movie. It's nonsensical, the actors aren't great, the effects are
awful, and it's technically inept. However, it was the first gore
film, and the stories behind it and it's makers are pretty
fascinating. It's the anchor around which Hershell Gordon Lewis,
The Godfather of Gore is built. Something Weird video's love
letter of a documentary to H.G. Lewis, perhaps the king of B-movie
cynicism and creativity – not to mention the father of direct
response marketing. He created the gore film, and was one of the
kings of biker films and “Nudie Cuties.” These nudist films seem
especially like curios, as they mostly consist of nude people walking
away from the camera. As a bad photographer who always misses the
moment, I can relate.
