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A Brilliant Conflict

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This 60's horror comedy is very much in the mould of the pioneering gore flicks made by Herschell Gordon Lewis. It shares the specific combination of schlocky, excessive bloodletting with wacky humour. It's this strange and often totally inappropriate combination that gives this flick some enduring cult film appeal. It opens pretty strikingly with three psychopaths in motorcycle clobber conducting a home invasion where they violently kill a young woman and then proceed to take her severed leg away with them. This opening scene gives you a pretty good indication of the tone of the film as a whole though, as while the basic idea is pretty mean spirited it is offset by the picture of the girl's boyfriend changing continually as he registers his shock at events being carried out in front of him in a series of increasingly zany expressions. In other words, like the films of Lewis, the excessive violence can't really be taken very seriously when the tone is so wilfully ridiculous.The three biker maniacs do make for quite interesting villains though. And the decidedly sick subject matter of serial murder and cannibalism is pleasingly tasteless. There are limb decapitations, an impaling, a victim being dipped into a vat of acid, body parts being fed into a meat grinder, a chain whipping, a meat cleaver to the head and a woman having her innards…fondled; the latter scene is the grimmest moment on offer as it splices in actual open heart surgery! Throughout all this mayhem there is a fairly high quotient of pure nonsense. You just know that a slapstick scene or silly jape can never be very far away, often involving skateboards, pies to the face and comedy sound effects. The combined result is a film of considerable camp value. It also has the good manners to only clock in at just over an hour, so it hardly outstays its welcome. For anyone interested in the early genesis of the gore film, I would say that this crazy flick is a must.

Clearly owing a debt to the kind of movies that Herschell Gordon Lewis was making during this time, the low, low budget "The Undertaker and His Pals" is an absolute hoot. The story concerns the title characters, an undertaker named Mort (Ray Dannis) and his restaurateur pals Spike and Doc. Together all three go out on their motorcycles, their faces obscured by their helmets, and murder people. This is done both to drum up business for Mort and provide human body parts to Spike and Doc to be served up at their place, The Greasy Spoon.This is a delightfully loopy exploitation flick with its fair share of tacky, bargain basement gore, but alas, no nudity. Still, it's good to see that the crew, led by writer / director T. L. P. Swicegood (you gotta love that name), and the cast are never at any point really taking themselves seriously. There's a dark and wacky sense of humour present from beginning to end. For one thing, hunky and sleazy private eye Harry Glass (James Westmoreland, "Don't Answer the Phone!") just can't seem to hold on to a secretary. Appreciably, this runs a scant 63 minutes (another similarity to HGL product because *his* movies usually didn't run that long); the pacing is good and there are a respectable amount of laughs to be had.The performances are just like the movie. They may not be that "good", but they sure are entertaining. Sexy blonde Warrene Ott is both a pleasing scenery attraction and a personable leading lady. But the show belongs to the amusing Dannis and the guys playing Spike and Doc. They do look to be having fun playing sadistic and insane.The final minute or so delivers an engaging curtain call for certain characters - as well as a number of winks for the audience.Eight out of 10.

Campy. Macabre humor and very low-budget. An enterprising undertaker(Ray Dannis) teams with the owners of a greasy spoon diner to carry out a plan to improve his business and expand the menu at the eatery. One of the deceased was named Susie Lamb...so the next day the special of the day was leg of lamb. The violence is actually pretty watered down due to the lack of budget. The humor is mostly sick. The acting is non-existent; but there is some fetching and well shaped female flesh. Typical drive-in fun of the mid 60's. Players include: Robert Lowery, Warrene Ott, Sally Frei, Rick Cooper, Tiffany Sharon O'Hara and James Westmoreland.

Built around puns and sight gags this film is a sort of treasure. Sick humor, the players do a good job. None of them are accomplished actors or actresses but that actually seems to lend itself well to the characters themselves. Some times a little inexperience comes across in a positive way when the goal is silliness anyway. No tongue in cheek here, unless you just bought a tongue sandwich at the corner dinner and are still chewing, its all straight forward slap stick. For quality of production and etc. I would compare it to "Little Shop of Horrors". Its just plain funny. Not a great flick, but not a bad one either. All of it works well enough, and certain of the scenes show an actual flair for photography and staging. Which helps make it as cool as it is.