FLESH FEAST(1970)
Dir - Brad F. Grinter
Overall: WOOF
Shot
in 1967 though released three years later, Golden Hollywood era femme
fatale Veronica Lake made her final film appearance in the utterly
ridiculous Flesh Feast, the debut from Z-grade schlock peddler
Brad F. Grinter. From the looks of it, the movie was produced for about
eighty-five cents and is almost exclusively made up of "actors" you
have never heard of who stand in rooms talking while Grinter advises his
cinematographer to frame everything in the most boring, unimaginative
wide-shot possible. It cannot be understated how hilariously terrible
the entire thing looks as even Ed Wood probably could have done
something flashier with the material. As far as said material goes, it
is a hoot with Lake's Dr. Elaine conducting experiments with flesh
eating maggots, all in an attempt to make a clone face for a still alive
Adolph Hitler. While the presentation is obviously far, far duller than
the wacky premise deserves, the final few minutes deliver
some absurd chuckles at least. Everywhere else though, it is a slapdash
effort of awkward, laugh-out-loud dialog, (all badly ADRed of course),
no special effects whatsoever besides the title of the movie appearing
on screen, characters half-assed falling in love and thinking elderly
men in suites look "sharp", and library-cued music showing up whenever
it wants.
FALSE FACE(1977)
Dir - John Grissmer
Overall: MEH
The first of two directorial efforts from John Grissmer,
False Face, (
Scalpel),
does not convincingly wield its distasteful, goofy premise. In any
movie where characters are played off as different characters, (usually,
as in this case, due to some sort of dubious financial scheme), they
are fighting an uphill battle to survive plausibility
scrutiny. In this respect, there are a handful of glaring oversights,
one of which is when Robert Lansing's deplorable scumbag surgeon thought
it was a great idea to host a well-attended welcome home party for his
imposter "daughter" who has no idea how to play the piano when his
actual daughter was a prodigy at the instrument. There are several more
awkard moments like this that are difficult to believe were so poorly
thought-out by the people on screen and not enough of them are played
for tongue-in-cheek laughs. Once
Judith Chapman gets the chance to portray both characters together, the
script quickly stumbles though its topsy-turvy identity twists and gets
even more unwholesome where Lansing's behavior is concerned, though at
least he gets his due comeuppance in the end. The movie almost works as
an exploitative thriller and Chapman is solid in her dual role,
but it is ultimately presented in too straight of a manner when the
hare-brained material better deserves a trashy interpretation.
(1978)
Dir - Robert Day
Overall: MEH
The relatively notable ABC Movie of the Week
The Initiation of Sarah was one of many television films from English director Robert Day and is essentially a watered down, college dorm version of
Carrie.
Featuring Morgan Fairchild who is ideally cast as a stereotypically
superficial sorority president, (as well as brief roles for Robert Hayes
of
Airplane! fame and
Kiss Meet the Phantom of the Park's
Deborah Ryan), the story is one of the earliest such credits from future filmmaker Tom Holland. Gene Roddenberry collaborator Don Ingalls is also on board, being one of the three
credited screenwriters who rework Stephen King's source material, ultimately in a hokey light. While Kay Lenz in the lead and most of the cast
turn in respectable performances, Shelley Winters cranks up the camp in
the final act, though to her credit, such bravado mannerisms are fitting
as the entire thing ends on an unintentionally silly note.
The network TV presentation is tame of course as far as
memorable, supernaturally-inspired, telekinetic hi-jinks are concerned,
yet it still allowed for scantily clad coeds, Fairchild being shown
in a soaking wet top, and a fogged-up shower scene for some tantalization. Elsewhere though,
it simply fits the bill as a cornball knock-off.
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