G.A.S.S. Oder - Es war notwendig, die Welt zu vernichten, um sie zu retten

Roger Corman is undeniably one of the most versatile and unpredictable directors/producers in history. He was single-handedly responsible for some of my favorite horror films ever (like the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations "Masque of the Red Death" and "Pit and the Pendulum") as well as some insufferably cheap and tacky rubbish quickies (like "Creature from the Haunted Sea" and "She Gods of the Shark Reef"). Corman also made a couple of movies that are simply unclassifiable and – simply put – nearly impossible to judge properly. "The Trip", for example, as well as this imaginatively titled "Gas-s-s-s" can somewhat be labeled as psychedelic exploitation. In other words, they're incredibly strange hippie-culture influenced movies. Half of the time you haven't got the slightest idea what's going on, who these characters are that walk back and forth through the screen and where the hell this whole thing is going. The plot is simply and yet highly effective: a strange but deadly nerve gas is accidentally unleashed and promptly annihilates that the entire world population over the age of 25. This *could* be the basic premise of an atmospheric, gritty and nail-bitingly suspenseful post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi landmark, but writer George Armitage and Roger Corman decided to turn it into a "trippy" road-movie comedy. None of the characters is even trying to prevent their inevitable upcoming deaths; they just party out in the streets and found little juvenile crime syndicates. "Gas-s-s-s" is a disappointingly boring and tries overly hard to be bizarre. The entire script appears to be improvised at the spot and not at all funny. Definitely not my cup of tea, but the film does have a loyal fan base and many admirers, so who am I to say that it's not worth your time or money?

This is the kind of movies that make me feel good. The kind of movies that makes you say: Man! Me and my friends could have made this one!

Anyway.. it's the greatest hippie-road-trip-movie I have ever laid my eyes on

peace

Impossible to say how Roger Corman's attempt at a loose kaleidoscopic comedy-satire in the Richard Lester vein would have turned out had not American International Pictures re-edited it against his wishes. He left the studio after 15 years with them after this.

The script is decidedly weak, a common Corman failing, full of potentially intriguing, half-formed ideas that are never realised. Meanwhile the cast of unknowns never get any real chance to build up their characters into anything sympathetic or likable. It's as if the director isn't really interested in them.

It's an adequately stylish, and zippy enough production. But like much of Corman's later stuff for AIP, it also has an air of opportunism about it, riding the post-Easy Rider youth-counterculture boom while having only an outsider's empathy with it (Corman was 44 when he made this).

Still, if nothing else he does get a chance to say an ironic farewell to Edgar Allan Poe (the author of Corman's earlier celebrated cult film series), who here appears in period dress riding a Harley Davidson with a stuffed raven on his shoulder!

The late 60s/early 70s saw a handful of genuinely odd pseudo counter-culture movies released by American studios, including cult classics like 'The Trip', 'Greetings', 'Psych-Out', 'Cult Of The Damned', 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls', and 'Zachariah'. Whether they were "genuine" of just plain exploitation is open to debate, and also a moot point all these years later. Fake or not they are a lot of fun now for 60s buffs. You can add Roger Corman's 'Gas-s-s-s' to that list. The movies premise is that a gas has been accidently released that kills everyone over the age of twenty-five. A hippie on the run from the police (Robert Corff) teams up with a scientist (Elaine Giftos), and the two go on a road trip to New Mexico, trying to find a rumoured hippie Utopia. Along the way they hook up with two couples - revolutionary Ben Vereen ('Roots') and his pregnant rock'n'roll fanatic girlfriend Cindy Williams ('Laverne And Shirley'), and their weirdo pals Bud Cort ('Harold And Maude') and Talia Shire ('Rocky'). The six companions come across many strange situations on their journey, including a militant dune buggy riding football team, Country Joe and The Fish on a golf course, and Edgar Allen Poe, Lenore and The Raven riding a motorbike. Yup, it's one of those kind of movies! Silly, self indulgent, with a lot of half baked (pun intended) jokes that aren't entirely successful. Even so quite a trip if you are in the right frame of mind. Nowhere near as good as Corman's 'Bloody Mama' (released in the same year), but it's probably his most overlooked movie, from a long, varied and consistently underrated career. One day he will receive the recognition he deserves, both as a producer/director, and for getting many important actors and film makers their first breaks.

This is the film that Roger Corman says was his final straw with AIP. After mildly editing WILD ANGELS and THE TRIP, their virtual elimination of "God" and the obliteration of the original ending led him to form New World Pictures.

Seeing this film at the American Cinemateque in a striking new print shows both its virtues as a one-of-a-kind (well, at least for anybody BUT Corman!) oddity as well as a failed attempt at counter-culture comedy. It's hard to see how even the original Director's Cut (if it exists at all) would really be that much of an improvement. What is on the screen is still probably about 90% of what Corman shot, and it's a scattershot affair. The Cinematography and Music stand out, as well as bits of the acting, particularly by Elaine Giftos.

Roger Corman spoke after the Cinemateque screening.

Corman said that he hadn't seen the movie since its release in 1970. It was edited before its theatrical release by AIP. Most significantly was the almost complete elimination of the voice of "God". Corman speculated that since AIP had gone public (stock market) around that time, that they were concerned that the "Jewish comic"-type voice would be considered sacriligious! Then, AIP cut the most elaborate shot in the entire film. The original ending! Elaine Giftos and Robert Corff were to "walk off into the sunset in the most cliched ending possible." This was shot in a big panaroma shot "with marching bands and the whole cast included." Corman said that it STILL bothers him that as released, the film "has no ending."