Just for the Hell of It

"Just for the Hell of It" isn't exactly the cinematic masterpiece Herschell Gordon Lewis will be remembered for. Lewis made himself immortal among horror/cult cinema fanatics as "The Godfather of Gore"; a nickname he earned because he was the first one to direct horror movies where blood, guts and gore literally burst from the screen. Movies like "Blood Feast", "Two-Thousand Maniacs", "The Gore Gore Girls" and "The Gruesome Twosome" truly represent HG Lewis' repertoire and lifework, whereas "Just for the Hell of it" is merely just a rapidly produced and nonchalantly elaborated story to cash in on the contemporary popular trend of juvenile delinquency thrillers. There's no actual story and particularly the first full hour of the film feels like a compilation episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos: The Bad Kids Edition". It's basically just a series of amateurishly edited together clips showing a gang of youthful thugs pulling pranks and committing petty crimes in their area. At first their pranks are quite pitiable and laughable (wetting people with a garden hose, smearing pies in a salesgirl's face…) but they gradually turn into harsh crimes and near the end of the film they even turned to gang-rape and murder. The gang members refer to themselves as "Destruction Inc" which is quite the apt name since they surely like to break all kinds of stuff, varying from people's mailboxes, living rooms, snack bars, boats and even baby-carriages. The "plot" only just starts to unfold itself after an hour into the film, when a courageous boy stands up against the vicious gang but then gets falsely accused, threatened and targeted for vengeance. Moral of the story: look the other way when violence is being committed near you! "Just for the Hell of it" is an okay film if you're into cheap and extremely low-budgeted 60's exploitation, but it definitely contains too many overlong sequences of padding and repetitiveness. It's just plain boring to watch a bunch of people demolish all the furniture in one and the same room for five whole minutes. The acting performances are below par, as to be expected from this type of poverty row film production, but it's nevertheless quite funny how these "juvenile" delinquents are depicted by actors and actresses who're all at least in their late twenties. The gangs' last crime on the beach and particularly the denouement form the undeniable highlights of "Just for the Hell of it" because these sequences are shocking and vile, and the use of make-up effects in these scenes finally state clear that you're watching a H.G Lewis' flick! The theme song is also very exhilarating and catchy, so I'll give an extra point for that as well.

For entertainment, Charlie Manson LOVED the goriest of magazines and movies or at least something hatefully abusive to women and/or children. He must of thought Herschell's 'hack-em up' films were an great option at the drive-in in the 60's, when they were released. It's coincidental that between Herschell Gordon Lewis filming on Charlie Manson's Spaun ranch in the late 60's and 'Charlie and the gang' getting revenge on the the recording industry (one school of thought), Just For the Hell of It was released. The actual events in the hills of Los Angeles and fictional events in this movie appear way too similar to be a coincidence (instead of 'pig' written on the wall in red, it was 'FUZZ'). Another troubling connection is that besides acting like Manson the cripple kicking, baby throwing White (Denny Fortune) got his albums title song internationally released with THE most controversial 1969 Charlie Manson tune (sung by the Beach boys???) on EMI's Ah Feel Like Ahcid.

All this should scare the public more than the connections of Just For the Hell of It, Burgess, Kubrick and the making of Clockwork Orange should interest them.

H.G. Lewis was on quite a roll in the late 60's... In fact, he directed 11 films (!) in '67 and '68. I realize that Lewis has his share of detractors. Many consider him a no talent hack who relentlessly regurgitated disposable entertainment at a disturbingly prodigious rate during the mid-to-late 60's. They often bemoan the nailed-down camera work, wooden acting, and ridiculous situations depicted on screen. Interestingly, these are the exact elements that make Mr. Lewis's films so endearing to me...

When I watch movies, I do so for two main reasons. Either I want to be entertained and amused; or I want be pulled out of my comfort zone, and placed in a mental area in which I am forced to think about and ponder various facets of life. This film entertains in a big way. In fact, most H.G. Lewis films never fail to entertain me and bring a big smile to my face...

Mr. Lewis is best know as being the Godfather of Gore. Not many film-goers realize that Mr. Lewis was an incredibly versatile movie making machine; dipping into children's films, morality tales, hillbilly musical comedies, juvenile delinquent tales, nudies, roughies, and other assorted ephemera...

'Just For The Hell Of It' is H.G. Lewis's juvenile delinquent masterpiece. These are some bad kids...

The film starts out with a bang, and within 45 seconds a reckless groups of youths can be found laying waste to and completely trashing a house. These bad boys (and girl) are led by Ray Sager(as Dexter). The entire film is dedicated to the exploits of Dexter and company, as they terrorize a town and it's inhabitants. The pranks and mischief start out relatively harmlessly (setting newspapers on fire, dousing citizens with water, destroying laundry, trashing a restaurant), become more bizarre and off-color (putting a baby in a trash can, beating a blind man with his own cane), and of course become very malicious (gang rape and murder)...

I really enjoyed this film quite a bit. With subsequent viewings, it has never ceased to put a smile on my face. I also liked that Mr. Lewis didn't try to justify or explain the actions of the rowdy youth- they did it all 'Just For The Hell Of It'.... they did it for the kicks... In fact, You should watch this highly entertaining piece of nostalgia for the same reason...

A young teenage boy is blamed for a Florida neighborhood being terrorized. But the real culprits are a gang of four punks leading a group of local delinquents on a nihilistic lifestyle of destruction and mayhem.

What strikes me about the film is the parallel with "Clockwork Orange". This is obviously not intentional, but the gang accosting an old (apparently blind) man seems very much like the droogs attacking homeless men. Lewis approaches it in a far more gruesome manner, however, with some of the violence very much Ripper-esque. Alex (in "Clockwork") is somehow sympathetic, despite being a murderous rapist. But Dexter (played by Ray Sager) is just a pure sociopath.

Worthy of note is the appearance of musician Larry Williams. Williams is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to 1959 for Specialty Records, including "Bony Moronie", "Short Fat Fannie", "High School Dance" (1957), "Slow Down", "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (1958), "Bad Boy" and "She Said Yeah" (1959). John Lennon was a fan, and the Beatles and several other British Invasion groups covered several of his songs.

This film has about the naughtiest juvenile delinquents ever shown in a motion picture. They do horrific things to their poor neighborhood. They destroy property and their school, dumb paint on people, torment a blind man, attack elementary kids playing soccer, put a baby in a trash barrel and roll it away, and axe and splatter paint all over newspapers about these things. What's their excuse? "We did this just for the hell of it." This is incredibly violent, and it sure served as a lesson to me when I saw it, I totally stopped carving my name on benches, writing messages on mirrors with marker, and drag racing.