Girls for Rent

This film begins in Mexico with a small group of female convicts being transported outside of the prison walls to work on a detail. Having conspired with one another beforehand, they then create a diversion which allows one of the women named "Sandra" (Georgina Spelvin) to escape on foot where another woman named "Erica" (Rosalind Miles) is waiting in a car for her. Erica then takes her to a large house where a mob boss by the name of "Moreno" (Kent Taylor) introduces himself and then explains that he wants her to kill a local politician by the name of "Halloran" (Hugh Warden). Sandra agrees and with the help of Erica they convince another one of Moreno's female employees named "Donna" (Susan McIver) to seduce Halloran and, in the process, slip a pill into his drink which will put him to sleep. Although Donna is initially reluctant, both Sandra and Erica convince her that everything will be okay. However, once Donna does as she is told, she discovers that the pill she put in Halloran's drink was extremely deadly and that she had just been tricked into committing murder. Needless to say, this terrifies her and in a state of sheer panic she decides to escape from Moreno's organization by hastily attempting to drive to Mexico. What she doesn't know, however, is that one of Moreno's henchmen had bugged her phone and as a result both Sandra and Erica have now been sent to silence her--once and for all. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, for a low-budget production, this film wasn't nearly as bad as I initially expected. To that effect, I thought that both Georgina Spelvin and Susan McIver performed quite well, all things considered. Unfortunately, I have to admit that some of the other actors didn't do nearly as well and the film suffered because of it. That being said, while this movie wasn't terribly bad, it wasn't without its flaws and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Girls for Rent (1974)

** (out of 4)

Action flick from drive-in master Adamson about a crime boss (Kent Taylor) who breaks a woman (Georgina Spelvin) out of prison so that she can run his "girls for hire" business. The newly released woman sends a new girl out on a hit where she unknowingly kills a man, which scares her so she takes off running for Mexico. This leaves the boss and another woman (Rosalind Miles) to try and track her down. Considering some of the films Adamson made this one here actually isn't too bad and manages to be fairly well-made. The biggest problem is that it really lacks any good pacing or energy to make its 90-minute running time go by fast enough. There are many times throughout the film where you'll be watching a scene and wonder why you're watching it because it goes no where and in reality it adds nothing to the actual story. I'm going to guess that Adamson needed to expand the running time and this is the reason but no matter what the reason was it ends up hurting the film. The movie is pretty stupid from start to finish but there are enough silly moments to make it worth viewing. One such moment happens during a "high speed" car chase, which includes one of the cars being a Pinto. Another scene has Spelvin raping a retarded man before shooting him in the head. Being exploitation you can expect a fair amount of nudity by lovely young ladies who probably went to Hollywood expecting to become Monroe but instead find themselves being shown nude throughout the drive-ins in America. Spelvin is best known for her lead role in DEVIL IN MISS JONES and she isn't too bad here but then again she's not that good either. I will say she has one of the most non-threatening laughs in the history of bad guys giving disturbing laughs to look creepy. Miles was a pro at various blaxploitation flicks and she's without a question the most interesting thing here. This turned out to be Taylor's final film as he would retire from the business (or just simply got fed up that no one was offering him work except Adamson). GIRLS FROM RENT, on DVD as I SPIT ON YOUR CORPSE, isn't the greatest film ever made but it's certainly not as bad as some of the director's work. This movie wasn't made for the art crowd so only those wanting low-budget thrills should check it out.

Considering that the film has a score of 2.1 and it was made by Al Adamson, you'd expect the film to be a lot worse. Now I am NOT saying it was good--it really does suck. But the film isn't nearly as bad as I'd assume--and I definitely assume the worst when I see an Adamson film!! He definitely ranks in the top 10 of worst film directors of all time--along with such great "auteurs" as Ed Wood, Ted Mikels, Hershell Gordon Lewis, William Grefe, Ray Dennis Steckler and the like. If you don't believe me, try watching Adamson's Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN, HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS, HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS and FIVE BLOODY GRAVES (the only one I listed that I managed to rate as high as 2 and most of his films have overall ratings in the range of 1.5-2.5). He truly was a genius at creating garbage--and bad film fans like me enjoy laughing at the ineptitude of the man and his films. But, as I was saying, this film isn't nearly as bad as this list of dreck...though, naturally, it still is dreck! The film is about a team of two female assassins who use a prostitute to kill a man. THe prostitute has no idea she's being used when she slips a pill into the man's drink for the assassins. When the man then dies, the prostitute takes off for Mexico. But, the assassins' boss is a careful man and he orders the two to follow her and kill her--he wants no witnesses. The rest of the film is a cross-country journey to complete this hit.

At no point in the film is there any real excitement or thrills. The chases are amazingly low-speed, dull and filled with Ford Pinto vehicles (now THAT'S the perfect chase car!). As a result, the best the film can deliver is a mild break from the tedium. This break from the tedium also occurs when the ladies in the film inexplicably take off their clothes--often at the most inopportune and ridiculous moment. The worst example is the sick and degenerate scene involving one of the lady assassins raping a retarded guy and shooting him in the head during this! It's not funny but gross and even Adamson should have been ashamed of himself for this outrage. But, even with this sick touch, the film manages to entertain at times (particularly at the film's climax--no pun intended), though this is quite accidental. I'd score this one a 2 and because of the retarded rape scene, I DON'T recommend you see it--some things are better left unseen.

Not being a tremendous fan of director Al Adamson, I watched this film for the first time and was pleasently surprised. The action is great, the sleaze-factor was high, and the three main women in the film are dynamite. And the ending! Man, what a shocker! Completley non-typical for this kind of drive-in movie. It's very surprising, and made my impression of the film even better.

The movie is cheesy, yes, but at a time when most movies made in Hollywood let you down, I SPIT ON YOUR CORPSE is a breath of fresh air. After all, the worst thing a movie can be is dull. And this movie certainly ain't.

Porn legend Georgina Spelvin, fresh off her success in "The Devil in Miss Jones", got cast in this decent, frequently amusing exploitation-actioner from B movie veteran Al Adamson. Spelvin plays Sandra Tate, career criminal who's sprung from a prison work detail in Mexico to work for crime kingpin Joseph Moreno (Kent Taylor, "Brides of Blood"). Her first order of business is a hit, but Sandra chooses exactly the wrong person to help her carry it out: prostitute Donna Taylor (Susie Ewing, "Smokey and the Bandit"). Sandra is aghast at being party to murder, so she takes it on the lam, with Sandra and Morenos' lackey Erica (Rosalind Miles, "Friday Foster") in hot pursuit.

I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit: it's a sordid and sleazy little flick in which Ewing supplies most of the T & A (although Spelvin does take her top off twice). It's nice to see a movie like this where a lot of the humor WAS intentional; Adamson and his longtime cohort / producer Samuel Sherman were wise not to take this too, too seriously. The acting, too, was better than expected; at the least, it didn't always have me rolling my eyes. It's also a little twisted, as we see at about the 70 minute mark as it's revealed just how nasty Sandra is capable of being.

Granted, the stock music used was variable, in another case of the score working at some points and not at others. But I laughed heartily at how Sandra & Erica were really put through their paces trying to put a couple of bullets into Donna. And there's even a bit of heart, as Donna connects with the helpful Chuck (Preston Pierce, "Whiskey Mountain"). The big chase finish is fairly well done, as well.

Overall, this was fun to watch, although Spelvin herself disliked the experience enough that she went straight back to doing adult films (although she DID do two of the "Police Academy" movies in the 80s).

Seven out of 10.