The Dark Side to Love

As an avid fan of exploitation films I picked up Steven Thrower's "Nightmare USA" as soon as it came out. For those of you not in the know, "Nightmare USA" is THE book for American exploitation horror films made between 1970 and 1985 and is full of reviews and interviews highlighting many forgotten classics. As with any good film guide, "Nightmare USA" came complete with a checklist of all the films that the parameters of the book covers. And as a movie geek, I am going to try and watch ALL those films one day. I know I'm never going to do it, but it's been fun hunting down all these rare films. As I watch more and more of these films, the quality has begun to decline as I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel more and more. Still, occasionally a film does surprise you, like this number from 1983, "Death Wish Club". Now, this film is best known for being used a few years later in "Night Train to Terror", which I have yet to see, but I think it should be known in its own right. This film is a totally bizarre assault on sanity, so I don't want to spoil anything by trying and explain the plot, but let's just say that it you dig weird and offbeat films that often make very little sense, you'll dig this. In addition to its weirdness this film also contains some tasty nudity and some very cool scenes that involve a club for really sick people. Overall a solid and enjoyable offering, fans of oddball cinema will want to check it out. Now keep in mind its horror elements are very subdued, but the other elements work well, so it's actually not a big loss as long as you go into it knowing what to expect.

I first saw parts of this movie on the Night Train to Terror collection and this seemed to be the only one worth watching by itself. After I found the bootleg, Death Wish Club is truly bizarre but watchable.

A rich no goodnik named George Youngmeyer (J Martin Sellets) goes to a carnival and hits on a popcorn vendor named Gretta (Meredith Haze. George proceeds to put her in pornos. During a college re-union frat party, pre-med joe schmoe (Rick Barnes) named Glenn takes a liking to her and goes to meet with her. After he gets in her pants, soon George catches them and makes them join a secret society whose purpose is to put their lives on the line for the entertainment of the group.

The idea of a guy hitting on a carny is kind of weird but that was probably the most normal thing to happen the rest of the movie. Lola the drag queen gets beat up, Contessa gets a wrecking ball sinus infection and my favorite, a Jimi Hendrix lookalike fries (exscuse me while I smoke) I wish this movie actually came out for it wasn't that bad compared to other crap that came out during the time period.

6 out of 10

I first saw some footage of this movie through the Philip Yordan film Night Train to Terror. Night Train to Terror is an anthology of three short stories that are actually full length films, just trimmed down to fit in a short stories film. Death Wish Club is the second story in the movie and it caught my interest with the excessive amount of nudity and gore. So, I tracked an old VHS copy of the movie down and to my disappointment, much off what was shown in Night Train to Terror was cut out of the version I have, but, I was still left with a very bizarre movie.

The movie is about a woman named Gretta, a bizarre type of gal who is a porno actress and a nightclub musician. When she gets wrapped up with a nice college kid she introduces him to an underground club. A club of people that like to play many forms of Russian Roulette.

That is the basic story to the movie but there is so much more going on in this movie that the main storyline becomes secondary. Gretta has split personalities, one of which she thinks she is a fish... The whole death club is bizarre and is never fully explained as to why they are so suicidal. Matter of fact, this movie has more plot holes in it then I can count!

If you are into really weird type of character films this is one to check out. Kind of reminds me of a really drugged up version of a David Lynch film. 6/10

I saw this under the title GRETTA as a DVD extra on the NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR disc. The feature-length GRETTA has a very different tone to it than the segment in NIGHT TRAIN. Meredeth Haze (in her only film credit) gives an incredible performance as Gretta. She's mesmerizing. It's easy to see why Glenn, played by Rick Barnes, is so taken by her. Barnes is a good actor, but 15 years too old for a part where he is referred to as a college boy. Worth seeing.

This film is acted and directed with just the right amount of tongue in cheek satire. I love watching it, especially the character of Mary Contrary. Paul Keefer, the actor playing this role stands out and really makes the film. A lot of films are just badly made and that is what makes them cult classics. However, this film is intentionally made to look and feel campy. John Carr does a terrific job of directing. However, the real star of the film, is (I hate to repeat myself) Paul Keefer as Mary Contrary. Every time he is in a scene, I just can't stop laughing. The one character that stands out however, like a sore thumb is William C Moore as Federico Lebuse. He tries too hard to act with a foreign accent and doesn't even come close to doing it with any type of ability. He isn't funny. He isn't clever. He isn't appealing. He just isn't an actor. In spite of his horrible job of acting and dragging the film down, it is a delightful film and a must see for anyone who appreciates fun comedy.