Scum of the Earth

An innocent girl Kim (Allison Louise Downe) is forced to pose topless to pay for her college tuition.

The script is actually pretty good (except for a few clunky lines) and the direction is VERY good--for Herschell Gordon Lewis. The man made a lot of infamous blood and gore films of the 1960s--they were badly acted, directed and scripted but the plentiful gore kept you watching. But with this film something happened--he photographed in B&W and he actually wrote a fairly good script. Also there are a few competently directed sequences. Still it's really a bad film because of one thing--the acting. It's just AWFUL!!!!! It's just beyond belief how bad everybody is in the film (especially Downe). Also, despite the subject matter, there is no nudity. They come close but this would probably get by with a PG-13 rating today. So, a pretty good script and direction ruined by lousy acting. I'm sure some people are reading this and thinking I've lost my mind but seriously--HG Lewis made a fairly serious, good film!

One hilarious mistake--at one point Kim gets a letter addressed to her in Detroit MI--yet all the exterior shots show palm trees that only grow in CA!!!!

I watched "Blood Feast" last weekend - also included on the same blu ray is the film "Scum of the Earth!" - another Hershall Gordon Lewis, which I decided to watch this weekend. It's a tawdy affair, and quite slow moving.

Having reached the end of her rope, Sandy (Sandy Sinclaire) begs pornograhpher Lang (Lawrence Wood) to let her go. He decides that he will stop shooting with her, provided she brings in her replacement, the naïve Kim (Vickie Miles). Harmon (Thomas Sweetwood) who takes the photographs slowly convinces Kim to reveal more, until they have enough to blackmail her to continuing. Then they introduce Ajax (Craig Maudsley Jr) a brutal thug who has no concerns about the girl's willingness to perform with him, in front of the camera.

Much like "Blood Feast" were in the realm of low budget exploitation films here. As a result of that, the actors, some of whom are using pseudonyms for the film, are again not particularly strong. The film does, somewhat, try to have its cake and eat it too by having the pornographers as the villains, but also by showing you it's female leads topless. That said, I didn't find any of those moments sexy as, we know that the characters have been tricked, blackmailed or threatened into it. Not since "Three Billboards" have a seen a character so underserving of his heroes turn at the end of the film

My main flaw though was that it was slow.

Tough to recommend for anyone but the Lewis completists.

One of the earliest of "roughie" films of the 60s, this cheap Florida film about how nudie photographers lure innocent cuties to shed their clothes and morals is pretty dull with only brief flashes of H.G. Lewis' brand of low-grade brilliance. Acting that ranges from overwrought to amateurish plus static direction keeps this from being a good film but a vicious belt-whipping scene keeps it from being too timid with its seedy subject matter. Look for much of the cast of Lewis' classic film BLOOD FEAST in this.

"Sandy Sinclair" (Sandra Sinclair) is a pretty blonde who for unspecified reasons feels forced to model in the nude for a photographer named "Harmon Johnson" (William Kerwin). Likewise, Harmon also feels somewhat trapped into photographing her because another man by the name of "Ajax" (Craig Maudslay Jr.) has threatened to destroy his studio if he doesn't cooperate. However, since both Sandy and Harmon are getting paid for their efforts they reluctantly continue. Then one day Sandy is told by the overall boss, "Mr. Lang" (Lawrence J. Aberwood) that she can essentially retire provided that she finds her replacement. She then recommends an attractive teenager by the name of "Kim Sherwood" (Allison Louise Downe) who is currently in high school but needs money for college in the fall. At first she is told that the pictures will be relatively modest. However as she continues each session becomes more and more risqué to the point that she soon finds herself being blackmailed by another accomplice named "Larry" (Mal Arnold) to pose entirely nude. Fearing that her father might find out, she does as she is told which then results in even further degradation from both Larry and Ajax. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a relatively mild "exploitation" picture which leaves much to the imagination. Of course, the fact that this was produced in the early 60's probably has much to do with that. The acting was okay but in any case this was a very basic type of film which certainly won't appeal to all viewers. That said, I recommend it for mature audiences only.

A naive and innocent teenage girl (Allison Louise Downe) is blackmailed into modeling in the nude for a photographer who is in league with a teenage gang whose boss illegally sells photos of teenage girls being abused and degraded.

First of all, let's get it out of the way: the father (Edward Mann) is possibly the worst actor who ever lived. Downe, on the other hand, does a great job, and it is interesting that she transitioned from nude victim to one of Lewis' longest collaborators.

Allmovie wrote, "Unintentionally funny and poorly photographed, this film certainly has its moments for connoisseurs of bad cinema, but others will find it tawdry and dull." This may be true, but to put it in the context of H. G. Lewis, it is actually one of his better-made movies and the film quality has held up well. Most of his films have awful prints, but not this one. Even the score seems pretty decent.