The Body Shop

I believe that if you are a fan of films such as the A.I.P. classic "How To Make A Monster", Hammer Films' various Frankenstein pictures, and the gore films of the immortal Herschell Gordon Lewis then "The Body Shop" (A.K.A. "Dr. Gore") should be right up your alley.

This is not a movie that will not be enjoyed by film snobs, and deserves the respect of those of us who truly enjoy underground gems beyond thinking that they're "so bad, they're good". But rather, their beauty and enjoyment lie in the fact that they are less than perfect. You can feel the passion he had for for films and film making in J.G. "Pat" Patterson's single directorial effort "The Body Shop". Many people will groan and I'm sure laugh a few times while watching this film, but those of you who truly sit down to watch it, not to "try and watch it" (if you're entering with that attitude it's best to avoid these type of films altogether and stick to the latest big budget Hollywood star vehicles) and laugh ALONG with it will have quite a memorable and fun ride ahead of you.

SIDE NOTE: If you have ever wondered what Funny-man Louie Anderson would look like with a beard just check out the character of "Bill Hicks" of the films band "Bill Hicks and the Rainbow" who preforms "A Heart Dies Every Minute".

The Body Shop is, as its AKA Doctor Gore suggests, a splatter movie. As such, I didn't necessarily expect a great plot, but I had hoped for more than a tired mashup of Frankenstein and Les Yeux Sans Visage. Whenever mad doctor Don Brandon (played by the film's director J. G. Patterson Jr.) is busily hacking up young women for spare parts so he can build his ideal mate, the film is reasonably fun, but everything in between is really dull.

Dr. Brandon decides to build his perfect woman after his beautiful young wife dies in a car crash. Using hypnotic powers, he seduces his pretty victims and takes them to his lab where, with the help of his loyal hunchback assistant Greg (Roy Mehaffey), he removes the best body parts, disposing of the rest in an acid bath (standard kit for any mad doctor). The removal of limbs and organs is good old-fashioned messy fun in the same vein as H. G. Lewis (Patterson Jr. Previously helped on some of the Godfather of Gore's movies and provided effects for drive-in favourite Three On A Meathook), but the rest of the film feels like an excuse for the director to cosy up to some sexy cuties who are way out of his league.

The script is terrible and makes little sense: if the doctor has such incredible mind control over hot women, why does he go to such great lengths to build a mate? Admittedly, she's a babe, but the women who provide the body parts aren't exactly munters. Why not go to Hollywood and hypnotise some A-list actresses?

The acting is diabolical: according to IMDb's trivia, the only trained actor in the whole shebang was Roy Mehaffey and he doesn't say a word. The worst performance comes from the guy who plays an inquisitive cop, who stumbles awkwardly through his lines, and then disappears for the rest of the movie, no doubt hiding in shame.

As for the direction and editing, it's par for the course: so sloppy that we are treated to an entire song by the most lifeless band in the world, a really boring montage of romantic moments between the doc and his mate, and the most obvious accidental inclusion of a clapperboard in the history of film.

In the hilarious final act, the doctor's woman, having been trained to be a subservient sex slave, throws herself at any man she encounters, including Greg, which results in the jealous doctor attacking the hunchback with acid and a machete and then dumping his body in the acid bath. Then, while the doctor is out, Brandon's babe runs off with a truck driver; as a result, the doctor loses what marbles he still had and is locked up in an asylum.

3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

This film breaks no new ground, it's pretty much an updated version of 'Frankenstein'. It concerns a doctor who's wife has died, and he is now determned to create the perfect woman. He goes out to find females he deems to have the perfect parts he needs, hypnotises them, and takes them back to his lab where he proceeds to cut off the desired parts for his jigsaw puzzle with the aid of his hunchbacked assistant.

I've always loved gore, and films like this are my cup of tea! I don't know about any of you, but gore films with dismemberment are my favorites, and this is one of the best! I'm surprised to hear alot of people say that the gore effects in this film are phony looking, I disagree, they are quite realistic, and I love them for it. I especially love the secretary victim scene, the good doctor, or in this case not so good doctor, proceeds to cut off her arms with a scalpel as she watches, and then good ol Herscall cuts to a close up of her mutilated shoulder.

I love the technique for showing the severed limbs in the film, most of the time it's just an actress with her hand, or arm, sticking out of a hole cut into the table. Not a new technique to be sure, but it's very effective here.

I would love to pick this one up, but alas it's all but impossible to track down. Oh well, here's hoping for a dvd release.

In answer to Aschepler from Arizona's knowledge of Pat Patterson and the Dr. Gore movie, the trailers were not from the 50s and 60s nude movies. They were B Movies made around the same time of Dr. Gore. How do I know this? I was in one of his movies and I knew Mr. Patterson. He liked magic and was a great fan of Houdini. On a wall in his office hung an autographed picture of Houdini. He was a gentle man who loved magic and movies.

His movies are fun to watch and they go back to a time before computerization, when we were more easily entertained and less demanding. Creativity (good or bad) was alive and well then.

A couple of clarifying comments are in order. Herschell Gordon Lewis contributed a brief introduction to the video release of DOCTOR GORE (aka THE BODY SHOP), wherein he touched upon his collaborative efforts with J.G. "Pat" Patterson, director and star of DOCTOR GORE. Patterson concocted the "gore effects" for THE GRUESOME TWOSOME and a few other Lewis movies in the late 60s. Lewis remarks that whereas 2,000 MANIACS was a "five gallon" film (referring to the amount of stage blood required), the Lewis-Patterson productions were "fifteen gallon" pictures. Lewis does not describe DOCTOR GORE as a "fifteen gallon" film -- he's only talking about the films he & Patterson made together. Lewis has confessed (elsewhere) that his introduction to DOCTOR GORE was improvised before he'd even seen Patterson's film! So take it with a grain of salt.

This may be an "unfinished" film, but like some unfinished novels it does have an "ending." It's just missing some connective tissue.

Patterson has definite stage presence & a dry sense of humor, helping to make this simplistic show somewhat more watchable than it should be. There's an extremely bare-bones plot -- even BLOOD FEAST is more complex -- and a gratingly repetitive musical score by William Girdler. A bit of nudity & lots of skin. The entire middle section of the film involves the construction of a "perfect woman;" this is concentrated gore for the bloodthirsty, and laughable.

Patterson the director is in way over his head, but he tries hard to tell his story creatively, if it's possible to use Frankenstein clichés creatively. But the best reason to see this film (on Something Weird's DVD, if possible) is that it features a perfect Nashville weeper, Bill Hicks' "A Heart Dies Every Minute." Ain't it the truth!