The Gore Gore Girls

Legendary splatter master Herschell Gordon Lewis takes violence just about as far as he can in the standout scenes of this typically insane film. The only problem is, the movie tends to be tedious in between all of its outrageous highlights. It's certainly sleazy enough: the story has a series of go go dancers being mutilated in unspeakable ways by a demented killer. Nancy Weston (Amy Farrell), a ditzy reporter for a newspaper, hires renowned private detective Abraham Gentry (Frank Kress) to determine who the murderer is. "The Gore Gore Girls" features all of the hallmarks of any HGL film. The acting is often atrocious; exceptions here are lead Kress, who actually plays his unflappable if somewhat smarmy hero with wit and style, and the famous stand up comedian Henny Youngman, who plays his strip club impresario with gusto. Unfortunately, Youngman often talks so fast and loud one can't make out all of his quips. Farrell certainly is easy on the eyes, and due to the story line one can expect a fair amount of skin bared. One can also expect an odd ball character or two, especially hostile weirdo Grout, who loves to sit at bars and smash & smush produce. The persistent soundtrack is likewise good for some amusement. Making the whole thing worthwhile is the great flair HGL brings to his gore scenes. They're so far over the top, and so protracted, that it feels as if what he's really doing is spoofing himself. There are throat slittings, head mutilation, boiling a face in oil, and the piece de resistance, the slicing off of nipples which results in a flow of milk from one breast and chocolate milk from another. If nothing else tells us just how much HGL's tongue is in his cheek here, that'll do it. Fans of the director, and vintage exploitation / horror should lap it right up, others need not watch. There's undeniable padding; even at 85 minutes, this goes on a bit longer than it really needs to. And the identity of the killer will come as no surprise, although I can't imagine how many people would watch this actually hoping for a good murder mystery. As utterly crazy, trashy entertainment goes, one could definitely do worse than this. Six out of 10.

Aside from the familiar cinematographic style and manditory gore, this film exceeds the sophistication of any of Herschell Gordon Lewis's previous films by leaps and bounds. The gore effects are sicker and more unnecessarily blatant than ever, and are quite convincing even by today's special effects standards (how many contemporary horror films have the villain squeezing the contents of a REAL eyeball until the juice squirts in all directions, just for show?). Many of my friends, who have seen all of the Faces of Death videos without a flinch, cannot keep from turning away from the extreme sickness of some of these sequences. The acting is at least on par with that of more acclaimed films of the time such as Shaft of French Connection; in particular, Frank Kress, though perhaps not the most photogenic actor, delivers an impressively competent and smooth performance as Abraham Gentry, the all-knowing hero. The soundtrack, written by Herschell, is effectively sleazy in an upbeat way, with the eerily out-of-tune guitar and sax reminiscent of Arch Hall Jr.'s music. And it is this juxtaposition of lighthearted music, comedy ranging from subtle to beyond-toilet-humor, and extreme gore that make Gore-Gore Girls so mind-blowing. And Henny Youngmann's appearance in the film is the best $500 HG could have spent; it takes this opus over the top. Also, as a visual arts student, I especially appreciate the entrancing aesthetic value of the title cards (I know, what does that have to do with anything? But it's my favorite part of the movie.

SPOILER: The last gore film of Herschell Gordon Lewis is perhaps one of his goriest and remarkably one of his funniest..intentional and unintentional. Lewis has eyeballs squeezed, nipples cut off of breasts with scissors(one breast has white liquid flowing while another has chocolate), a woman's rump bludgeoned and then salted, a host of throats slit, a woman being run over by a truck, and a woman having her face shoved in a boiling bowl of french fries(you might have noticed in this scene that the pot was tall and not very wide in the first shot prior to the actress having her face embedded in the pot then in the close-up the pot is short and wide to accomodate her face). No question about it, the film definitely has a misogynistic edge to it. Women are beaten and killed senselessly(isn't that every Lewis film?). The story about an amateur detective being paid by a newspaper to solve the crime was not THAT bad...certainly better than most plot constructs used in other Lewis vehicles. Frank Kress as Abraham Gentry certainly also is one of the best actors ever used in a lead in a Lewis film. His acting style was fresh and he could convey irony and wit. The rest of the cast was so-so, with lots of naked girls jiggling(none of them particularly attractive and looking in that sleazy, has-been 70's kind of fashion). Henny Youngman, the only big name to grace any of Lewis's horror films, stars as a night club owner and talks so fast you will have trouble hearing what he says! Lewis wants to sicken you in this film, but he also goes for the laughs and some of them work. The photographers in each murder scene are hilarious as is the general mood of the film when some poor girl isn't losing appendages, skin, or having her eyes gouged out. The score is like some sleazy jazz theme and Lewis even has the temerity to use pieces of classical music and opera such as the Anvil Chorus. Despite all the twisted killing, the film kind of grew on me. Now, maybe I am the sick one. Watch out for the ending...it is Lewis having some more fun...and the revelation of the killer is one of the most ludicrous explanations put on film. Look fast too because the killer meets his/her end so fast you'll have to rewind it to see what happened.

Gore-Gore Girls is on of my favorite H.G. Lewis films. But the film has a sleazy, old school porn quality and feel to it. The director giving Henny Youngman lines that were mostly one liners was an interesting touch. However whenever he strayed from his one liners the lack of acting showed big time. The set pieces were interesting but everything else had a cheap aura. Like most of H.G. Lewis' films, no one takes it seriously and that's what I enjoy about this movie.

Recommended for campy horror film fans.

B

"The Gore Gore Girls".Here is a film so silly,campy and bad,that watching this film is like committing a criminal act.Although,it is not a criminal act to watch this film,I myself felt victimized by this extreme waste of garbage that actually is a cult classic.Alright,maybe it's not but it can be being that Herschell Gordon Lewis directed it.His films ranging from "Blood Feast" to "2000 Maniacs" have achieved cult following. Even though he has loyal fans that rent his films,I have to say I am not one of them.This is the third Herschell Gordon Lewis film that I have seen. Each of the films have a comic look to them that are not even funny.The gore scenes even though some of them look awfully fake can still be unsettling.There is probably enough gore in this film to fill up an entire empty bucket.My guess is that when they made this film they took that bucket and tossed out the story and the acting and the direction and replaced it with an hour and a half of pure waste.Life can be short.I had to waste part of it on this trash.Maybe I'll rent another Herschell Gordon Lewis film to see if he'll out do himself.He usually does by making one film after another that gets worse and worse.