No Sleaze, PleaseSeptember 22, 1990 | By Dan Webster, Staff Writer for The Spokesman Review | Original SourceJoe Bob Briggs says ‘check it out,’ but maybe you’d be better off to chuck it out Truth in advertising is a curious concept. The purpose of advertising is to present a product in its best light, presumably so that people will buy or rent it. That means overlooking any shortcomings the product might have. Which means being less than honest. Which, essentially, is lying. Truth in advertising, then, is a contradiction of terms. Until now, that is. For there is one series of video releases that lives up to its name in every possible sense. It’s called “The Sleaziest Movies in the History of the World.” Presented by that arbiter of offbeat aesthetics, drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs, three of the “Sleaziest Movies” will be available Thursday. And, yes, they may feature violence, nudity and trashy plots -- but that’s the good news. Two of the films -- “Bad Girl’s Go to Hell” (1965) and “Deadly Weapons” (1970) -- were directed by Doris Wishman, one of the few women directors to make a name in the male-dominated field of exploitation films. “Deadly Weapons” star Isreali burlesque queen Zsa Zsa -- also known, appropriately enough , as Chesty Morgan and/or Rusty Russell -- who uses her biggest assets to defeat a gang of mobsters. The other, “She-Devils on Wheels” (1968), was directed by Hershell Gordon Lewis, the infamous maker of such gore classics as “2,000 Maniacs” and “Blood Feast” and other exploitation shockers as “Suburban Roulette” and “This Stuff’ll Kill Ya.” Come to think about it, that last title is pretty appropriate. This stuff may not kill ya, but it might cause you to go blind. Or at least wish that you were. Not only are the films’ themes in questionable taste, but the production values fail to display a single scintilla of talent by anyone involved -- not by directors, screenwriters, cinematographers nor actors. But, then, that’s the draw. It’s entertaining, in a sick sort of way, to watch something this bad. And it’s educational too. Next time you start waxing nostalgic about the dear, departed drive-in, just remember that these were the kinds of films that helped kill it. |
