H.G. Lewis Would be Proud

Who is H.G. Lewis, you ask? Why, he's the mad genius behind the 60's and early 70's drive-in splatter movies such as Blood Feast, The Gore Gore Girls, 2000 Maniacs, and the gem featured in the clip below, The Wizard of Gore. Herschell Gordon Lewis was a cottage industry unto himself, producing cheap, low quality horror for the Southern Drive-In Theatre market. His movies are terrible, bordering on unwatchable, though they have an hilarious charm all their own. And if it wasn't for him and his mannequins dipped in red paint and covered in porcine offal, we wouldn't have movies like Hostel or Saw, today (though I'm sure some folks think that's not really a bad thing...).

Anyway, Lewis' movies paved the way for folks like George Romero, Tom Savini and Sam Raimi, all of whom pushed the envelope when it came to realistic splatter FX and gore in film. I was much too young to see Lewis' films in their original theatrical runs, but thanks to the VHS boom of the 80's, I did get to see most of them. In fact, watching Wizard of Gore is one of the few times I can remember my sister actually swearing (the other involves sitting in the back on the Pirate Ship ride at Six Flags, but that's another story for another post). "What the hell are we watching?!" she asked, astonished by the crapulance unfolding before us. Take a look for yourself:

Wasn't that just terrible?

Well, fear not. Lewis' tradition of awful acting, insanely inane plots and Z-grade FX lives on in modern Japan. Ladies and Germs, I give you the trailer for (I'm not kidding) Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl:

Deplorable (and effing hilarious!). There are so many gloriously ridiculous things in the trailer alone, I lost count. The bolts in Frankenstein Girl's face; the Wrist-Cutters Convention; the cigarette fiend teacher; the skull popping out of someone's head; the face chewing... it's almost too much to handle! The movie was apparently made by the same folks who gave us Tokyo Gore Police:

And The Machine Girl:

Drill bra?! Good Lord! Deliciously dreadful and hilariously over-the-top, these movies are now on my "Must See" list. I can only hope that they are as good (or better) than Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter (of which I am the proud owner of a DVD copy - I got it as a gift from my Secret Santa at work a few years ago).

So, does anyone know where I can score copies of these gems? I'd kick a baby to see them (no, not really- it's just an expression. Chill, okay?).

More, anon.
Prospero

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