Customer Reviews

Orgy of the Dead [VHS]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

For dedicated sleazologists this has to rank as one of the top DVD releases/restorations so far this year. While readily available in the past on VHS, this digitally remastered transfer supervised by director Stephen C. Apostolof ("A. C. Stephen") makes obsolete all previous releases, including Rhino's, which looks shockingly flat, blurry, and faded in comparison. Orgy of the Dead looks like a real movie now (if not necessarily a GOOD one), with excellent color balance and saturation, contrast, brightness, sharpness, and shadow/highlight detail. Exploitation stalwart Bob Caramico's cinematography looks better than it has any right to, and the color is so rich it's hard to believe it's typically fast-fading Eastmancolor. While IMDb says this movie was in 2.35:1 widescreen (it was advertised as being in `Astravision'), it's presented full frame here. The compositions look fine, however, without any cramped, cropped feeling (the common `two noses talking' scenes or other weirdness), leading one to believe that this is the `open matte' version, which was cropped to widescreen aspect ratio in theaters. At any rate, the print looks stunning overall, extremely watchable, with only some occasional very light speckling evident.
The movie, written by the notorious Edward D. Wood, Jr. (Plan 9, Glen or Glenda, etc.), based on his novel (!!), is a curious hodgepodge of hokey monster matinee cliches and typical early-1960s nudie-cutie hijinks. Opening with Ed's standard florid Criswell monologue, Orgy of the Dead's short-lived story line presents struggling horror writer Bob and wife Shirley (sexploitation legend Pat Barrington/Barringer with flaming red hair), out driving one night looking for an old cemetery for "inspiration." (Barrington's character is named after Ed Wood's "drag" alter ego.) Bob loses control of the car, they crash, then stumble on a graveyard where the Emperor Ghoul (Criswell), the Black Ghoul (Vampira wannabe Fawn Silver), and their striped-shorts-and-armband-clad beefcake henchmen are presiding over some sort of dance revue/judgment of dead souls. Coincidentally, all the judged are female and next to naked. For the next 80 minutes, a bevy of voluptuous dead babes in G-strings each in turn do a "theme" interpretive strip dance (Indian, Skeleton, Cat, Golden Girl dipped in molten "gold" a la Goldfinger, Zombie, Hawaiian, etc.), complete with plenty of emotive gesturing and breast-jiggling amidst swirling ground fog, accompanied on the soundtrack by vaguely Les Baxter-ish exotica and Henry Mancini/Herb Alpert-ish lite pop cues. (I love the "yahoo wahoo" chant behind the Indian dance.) Interspersed with the dances are snippets of those patented non sequitur Ed Wood dialogue exchanges between Bob, Shirley, the Emperor Ghoul, Black Ghoul, and crummy, dime-store Werewolf and moth-eaten Mummy. Unlike many (most?) sexploitation movies of the era, the dancers are generally quite buff and several are certifiable knockouts. Barrington remains clothed as Shirley but displays her awesome (augmented) "ticket sellers" (Apostolof's term) doubling as the Golden Girl in a brassy blonde wig. There is a brief, surprising whipping/bondage scene, and it's revealed that the Black Ghoul swings both ways when she demands to have Shirley for herself! (Silver as the Black Ghoul does a sultry knife-dance but unfortunately no striptease.) TV psychic Criswell appears rather glassy-eyed and reads from obvious off-camera cue cards much of the time. It all winds up with a corny "was it all a dream?" twist ending. As reviled as this movie is by mainstream viewers (see reviews on IMDb), sexploitation veterans can vouch that as nudie-cuties go, Orgy of the Dead is relatively painless; some of the dances are actually mildly erotic (if occasionally out of sync with the music), while Eddie's convoluted dialogue, Criswell's hammy declamations, and the otherwise stiff, amateurish acting provide welcome moments of charming Bad Movie ambiance in the framing scenes.
The extras comprise a trailer (surprisingly looking just as terrific as the feature) and an amusing 20-minute interview with director/producer Apostolof, who recounts his beginnings in the film industry, recalls meeting and working with Ed Wood, and expounds on film technique (!!) and his decision not to go "hardcore", all in a likeable, droll manner. Orgy of the Dead is definitely not for the mainstream viewer; there is zero narrative trajectory and relatively little dialogue, mainly just lots of topless exotic dancing, making it extremely tedious or even boring for many, especially at 92 minutes. If, however you're already a fan of grade-Z schlock horror and/or cheap sexploitation, Rhino's pristine new transfer makes this bizarre, unique delight slide down smoother than a cold beer. Essential trash!!

I had this on my Wish List (because I have a general interest in Ed Wood) but changed my mind and removed it--unfortunately not before a friend bought it for me. So what the heck, I thought, and popped it in the DVD player.

Oh boy. OK, here's the deal: there's being an Elvis fan, and there's buying a styrofoam cup of water he was drinking onstage that someone's been keeping in a freezer since the 1970s.. There's being an Ed Wood fan, and there's paying money for this. A "good" Ed Wood movie leaves you alternatly howling with laughter, dumbstruck, and fascinated by just how weird the guy was. A "bad" Ed Wood movie is therefore...wow, I don't have the words to describe it. My understanding is that he was marginally involved with thing at best anyway.

Maybe the problem is that I'm a straight woman. See, this movie is about boobies. Lots of jiggling boobies. It goes something like this: Emperor of the Dead Criswell and his Princess of the Dead introduce and call upon a dead woman with a sinful past to dance for their pleasure. Girl emerges from mausoleum in costume. Girl quickly loses costume. Girl does an interpretive dance to 60s soundtrack in a G-string or panties. Boobies jiggle! Criswell looks on approvingly! (And that's creepy right there.) Cut to our living heroes, failing miserably to act tied up and scared. Cut to mummy and werewolf who seem to be from the set of "The Monkees" looking on approvingly (yes, you read that correctly).

Now, repeat that ten more times.

So, if you like strip clubs or boobies (or both), or if you like interpretive dance AND happen to be under the influence of certain illegal substances, you might like this.

I am certain that somewhere in Ohio, a grandmother is shopping on Amazon for her kids' holiday presents, stumbles across this DVD listing, and lets out a blood-curdling scream. Why? Because 40 years ago, she was performing the "Slave Dance." And 39 years ago, when she was on a bus from L.A. back to her parents' house, she was thinking, "No one will ever know...because no one will ever show that thing again.. I can take that job at Uncle Harry's store, get married, and put this whole thing behind me..."

Another truly hilarious classic from Ed Wood (who apparently was too drunk to direct his own script). If only I could edit out all the long, boring strip teases and just leave in the camp dialogue and incredibly bad acting. (OK, I'd leave in the "Kitty Kat" and "The Bride".) So many classic lines; "More Gold!", "Easy, Shirley!", "I'm so Frightened!", "You, too, will have time for your pleasures, but only after I have had MY pleasures!" and the best, when our hero sees a strip tease act in the cemetery: "Nothing alive looks like that!". The film was made, it seems, by recruiting a bunch of amateurish "dancers" to take their clothes off (except they don't really take much off- Ah, the age of pasties...) Don't miss it!! I fell out of my chair the first time I saw the "Kitty Kat" and I'm still falling out of my chair all these years later. Something about the way that "scary" music segues into the "Alley Cat theme" rip-off, with the Kat dancer and her scratching post! It never fails...

Oh, the horror, the horror! Well, more like the unintentional humor, the humor! What can one say about this film, other then sit down, put your mind in neutral, maybe even let it drool a bit, grab a beer or six if you're inclined to drink, and enjoy! Not sure if I enjoyed the fact that the driving sequence with the "hero and his leading girl" alternates between high noon and midnight, that apparently the tortures of the damned consists of bad go-go dancing by topless women, most of whom I'm sure will deny that they EVER were in this film, or that the princess of the darkness has a beehive hairdo. Not sure which "dead" woman was the best, they all were about as erotic as a slightly intoxicated Bea Arthur in a polyester thong. I won't even mention the rubber masked wolfman or the badly bandaged mummy (or was he just a burn victim hired as an extra?). Worth seeing, if nothing else so you know the type of film for stars....to avoid!

No one does it better than Ed Wood, and this sinister ghost story has it all: pretentious dialogue, cheesy costumes, an inebriated Criswell who keeps missing his cues, a wolf man and a mummy for comic relief, and third-rate elevator music to strip by. Classic Wood touches, such as a total disregard for time of day during filming (nighttime keeps switching to day, and vice versa), hokey special effects, a procession of topless dancers, each less talented than the one before. It's all so incredibly bad, you won't be able to take your eyes off it. If there is a weak point, it is that too much time is spent showcasing the dancers. (Although if you like really low-quality strip tease, you will probably enjoy this, too. Don't miss the cat dancer, and the cheerfully murderous bride!) The best point? It would be hard to find a more awful movie that holds your attention so well. When you're not falling off your chair laughing, you'll be mumbling, "I just can't believe it....."

For dedicated sleazologists, this movie is a must-see. Undoubtedly, the worst movie ever made. The only work of Ed Wood's writing ever adapted by another director (A.C. Stephens of soft porn fame). You can see Wood's descent into alcoholism in the plot if not in the direction. (Wood was too drunk to direct.)

Storyline: A young couple on a road trip stranded in purgatory where sins are expiated by nude dancing. Criswell and Fawn Silver (the original Elvira) judge the quality of each nudies soul based on their strip tease.

It's worth watching for Fawn Silver who does a sexy knife dance with exquisitely bad acting but, unfortunately, no stripping. What ever happened to Fawn Silver anyway?

A schlock classic. Truly Bad Cinema.

Directed by A. C. Stephens from a screenplay by Edward D. Wood,jr., it says. If it weren't for the actual proof on file thatA.C.Stephens was born Stephen C. Apostoloff in Bulgaria, it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that A. C. Stephens is just an alias for Ed Wood himself.

The story certainly reeks of Ed Wood; Shirley and Bob are in search of an old cemetery in the middle of the night. Bob is a writer of horror stories, y'see, and he sometimes visits cemeteries in the middle of the night to get "inspiration". On the way, their car skids off the road. Flung out of the car and knocked unconscious by the crash, the next time we see them, they're just waking up, side by side in a clearing. Unbeknowst to them they are just outside a cemetery where sinister and nefarious goings-on are indeed... well - going on. This is the cemetery where the dreaded Emperor of the Night (Criswell, looking even more moth-eaten than usual) holds court with the Princess of Darkness and his two cronies, the Wolfman and the Mummy. It seems one night every year or so, females who have not been, y'know, nice during their lifetimes have to perform a dance for the Emperor and his bunch of cohorts. If they fail to please his Criswellness (Who actually has introduced himself as Criswell earlier in the film), then eternal doom awaits them. But if they succeed, they are allowed to go on to eternal rest.

The Indian Girl goes first. She removes her clothes and does a topless go-go dance. Next goes the Streetwalking Girl. She removes her clothes and does a topless go-go dance. Next goes the Golden Girl. She removes her clothes and does a topless go-go dance....See a pattern forming here ? Yes, it's one girl after another removing her clothes and doing a topless go-go dance, punctuated by Criswell's insane laughs and shouts of "Torture! Torture! -It pleasures me."

After a while, the Wolfman and the Mummy discover Bob and Shirley. They're taken to the cemetery, and each is tied to a headstone and forced (ugh!) to watch the rest of the night's entertainment. The Princess of Darkness wishes to run her knife through Shirley, but is assured that there's plenty of time for this later.

We are then treated to another bunch of girls removing their clothes and doing topless go-go dances for the second half of the movie. The Princess SO wants to kill Shirley before the sun rises to banish them all back to the netherworld, but the Emperor will have none of it; there are more dances to see AND plenty of time. Bob manages to free his hands, but decides to wait for the right moment. After the tenth or eleventh topless go-go dance, the Princess finally is allowed to go ahead.

At this moment in the film, you'd think Shirley would welcome death, but no; she shrieks insanely at the top of her lungs at the bare mention of what the Princess will do to her. (This is the closest thing we get to drama and conflict in this film, folks!). Then she shrieks insanely when we find out the Wolfman also wants her. Then we, the viewers, shriek insanely when we grasp that sinister forces are REALLY at work in this cemetery: Shirley's hairdo has changed AGAIN, while her hands were tied behind her back!

The Princess gets the upper hand, making ready to impale Shirley. Bob still hesitates. Should he act now ? No! But how about now ? At last he does act, but too late. He is clobbered by the Wolfman and falls to the ground. Surely nothing can save Shirley now (no pun intended)?

Sounds like something Ed Wood could dream up ? It was. Wood wrote the screenplay based on his own novel (Do the math: the film has a running time of 93 minutes. There are 10 or 11 dancing girls to be seen, each one dancing for some 6 to 8 minutes. How much time does that leave for plot and characterization? Gotta be a real short novel!). And the film, lame plot notwithstanding, suffers heavily from Wood-esque touches, like: The couple, in close-up, are driving in total darkness, and Shirley says something like, "It's pitch black outside, I can't see a thing! Can't we go back ?" And then an exterior shot shows that it's the middle of the day and bright sunlight. Bob has received a bruise in the car accident; on inspection, they've just run a piece of blue chalk (the kind found in pool halls) across his forehead.

Not to say that everything was completely bad, a few of the dancing girls actually knew how to dance. Pat Barrington, who plays the part of Shirley, also does a nice turn as the "Golden Girl" dancer, and a couple of the others also could do a decent (or, as it is, indecent) spin. The rest, however, were completely pathetic.

As for good filmmaking? Don't bother looking for it; there is none. What makes this film worth seeing is the same that makes most of Ed Wood's films work - a solid dose of pure turkeyhood. I give this 1 star for unintentional humour, 1 for close-to-full nudity, and 1 for dispensing of those pesky concepts of plot and characterization. See it and enjoy, just bear in mind that you have to have a special type of mind to give this one three stars! END

Ed Wood fans will not be disappointed by the quality of dialogue and story of this feature, which is among his most delerious, but they may be disappointed by the quantity.

In between priceless lines like "To know the cat, you must =be= the cat" are interminable strip routines. To the jaded eye 35 years later, these are about as prurient as a National Geographic special.

Of course, there are fans of this era, and they may be disappointed by the Ed Wood facets of this film. De gustibus, eh?

If you're a fan of both Ed Wood and lethargic '60s topless dance routines, this is a joyous day for you indeed. But you may wish to seek help.

Make no mistake about it. The credits may say "Produced and Directed by A.C. Stephen", but this is an ED D. WOOD
picture through and through. He wrote the screenplay (based on his novel, don't you know), but his imprimatur is evident in
other aspects of the flick as well - from the utterly horrible performances to the cheesy special effects to the constant confusion
between night and day.

Just what in the world is going on here? Criswell, the famed prognosticator from PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE and
other Wood jewels, presides over a graveyard bacchanal in which cheap looking ghoul-strippers display their wares for The Master's entertainment. A young couple stumble upon these ghastly revels and become the next victims of the "night people."

That's about it for plot. What's left are prolonged dance routines, incoherent "comic relief" from a barely wrapped mummy and a hardly-concealed werewolf (you can see the actor's throat), and the almost immediate sensation that one is in the middle of a very bad dream.

But just try to take your eyes off these proceedings! This is Ed D. Wood in vivid 1960's color, man! This is Criswell crying
maniacally, "Torture! Torture! It gives me pleasure!" This is the kind of mesmerizing midnight fare that assured Wood's legend.

Don't miss it.

Although most Ed Wood films are so ridiculously bad they achieve a certain weird charm and make for an amusing 90 minutes, this Wood-scripted film isn't one of them. When a horror-writer and his lady love have an auto wreck en route to a cemetary for literary inspiration, they encounter... a bunch of topless bimbos bumping and grinding amidst the tombstones!

There is no story per se, the majority of the film being devoted to the questionable charms of the lady phantoms, few of whom are more than apathetic at best. But it's perfect for a Halloween party... Just turn down the sound and put on some decent music, add a few drinks, and giggle away.