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Some Nudity Required - The Naked Truth Behind Hollywood's B-Movies (Documentary) [VHS]

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Most telling about this movie is when a director is explaining the nature of women in the Bmovie industry and his Freudian slip is "the women in these breasts" instead of saying, "the women in these films." This movie is a behind the scene look into the Bmovie industry. The narrator is Odette Springer a composer of Bmovie scores. The story focuses on her. She tries to explain how and why she got where she is. The most enjoyable moments, however, is when she spends time interviewing others in her profession. A true gem is when Odette speaks with the quasi-feminist director of Slumber Party Massacre III. The director takes pride with being able to do her job as well as any of the "boys", but is horrorified when she realizes she followed the sexist rules of a slasher flick - the girls that have sex die, and the lone celebate tomboy lives to save the day. There are some truly sad moments in this documentry. Most notable one is when scream queen Maria Ford speaks about being degraded and objectified. For Maria, it is a cruel profession. She wants to do A films but is told by an agent she must sleep with producers in order to do so. She refuses and in turn she can only play strippers and prostitutes in B films. The irony isn't lost on her, and one can only sympathize when she describes a scene that involved erotic aphysxiation, and the real pain she is put through for the filming. I got the feeling that Odette used some of the stories and tragedies of others in the industry to make her life seem more normal - her own pains and insecurities more acceptable to herself and to the audience. It was an enjoyable, albeit unsettling, look into an American mainstay. PS. Why do slasher films always use a roman numeral system for numbering their sequels?

This is the worst kind of documentary; one that purports to be "objective", but clearly has a self-interested agenda at the hip. It seems Odette Springer already knew what her film would be like prior to shooting, rather than allowing the material shape itself. Instead of a hard-hitting but even-handed approach, Springer instead chooses to caricature her subjects, portraying all B-movie producers as ogres, all B-movie starlets as victims, and herself as a sad, exploited industry female ... abused as a child.

Why does she continually cut back to ... footage of her running around naked as a child? Why does she include footage of her staring at her naked form in the mirror? Is this project about the B-movie industry or her weird preoccupation with herself and her dysfunctions?

Clearly, Springer has a chip on her shoulder. She enlists the aid of producers and directors then baits them with leading questions and cuts in their angry responses out of context.

This is irresponsible filmmaking.

There is a good story here to be told about the fascinating B-movie industry, but Odette Springer's adolescent, confessional mode simply grates. By the end one cannot help but root for the "bad guys".

as a longtime fan of "b-movies" and "scream queens", seeing a documentary about what goes on behind them was certainly an eye-opening experience. odette springer did an incredible job making this film, and raised a lot of questions in my mind. at first, i felt really guilty about watching so many of these type of movies because i never stopped to think that they were exploiting women or promoting violence towards women. it kind of disturbed me. but then julie strain came out and explained how SHE was exploiting THEM for her own personal gain, turning the tables on the whole concept. it made me think some more. ultimately, i remain a fan of a lot of these actors and filmmakers because i find what they do to be entertaining and i think they are very talented. the only aspect of this film that still bothers me is the interview with actor maria ford, because she was so gut-wrenchingly honest and raw. if she could channel the emotion she displayed in that interview into dramatic acting, she would win an oscar. i thought i was going to cry listening to her talk about her struggle. and for those familiar with "some nudity required", she did end up giving in to the pressure and getting breast implants after all. what a world.

There's a damn good reason, you may have never heard of the name " Odette Springer." Odette, a musician with classical training, moved from the east coast to the west coast in the mid 80's to pursue music. Somehow and someway, she weasled her way into the film industry, and begin acting as the composer and music supervisor on several Roger Corman produced films in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

In 1998, she would do something, that would shock and awe the B movie community to the effect that she would never work again in film...

In 1995, Odette begin work on a documentary film which went on to become the infamous " Some Nudity Required." The film is a dissection of the B movie industry. It features several actresses and filmmakers discussing women and nudity in film. We are "treated" to interviews with Roger Corman, Jim Wynorski, Fred Olen Ray, Maria Ford, Arlene and Andy Sidaris, and Julie Strain amongst others. Everyone in the film, speaks openly about female nudity in film. And let me just tell you, you'll be SHOCKED at what they say...

Roger Corman

More interestingly, what makes this film so shocking is the unusual amount of time the director, writer and narrator "Odette Springer" spends talking about herself, and her morality when it comes to working in the industry, and in particular, working, scoring the sleazy exploitative films that Roger Corman makes! The film pulls a complete 180 on you, as Springer herself, unveils some truely shocking and disturbing aspects of her personal life, such as, the fact that her own family member's possibly molested her. She does this by showing silent super 8mm footage of herself at ages 3-5, dancing on a table, as a child, she pulls up her skirt, to unveil her 3-5 year old vagina, which the film's editor chooses to freeze frame on, and repeat at least 2-3 times and then zoom on. Springer, details how as the more time she spends in the B-movie industry she begins to become turned on by all the sex and violence, even though she knows it's wrong! She claims this causes her romantic relationships to fail in her personal life, and gets her involved in kinky sex with strangers. She even includes a sequence of herself (she is not attractive in any shape or form) standing in a lowly lit room, full frontally naked, touching her breasts, as her voice over explains, how these films, make her aware and upset about her own body image. She really thinks she's some sort of "artist" in this film, WTF...

Once the film was complete, it was accepted into the 1998 Sundance film festival, and it SHOCKED the industry. However, almost EVERYONE with an on camera interview came out and stated that their participation was heavily edited, and didn't reflect their true feelings about the B movie industry. Here's a statement from the GREAT filmmaker Jim Wynorski on the film...

"The whole thing was a sham. It was made over ten years ago by a woman named Odette Springer. She and her then husband were the heads of the music department at Roger Corman's New Horizons Productions. I was doing an independent production at the time called SORCERESS, and Odette made me a deal I should have refused: free music if I'd let her shoot some behind-the-scenes for a planned documentary on me.

Well she did a lot of filming, interviewed Julie Strain, Toni Naples, Rochelle Swanson and myself. But then turned around and broadened her documentary to include ALL B-movies - claiming they were harmful and turned people into child molesters, and that she herself was abused as a child and now found it odd and sickening that she herself was involved in their preparation and distribution.

I remember vividly the day she showed the piece to Roger Corman for possible distribution. He got up halfway thru the show with his fists clenched and walked out fuming. He had Odette escorted out by others, as he didn't want to see her ever again.

When I finally saw the final version, I too was angry. She'd subverted the entire industry and made us all out to look like the alternative to guys who wait in black cars across from school yards. Roger started legal proceedings to try and stop any distribution, but failed. The picture went out to several midnight shows, film festivals and a vhs tape.

Later, however, I joined his lawsuit and we managed to get an injunction on all the actual footage we owned in the feature. That, in effect, put her out of business. She couldn't make any further cable sales, laser disc or dvd deals. All that remains is the vhs tape - but, unfortunately, they must have made tens of thousands of 'em - as I still see them all over the net. Eventually, like Odette herself, they'll dry up and vanish." - Jim Wynorski Oct 2006

Maria Ford's interview's created the most buzz amongst the industry. Many feel her comments in the film "ruined" her career directly. Taking her from a B movie siren, to a mere B movie walk on actress. Some people in the industry also feel that the direct result and backlash from this film, caused Maria Ford to pursue her own personal identity change and move forward with breast implants, and collagen injections in her face, completely altering her image, transforming into what she looks like today... The most interesting and entertaining aspect of Some Nudity Required, is the fascinating behind the scenes sections of director Jim Wynorski directing on the set of 1995's Sorceress. He's a real bad ass, hands down...

Some Nudity Required, as Jim Wynorski reports is getting more difficult to find these days. It's a testament, to the power of film editing. While controversial filmmaking makes for wonderful entertainment, when the truth comes out, it becomes SO MUCH less interesting... Check it out...

It was the best movie. It was hard