This book was given to me for review in a
parcel of three books published by McFarland Press. McFarland Press, began as a library-oriented
publisher, publishing monographs and “comprehensive reference works on a
variety of subjects”. The “Performing
Arts 2006 – 2007” catalogue reflects this tendency, presenting a wide array of
books addressing an interesting variety of topics, many of which with a
critical, reference, or anthological bent.
Priced at $35 in softcover, this is a book
that I would have been unlikely to purchase.
Despite the fact that I am definitely interested in Herschell Gordon
Lewis as a character in the story of the history of exploitation film and I was
eagerly interested to read this book.
The cover of this book is eye-catchingly
designed in black, white and red, although it features a still from a film
other than the many directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. The film “Teen-Age Strangler” being a
co-feature that H. G. Lewis acquired to be distributed in a package with his “A
Taste of Blood”. Perhaps this was an
intentional, ironic gesture by the author, considering how many of the ad
campaigns for the director’s films were composed with misleading imagery.
Although the book contains a scant 181pgs.
of content (and 12 pages of indexes), it took me a couple weeks to get through
this one. Not because of difficulty but
rather through enjoyment. The author
presents the material in a thorough but readable manner, mixing in a fair
amount of humor reflecting the director’s own approach to his career in
exploitation and horror films. The
descriptive term “horror films” often adapted to the director’s style and
referred to as “gorror” films, reflective of the director’s reputation as an originator
of the use of blood, gore, and splatter to bolster the box office of his low
budget independent horror films.
The author successfully finds an enjoyable
stylistic middle ground avoiding presenting a book that is too dry and factual
or a book that tries to hard to be funny.
The author addresses the career of independent/exploitation film
director Herschell Gordon Lewis thoroughly and chronologically, featuring a
comprehensive overview of the director’s work incorporating a wealth of
personal reflections on the events which preceded the production of his films,
interesting and humorous anecdotes about the problems inherent in independent
film production which occurred during the production of each film, and the
difficulties of distributing an independent film before the advent of home
video.
The book presents an unflinching,
straightforward, but light-hearted look behind the scenes at the director of
films that are remembered as being brave and daring examples of independent
film. Herschell Gordon Lewis always
kept his eye on the bottom line, but he was also aware of the philosophy and
politics of trying to make the best possible film with the least possible waste
of the precious little money that was gathered to produce his films. Although few would dare to claim that Lewis
created any great masterpieces of film, the influence of his work is undeniable
and continues to this day in the use of vice and viscera in the marketing of
exploitation films.
In preparation for enjoying this book, I
recommend that one should see H. G. Lewis’s “Blood Feast” (1963) and “Two
Thousand Maniacs!” (1964) at the very least.
These two films often considered the best of Lewis’s directorial work,
and both of which are relatively easy to get a copy of for your viewing
pleasure. It is not necessary to have
seen every film in H. G. Lewis’s checkered filmography, and the director openly
admits that due to the experimental spirit of his career as an independent film
director, some of those experiments failed, and failed badly.
This book was a pleasure for myself as an
enthusiast of the films I had seen by H. G. Lewis, and a liberal exposure to
those I had not, and most likely will not see.
It is a useful guide and resource for established fans of H. G. Lewis
and those that have not experienced his films, but are interested in the
history of independent film production and theatrical distribution as related
by one of the survivors from the front lines of independent film.
Despite the prohibitive cost, which seems
endemic to the books published by McFarland Press, this book is well worth
acquiring if you can talk a couple of friends into splitting the cost with you
so you can all get to have the pleasure of reading this book.
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