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| I
EAT YOUR SKIN |
| 1964/71:
Known under a number of titles, including Zombies and
Voodoo Bloodbath, this was given its current name in
1971 to pair it on a double bill with I Drink your Blood.
It's the usual zombie shenanigans, as a swinging writer and
his pals travel to Voodoo Island and encounter an evil scientist
who's using the locals as guinea pigs in his heinous experiments,
thus transforming them into zombies. The scientist moonlights
as a masked stranger who leads the voodoo ceremonies, but why
he does that, well ... don't try and figure it out. Director
Del Tenney, the man who gave us The Horror of Party Beach,
throws in a few cool scenes, including a zombie getting hit
in the chest with a flare gun and knocked over the side of a
boat (when he gets hit, he clutches his chest just below where
the flare hit him, clearly holding the flare himself. As he
turns and falls overboard, he raises his hand in the air. Of
course, the flare stays with his hand, not his chest). Zombie
makeup looks like rolled oats, but the "voodoo" dancers
are pretty good.
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| THE
INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP
ZOMBIES |
1964:
Garishly photographed carnival story, heavily padded with slammin'
sideshow numbers, has youthful dude Jerry (played by director
Ray Dennis Steckler under the alias Cash Flagg) becoming the
victim of evil fortune teller Estrella and her army of zombies
(well, three zombies). Jerry's so cool, man, I wish I was Jerry.
Check out a little of Jerry's spatula-sharp wit:
JERRY: How's college?
JERRY'S
GIRLFRIEND'S BROTHER: Fine. You should try it sometime.
JERRY: The world's my college.
You know, talk don't get much better than that. But just as
cool as Jerry is his  nifto
friend, who speaks with a fairly thick accent. When they first
enter Madame Estrella's tent, she asks if they wish their fortunes
told. Jerry's buddy, quick as a horny toad, replies, "What
you think we came here for, to eat?" Hehe. The seedy carvinal
setting and intensely coloured photography (by Joseph Mascelli,
Vilmos Zsigmond, and, apparently, Laszlo Kovacs) contribute
to an eerie atmosphere, and who can't love those classy sideshow
scenes, featuring the comedic stylings of -- oh, I forget his
name -- and hit songs like "Shook Outta Shape"? Probably
one of Steckler's better pictures; he's also done The Thrill
Killers and Blood Shack (the blood shack is a little
old place where we can get together ...). I've seen this movie
three times, and it just keeps getting better! The secret is
not to be agitated by the excessive padding (i.e. the sideshow
numbers), but to enjoy them for their own kitchalicious value.Back |
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Text
copyright 2000 by Conall Pendergast.
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