THE DEFILERS (1965)
SCUM OF THE EARTH (1963)
Directed by R. Lee Frost/Herschell Gordon Lewis
Something Weird DVD
Reviewed 03.18.04
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba

THE FILM
Ah, the “roughie.” It’s a sweaty celluloid sleaze characterized by stilted dialogue, scratchy black and white photography, real mean dudes, and some gratuitous skin. All of the men are bastards and all of the women are “damaged goods.” Having never experienced a “roughie” film, I took a deep step in with this early Something Weird double feature. So how’d it go?

I was interested in Scum Of The Earth for awhile, seeing as it’s Herschell Gordon Lewis’s film right before the ground breaking ooze of Blood Feast. Knowing nothing about The Defilers, I was a bit unprepared for the unpleasantness that was to follow...

The Defilers tells the story of two young men (one has a receding hairline and looks to be around 40) that live for “kicks.” They have lots of sex, smoke pot, and view women as having only one purpose -- to pleasure men. After awhile, these two “100% American studs” grow tired of all that and need bigger and better kicks. What’s a swinging sociopath to do? Why not kidnap a girl, lock her in a basement, beat her, and have your way with her whenever you want? After several scenes showcasing the girl’s humiliation, the whole thing ends in a violent bash of despair. Blah.

As if you couldn’t tell, The Defilers didn’t do much for me. Early on, I was kind of hooked, as the exceptional photography and vintage Hollywood scenery really set the sleazy tone. Unfortunately, that great start was soon eclipsed by an overly misogynistic series of events that didn’t let up for a second. The viewer is assaulted with a constant barrage of breasts, butts, and violence towards women, and none of it was the least bit enjoyable. There’s no humor to break things up, and while that’s not a bad thing, it’s just not what I look for in a film at this level.

Now onto the real reason I looked into this DVD -- the infamous Scum Of The Earth. Ok, there’s an easy way to sum up this film. Take the basic plot of Ed Wood’s The Sinister Urge from 1960, strip it bare of action, and take the acting level down about ten notches. Add a little point and shoot for minutes on end and you’re off to the land of disappointment.

A group of jerks are involved in the dirty picture racket. The team is comprised of photographer Harmon (almost unrecognizable Lewis regular Bill Kerwin with astoundingly bad fake white hair), head-honcho Mr. Lang, goon-rapist Ajax, and high school big shot Larry (Mal Arnold aka Fuad Ramses of “Blood Feast”!). The boys’ main model, Sandy, wants out of the biz. Given an ultimatum, Sandy recruits new girl Kim (a brunette Jan Brady on uppers) to pose for the new smut shots. Kim’s all for it, as she needs the money for college. Little does she know that the cheesecake photos she poses for today will soon snowball into something much worse tomorrow. Little does she know that she’s about to witness these men become Scum Of The Earth!

I really wanted to love Scum, but alas, true classic status just isn’t in the cards. Aside from some great laughs to be had from the awful acting and goofy dialogue, I couldn’t find much to like about this film. Of course there’s Mr. Lang’s famous “dirty” speech and subsequent mouth close-ups, but that’s over in a minute or so. The rest of the picture is filled with lots of cheesecake, three sets, and not too much in the way of actual development or excitement. No action, no exploitive elements -- not too much of anything. Eyes open up a bit during the “Blood Feast”-y ending, but there just wasn’t enough going on to sustain my interest throughout. Oh well...unfortunate, but true.

AUDIO AND VIDEO
The Defilers print looks fantastic. Nice contrast, deep blacks, and very minor scratches. It’s one of the better SWV prints that I’ve seen. Scum Of The Earth fares worse, with frequent horizontal lines, scratches, and jumps. The picture itself is nice and clear though. The mono sound appearing on both films is adequate.

EXTRAS
It’s interesting how satisfying a great commentary track can be, regardless of how much you enjoyed the actual film being discussed. Such is the case with this one, as producer Dave Friedman and Something Weird’s Mike Vraney sit down for a very interesting discussion while The Defilers unspools. These guys cover everything from Dave’s early forays in Hollywood to Ed Wood stopping by the old office to an actual roadshow Mummy that was kept in Dan Sonney’s (Defilers producer) film warehouse. Thoroughly entertaining and much more enjoyable than the film itself.

After that, the extras follow the pattern set by the two features. So you may or may not be into them, depending on your tastes. We’ve got two shorts, one featuring topless women posing for photographers (“Intimate Diary Of An Artist's Model”), and another featuring two women wrestling for a photographer (“Naked Fury”). Very odd and kind of pointless. Also appearing are several trailers, all of which are heavy on the nasty and very unenjoyable. Rounding out the whole shebang is an excellent exploitation artwork still gallery with an audio drive-in speaker spot for a sex-ed book.

In addition, you can also view this entire disc at once via the “Let’s Go to the Drive-In” option, with accompanying intermission shorts and trailers.

FINAL THOUGHTS
While both films have their historical importance and merit, the big “R” just wasn’t my bag. These “roughies” left me feeling a bit bummed out and that runs in opposition as to why I watch these types of films in the first place -- I like to have fun. Definitely not for everyone, and in my case, strictly a rental. Nice commentary track though.

Welcome to Hollywood


Defilers defile themselves




Snappin' pics


On the run