“You're damaged merchandise and this is a fire sale!"

 

(imdb)

SCUM OF THE EARTH!-1963-Photographer Harmon Johnson (Thomas Wood aka Harry Kerwin) deals in porn. He watches dispassionately while his dumb assistant Ajax (Craig Maudslay Jr.) abuses model Sandy (Sandra Sinclair). The head of the ring is a slimy guy named Lang (Lawrence J. Aberwood) who forces Sandy to “recruit” new girls. She gets innocent college hopeful Kim (Louise Downe) to pose for Johnson. After a few shots, suddenly she's posing naked and being abused by Larry (Mal Arnold; Fuad Ramses in BLOOD FEAST), another of Lang's sleaze bag henchman. Later, Lang gives Kim a lecture where the camera has a close up of his mouth while he spats insults. At another shoot, Ajax attacks Kim and Johnson beats him to death with a baseball bat. Sandy stands in for Kim (who they sent away) and stands by Johnson, providing him with a witness that it was self-defense. The cops are alerted and Lang shoots Larry. The police chase Lang to a beach where Lang hits the water. Now trapped, Lang shoots himself. After Kim and Johnson say their goodbyes, the voice of director Herschel Gordon Lewis is heard warning against the scum of the earth. 

This black and white exploitation film was made just a few weeks after Lewis' infamous BLOOD FEAST (which lead actress Downe wrote the screenplay for). It's pretty cheap looking and reminded me of an Ed Wood movie (Wood made THE SINISTER URGE about a porn racket in 1960).

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Grenwich Village Killer

 

 (imdb)

VIOLATED-1953-It's like Ed Wood meets Ron Ormond in this very cheap sleazy thriller. In Greenwich Village in NYC, police investigate the murders of several models/strippers. A tall police lieutenant (Mitchell Kowall) questions everyone. The suspects the cops pick up are pretty amazing looking weirdos. A photographer, Jan Verbick (William Holland in his only film role) is the culprit. He becomes obsessed with a stripper named Lili (Lili Dawn) but she rebuffs him. ("Beat it, ya jerk. I told ya to scram!") After he kills her, he runs down a fire escape in a funny scene. He gets away and the next day he tries to strangle his new young model. The police burst in and arrest him. Under sodium pentothal, Jan reveals why he kills women. The end seems to suggest another killer is around. 

There's an unusual scene (for the time) where two men have their arms around each other. Except for a short film based on “Othello” this was director William Strate's only film. It was produced and written by William Mishkin who years later produced Andy Mulligan's early movies. Lili Dawn was an “exotic dancer” who's only other film appearances are in 8mm films by Irving Klaw.

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US Actors in South American

 

KILLER FISH-1979-In this Italian production filmed in Buenos Aires with North American actors jewel thieves headed by Lasky (Lee Majors) and Kate (Karen Black) steal some valuable gems and wreck most of the facility getting them. They hide the loot underwater in a reservoir. The mastermind behind the heist Diller (James Franciscus) fills the reservoir with piranha. 

Meanwhile Lasky pursues model Gabrielle (Margaux Heminway), while her fat photographer (Roy Brocksmith),manager (Marisa Berensen) and pilot (Gary Collins) hang around. After some of the robbers are killed trying to retrieve the cache, Kate scuba dives for it and she and Diller get the booty. When they get caught in a rainstorm they are picked up by a yacht owned by the model and her entourage. 

The storm washes the piranha into the nearby lake. Diller betrays them all and it's Longstreet vs. The Six Million Dollar Man in the finale battle of the US TV stars in this drawn out little drama directed by Anthony Dawson (aka Antonio Margheriti) (CASTLE OF BLOOD). 

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