Gay Girls

 

ALWAYS ON SUNDAY-1962-Silent black & white takeoff on Jules Dassin's NEVER ON A SUNDAY by the Gay Girls Riding Corporation, a group of gay men and transvestites. Female prostitutes (men in drag) go to a bar. It's not very good but ahead of it's time.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO BABY JANE-1963-Short film by GGRC about the events leading up to the movie WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? and then parodying the film. All the roles are played by men.

SPY ON THE FLY-1967-Transvestite parody of James Bond includes slapstick, car chases, fights and explosions. It's a short film (43 minutes) that seems to go on forever.

ALL ABOUT ALICE-1972-Hour long color parody of ALL ABOUT EVE. Looks like it could have influenced John Waters.

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Step Right Up!

 

 (imdb)

STEPS FROM HELL-1990-Some vampire demon Vlad (Bernardo Rosa) is searching for a gateway. The tale seems to be told in flashback by a writer to his would-be research assistant. They both act like they'd rather be someplace else. After his father is killed, a priest (Ron O'Dell) goes looking for Vlad, whose chief henchman is a huge black transvestite. He has a funny fight with a black couple in the woods. Later he and a ghoul girl attack some guys in a van and eat one of them. One guy who escapes beats up the huge guy with terrible martial arts moves but is killed anyway. Then later suddenly the big guy is chasing a woman. She beats him with a stick and stabs him but the undead woman grabs her. Later the priest fights Vlad in a good vs. evil finale in slow motion. Beelzebub shows up at the end too. 

The date on the film is 1990 but it looks like some washed out regional release made in the early '70's with bright lighting that suddenly goes dark, outrageously bad acting (most of the actors seem in a coma), too much talk and all the voices seem to be slowed down somewhat. Writer/director James Adam Tucker was also an actor (He played a cop on John Waters' HAIRSPRAY).

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"Stepping High" by Eddie Murray:

https://youtu.be/gT_VKzw18S8?si=x-DaJoAtd5ZRLZgy

Milligan on 42nd Street

 

 (imdb)

FLESHPOT ON 42nd STREET-1973-Ha! This terrible Andy Milligan movie is about a dumb whore and her various tricks. It almost seems like like a sleazy documentary. The cast is made up almost exclusively of hardcore porno actors including Laura Cannon, Harry Reems and Fred Lincoln. Neil Flanagan, Guru in Milligan's GURU THE MAD MONK, is a weird homo in a bad wig. It's really terribly made but the performances aren't bad and there's great scenes of the old 42nd street. If you like crappy '70's porno with grotesque '70's sex scenes then this is for you. Hooker Dusty (Laura Cannon) shacks up with transvestite Cherry (Flanagan) but changes her plans when she meets Bob (Harry Reems) but things don't work out as she plans and she returns to doing tricks.

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It's A Crazy World!

MONDO BALORDO-1964-(A FOOL'S WORLD)-I really don't care for these MONDO movies but Boris Karloff's serious yet friendly narration really make this whole “real life” movie bearable. 

It begins with Franz Draco, a 27 inch Elvis type impersonator who does back flips, splits and drops his pants while singing. Karloff makes mention (he says Japan where Franz was born is “the land of miniatures”) that the public is more interested in Draco's “dimensions than by his imitations” (while he performs “I Ain't Got Nobody”). Next some scenes from several Italian “strong man” movies are shown which leads to workers who must carry away the debris from these stunts. (of course the “debris” probably weigh nothing). Next up is Paddy Whose, some English guy who has women crowing like birds to stay young while he munches crackers. Then comes a very short scene concerning some Bedouins who sell their women as “call girl Bedouins” to tourists. Then suddenly the action shifts to Las Vegas where at a convention women are judged by their breast sizes. Karloff's monologue at this point doesn't make sense. 

Anyway, we switch to Hong Kong (“with all the temptations of the Orient”) where, we are told a “mixed race” dancer entices an all male audience. Then (we are still in Hong Kong) we see some bondage photos being made. Then some bound women wrestle while smiling businessmen watch and approve. After this zebras fight each other (in Africa) for dominance, a lion feeds on the loser. A white hunter kills an elephant and his “Negro bearers” will eat like kings. The hunter gets the tusks. Another weird segue involves an “arranged” marriage between an 81 year old man and his 24 year old prostitute bride. Then in Barcelona we visit a transvestite party. Later in Munich at a beer hall party, Germans in Lone Ranger masks have sword fights hoping to scar their opponents. Then a visit to a German transvestite nightclub (there are German subtitles when a song is sung). Now we go to a Lesbian club in Hamburg. 

After this at a carnival in “Northern Europe” women wrestle with balloons attached to their bodies. They must pop the balloons to win. Then some real “mondo” moments take place. First, fishermen in Ceylon quickly slaughter turtles (“mild and innocent, symbol of slowness”). Back in Africa soldiers (dispatched by England) hunt natives who are not allowed to hunt animals (although the white hunter is). While on the coast of India we get to witness an exorcism. A witch doctor eats a live chicken (Funny..I thought they didn't eat meat in India...??). Then women and children in Ecuador are shown munching cocoa leaves (“even children learn to use the leaves before they can walk”). Back to Hong Kong we meet prostitutes addicted to cocaine and morphine. Unfortunately for them their pusher is late. Fortunately for the viewer they get to see a scene of said addicts going through an “erotic” withdrawal. Added to this are scenes of opium addicts smoking their pipe. After this a Maharajah in India makes it rain. Back in America Jehovah's Witness's baptize folks into their faith but they also baptize followers in Germany. (Karloff's narration here is a put down) He also talks about the “Archipelago of desolation", The Berlin Wall, smuggling, lottery tickets and a guy who thinks he's the reincarnation of Rudolph Valentino.

 MB is mostly staged and very mundane. Perhaps it would have been a little shocking when first released but by today's standards it's just slightly bizarre. There is found footage of actual events but most of it is taken out of context or just plainly fabricated. The thing that holds it all together and makes it watchable is the presence of King Karloff who's narration is earnest yet has occasional tinges of irony and skepticism.

“It's really a crazy world. Sincerely Boris Karloff”.

The original director of this Italian production was Roberto Bianchi Montero. The American version (presented by AIP) was directed by Albert T. Viola.

Thanks for reading! Sincerely, CavedogRob