Pulp Features

Russ Meyer, pioneer of the sexploitation film, died last Saturday, aged 82.

He made his film debut in 1959 with The Immoral Mr. Teas, the first ‘nudie’ film (soft-core sex film) to make a profit (over a million dollars). This led to a string of self-financed films that gradually became more bizarre, violent and cartoonish. In 1964-5 he established his style with his ‘Gothic period’ a quartet of black-and-white films (Lorna, Mudhoney, Motor Psycho and Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) that many consider to be his best work.

The critical and commercial success of Vixen (1968) caught the attention of 20th Century-Fox execs, who signed Meyer to direct the Roger Ebert written Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) which was his biggest success. This was followed by The Seven Minutes (1971) which flopped. After his experiences with Fox, Meyer retrurned to the independent production and distribution of his own movies.

The demise of the drive-in market and the emphasis on hard-core pornography (which Meyer always eschewed) effectively ended his directorial career and he spent the 1980s working on various autobiographies, both in film (The Breast of Russ Meyer) and print (A Clean Breast).

But the purpose of this feature is to highlight some of the peaks of his three decades of filmmaking. Plot summaries are taken from the IMDb.

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend, they take the girl hostage and begin scheming on a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert, reputedly hiding a tidy sum of cash. They become houseguests of the old man and try and seduce the sons in an attempt to locate the money, not realizing that the old man has a few sinister intentions of his own.

Of all Meyer’s films, Faster Pussycat has probably found the widest audience worldwide, and has even inspired a rock band to name themselves after the film (as did Vixen and Mudhoney).

Vixen

Vixen lives in a Canadian mountain resort with her naive pilot husband. While he’s away flying in tourists, she gets it on with practically everybody including a husband and his wife, and even her biker brother.

Big breasts and a political subtext from this Vietnam-era film which follows the fortunes of a black draft dodger and takes time out to spotlight a bunch of commies who want to hijack a plane and fly it to Cuba.

Vixen Palmer (Erica Gavin) also manages to strike a blow for female empowerement with a wet fish…

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

A hip and happenin’ all girl rock group head to LA to claim lead-singer Kelly’s inheritance and make it (and make it) in LA. They immediately fall under the spell of rock’n'roll Svengali, the ‘Teen Tycoon’ of rock Ronnie ‘Z-Man’ Barzell, and other rapacious Hollywood party types as lustful porno actress Ashley St Ives, ravenous lesbian Roxanne and shady lawyer Porter Hall. Soon the girls fall into a morass of drugs and deceit as their recording success soars. It takes several tragedies to make them stop and think… but is it too late?

Meyer’s big studio movie - a sequel in name only to The Valley of the Dolls - was written by film critic, Roger Ebert, and follows a girl band who come undone - in every sense of the word - in a time of sex and drugs and rock-and-roll. As one of the characters so poignantly puts it: “There’s juice freaks and pill freaks and then everyone’s a freak. What you need is grass or a downer or something.”

Super Vixens

Clint Ramsey has to leave his job working at Martin Bormann’s gas station and flee after his wife is murdered by psycho cop Harry Sledge, who tries to pin the murder on Clint. Crossing America, Clint gets sexually harassed on all sides by various voluptuous nymphomaniacs, and it all ends in a literally explosive climax.

Kind of a mad road movie, with psycho cops, brazen nymphos and - of course - badly fitting bras.

Up!

This kicks off with the murder of one Adolf Schwartz (who bears a striking resemblance to another famous Adolf) by placing a ravenous piranha fish in his bathtub. Who did it? No-one knows or cares, as they’re too busy being distracted by busty Margo Winchester, who hitch-hikes into town and gets involved with all the local men. It all ends with a series of complicated plot twists that reveal that just about everyone is really someone else. And if it gets too confusing, Russ Meyer helpfully arranges for a one- woman nude Greek chorus to pop up at intervals to explain what’s going on.

Think of Up! as an existential whodunnit… with breasts.

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens

Believe it or not even in Smalltown USA there are still people who are unfulfilled and unrelieved in the midst of plenty. Levonna & Lamar could have the perfect relationship if it were not Lamar’s obsession with rear entry. After submitting to the one last time Levonna comes up with a plan. While Lamar is trying find other tail to try his technique on, Levonna becomes Lola with aid of a wig and a Mexican accent. A Mexican cocktail later Lola finally has Lamar straight, but he wasn’t awake for it. The gay marriage counselor, attracted to Lamar’s problem, couldn’t help them and Lemar must finally seek redemption at the church of Rio Dio Radio and the laying on of hands by Sister Eufaula Roo.

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens, Russ Meyer’s final film is a bawdy, burlesque satire of small-town mores, top-heavy with bared breasts, cacophonous arguments and cartoonish protagonists. Proving, once and for all, that if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.

Sean Hope’s love for movie special effects started at the tender age of seven years old with the uncut version of Béla Lugosi’s Frankenstein movie on PBS. This movie, along with his avid comic book reading, sparked Sean’s creativity in ways that would only reveal themselves later.

At the age of thirteen Sean and his brother decided to take home movies to a new level by smuggling some fireworks into their home and nearly blowing themselves up. Their first movie ended in disaster and, sadly, the tape has fallen into obscurity.

After a long series of movie making pitfalls, Sean met Jerry Shuman, a great, yet still relatively unknown, makeup artist. With Jerry’s help, Sean escaped the dead end constraints of Corporate America, and together they started a New Jersey based special effects makeup studio - HopeWorksfx.

Sean still hopes to one day sit in the director’s chair, but in the meantime he spoke to Dale Pierce about the art and craft of special makeup effects.

Dale: As a special effects person do you feel you tend to be ignored by the media, as opposed to actors, actresses and directors?
Sean: I don’t feel ignored, the funny thing about the special effects business is the more realistic or convincing the work we do is the less seen the F/X artist is. The general audience actually believes what they are seeing so having the effect go unnoticed is a good thing. Special Effects artist are like magicians in that respect and the more people believe in movie magic the less in the limelight we are. In the same token the more praise from the industry we get for our work.

Dale: It seems like Tom Savini gets attention but no one else. Have you ever met Savini?
Sean: Actually I have met Tom at Chiller Theatre in Rutherford, he certainly took an interest in some of our prosthetics and the feelings are certainly mutual with some of his effects. I think it probably the greatest compliment that can be given to an F/X artist, is one given by their peers. I also disagree with you that Tom is getting all the attention, I think Rick Baker and Dick Smith would disagree with you on that.

Dale: Where did you learn the art of f/x?
Sean: The simple answer is I when I was in college I took several courses (inside and outside of school) that dealt with painting, anatomy, mold making, sculpting, theater and film. But I started when was 8 years old, I was given a “How to Book” written by Dick Smith for my birthday and after a lot of time and even more books, I have been working in the film and effects field ever since. In addition, I have a special place in my heart for monster/horror movies.

Dale: Why does the industry say f/x instead of special effects?
Sean: I think it’s mainly because when you say the two letters together it sounds like “effects” and it’s much simpler to write than Special Effects.

Dale: Now you also teach other people?
Sean: Yes, we do, though we don’t teach in a class setting and normally what we teach is something the “students” are specifically looking to learn.

Dale: What films have you worked on?
Sean: As a company, Hopeworksfx is just starting out and I would like to personally thank Lou Gomez of Iglou Entertainment for giving HopeWorksfx its first professional job. Myself, I’ve worked on over 30 films, commercials, and TV shows. My partner Jerry Shuman has been doing make-up for a few years longer. Our newest member to the team Dan Ferron also has a lot independently before joining. We have been involved with projects from the USA Network, MGM, MVP, Iglou Entertainment, FD Productions, View Askew, Marvel Comics, HBO, Showtime, The World Wrestling Federation, and many others.

Dale: In the indie film world there are loads of budget and behind the scenes problems, making horror stories within horror stories so to speak? Any interesting mishaps you can recall that you would want to talk about?
Sean: The only one that comes to mind is we made a mask hat covered the face, nose, and mouth and once applied to me, I quickly learned that not only couldn’t I see, but I couldn’t breath either. I sucked it up and held my breath when I could and almost passed out. The funny thing is I’m the one to blame for the lack of air and I think it was a good thing that it was me behind the mask.

Dale: Any upcoming projects?
Sean: There are many things in the works right now. We are in the middle of a Super Villain Movie for FD Productions and Iglou Entertainment is going to grab us up once again to do some more episodes for their UFN project. The rest we are either contracted to not discuss the project or we are in the middle of talks for contracts - I never count my chickens before they are hatched. Halloween time is our bread and butter, we are doing the decorations for several large parties in both New York and

Dale: What are some of the past projects you have worked on?
Sean: For HopeWorksfx as a company the main past project was this year for Iglou Entertainment’s UFN project.

Dale: Are there any other makeup artists or special effects people from the past we have not mentioned, whom you admire?
Sean: So with the exception of Dick Smith, Rick Baker and Tom Savini for the list. I don’t think I could name them all. A few off the top of my head Ben Nye Sr., Tom McLaughlin, Kevyn Aucoin, Eva Marie Denst, Jack Pierce. The truth is I have a lot of admiration for those who continue to create effects for films.

Dale: What about on the present scene, aside from yourself?
Sean: The present New York film industry scene has been hit hard. The decline in the economy has hurt the Entertainment and then with all of the homeland security making it either too difficult or too expensive to film in the city. There are a lot of laws and rules that have been changing; investors in films no longer get a two for one tax break and a host of other problems that make being an independent film maker very difficult. I believe the filmmaking and special effects industries are strong enough and will adapt to the up coming changes

Dale: What advice can you give others who wish to break into this field?
Sean: Though I’ve been told that acting is tougher to break into - Jerry and I have been creating this company for the past three years and only now are we starting to be recognized. One of the pitfalls that I have encountered over the years is that most people offer only credit and sometimes a meal for special effects. The reason I say this is a pitfall is that though it gets you noticed for doing effects, it also gives you a reputation for working for free. It’s very difficult to get away from doing that because “work for free” there is more work than anyone can handle. I worry sometimes that film makers don’t understand that in order to dedicated 100% of our efforts to special effects we have to survive and one or two meals doesn’t pay the rent. So my advice is work very hard, hone your talents and creativity (practice, practice, practice) and be insulted when the film maker only wants to only offer you film credit - because that’s what they are telling you that your time, your craft is worth nothing.

Dale: Have you ever considered acting, directing or making your own films from scratch as a producer, or is your interest entirely in the effects field?
Sean: Yes I have considered doing all of the above and no my interest isn’t entirely in the effects field. Ten years ago I would have told you that I was a movie director. My love certainly leans towards the creative and doing special effects has certainly turned itself into a passion.

Jeremiah Kipp has directed several short films and videos, including Hamlet; Near To You and Forest of Dreams. His short film Snapshot is one of Film Threat’s Best Undistributed Films of 2002.

His film, The Christmas Party, is an examination of the way adults communicate their religious beliefs to children as well as being a thought provoking and disturbing look at the way that religions exploit the lonely and vulnerable in order to sell their message.

And he has very kindly agreed to answer a few questions about film making, The Christmas Party, and some of the ideas provoked in this excellent short.

Paul: Is “The Christmas Party” your first film?
Jeremiah: No, my first film was a scary movie we made in my basement when I was 12 years old. It had the production value of an Ed Wood movie, and a script to match. After completing about 300 of these movies with the neighborhood kids, I attended New York University and started making 16mm movies there. Since graduation, I’ve continued making short films and videos. So “The Christmas Party” is not the first, but some consider it to be the best.

Paul: Who or what inspired you to start making films?
Jeremiah: When I was a little kid, I enjoyed drawing pictures. I was also an avid reader, and would write stories. I performed in a lot of theater as a child, too. Films seemed to encapsulate all those things: pictures, acting, and storytelling. It felt like a natural progression. As I said, my first movies were horror movies. My favorite directors at that time were John Carpenter (”The Thing”), George A. Romero (”Dawn of the Dead”), David Cronenberg (”Videodrome”), people like that. I still have a great fondness for the genre, and feel like parts of “The Christmas Party” were directly or indirectly influenced by Carpenter and by independent horror filmmaker Larry Fessenden (”Wendigo”; “Habit”).

Paul: What was your inspiration for “The Christmas Party”?
Jeremiah: I wanted to make a film about how we present religion to our children, which is to address the idea of what we value. While I do not consider “The Christmas Party” to be autobiographical, the rural neighborhood where I grew up (in Rhode Island) had several Southern Baptists and religious fundamentalists who were strongly committed in their viewpoints. My grandparents were atheists and existentialists who believed more in Sartre and Camus than the scriptures. It never bothered me as a child, but one could see the tug-of-war that might create in a little kid’s soul. If they were feeling vulnerable, dealing with something like an alcoholic mother or divorce, religion might seem like a catharsis. To others, it may seem like a trap. It’s up to the audience to decide where they want to place their loyalty in “The Christmas Party”.

Paul: The film does, of course, deal with the way in which adults communicate their beliefs to their children. I felt that the evangelising was very much a “hard sell” and that Gabriel’s understanding of what was being offered was very different to what the minister and his wife were intending. Do you think that adults do - not always intentionally - pressure children into accepting beliefs they don’t necessarily understand?
Jeremiah: When I talked with the actors Tom Reid and Stephanie Foster, who play the minister and his wife, we approached the characters as being like salesmen. The minister makes the pitch, leading prayer sessions and singing songs during the party, and his wife is the one who closes the deal. When the minister dims the lights and says, “If anyone out there feels alone, if anyone feels like letting Jesus in, just raise your hand,” the wife is the one who brings Gabriel into the other room to finish his conversion. That means the children are being sold something, and there is a pressure to buy it. The fact that Gabriel is in a room surrounded by kids who have already become Christian only adds to that sense of pressure, coming from Gabriel’s 10-year-old peers. Add to that his own sense of guilt at not living with his mother, and we’re talking about something that Gabriel thinks he understands, but is actually being caught up in a sense of fervor. It’s difficult not to think of someone like Jim Jones and Jonestown when an innocent is caught up in that sort of one-sided groupthink.

Paul: One of the things I got from the film was a feeling of insincerity from both of the hosts of the party. Was this deliberate?
Jeremiah: I’d argue that the insincerity you feel has to do with the fact that the minister and his wife cannot state their true intentions outright. That would just frighten Gabriel. Instead, they lead him down a certain path. I’d consider it more duplicity than hypocrisy.

Paul: If so, do you feel that many or some people who cling to religious beliefs are less than sincere?
Jeremiah: Anyone who looks at the world from only one direction is not accepting that the world is a complicated place. Religious beliefs can create a system where you can decide what is good and what is bad, and provide a rulebook of sorts. Under the best of circumstances, it can provide a beautiful philosophy. But adherence to a religious text or a guru without questioning is a form of self-deception, or brainwashing. You could say the same thing about our media, or our politicians. I would also argue that Mel Gibson seems very sincere about his religious beliefs, but if you watch “The Passion of the Christ” carefully you can read it as bullying, obtuse, mean-spirited, and one-dimensional. Is that insincere? No. Is it corrupt? I think so.

Paul: Austin Labbe puts in an incredible performance. How did you find him and was it difficult working with so many child actors?
Jeremiah: We originally held auditions for child actors in New York City, where I live. But many of the kids we found were more appropriate for the tacked on smiles and cutesiness of Radio City Music Hall. Either that, or they were burned out and exhausted from doing low budget independent films and wanted to be kids again instead of actors, which is fair enough. The search went back to Rhode Island, where I scoured acting schools and programs. Austin Labbe was in one of those classes, and it was evident from his screen test that he had some training. He had already done movies and been on Saturday Night Live, and he had an introspective quality that felt right for Gabriel.
We hung out for an afternoon talking about the movie, and about football, and I felt comfortable selecting him for the role. He’s a very mature young man, and had his own version of the method that he would draw on when acting in a scene.

It was not difficult for me working with the other child actors, since they were well behaved on the set and excited to be there. Between takes, they would sit around listening to the grown-up actors talk about their careers, or watch us set the lights. Since I never left the set, I didn’t have to deal with them when they were running around playing in the snow. My producer Rachel Gordon and production coordinator Kiki Latimer had to keep an eye on them to make sure they wouldn’t ruin their costumes or get hurt.
They were good kids, but kids will be kids, right? When they weren’t working, they wanted to play!

Paul: The film’s score was also very effective. What were your influences, if any?
Jeremiah: It was my pleasure to work once again with composer Rob Reddy, who previously collaborated with me on a dark comedy called “Snapshot”. While Rob and I are both fans of film composers Mychael Danna (”The Sweet Hereafter”) and Andrew Dickson (”Secrets and Lies”), we didn’t get into conversations about what the influences would be. Instead, I allowed Rob to read the script long before shooting began, and showed him different cuts of “The Christmas Party” starting with an early rough cut. This allowed him to respond to the film itself while composing. Rob says that he was inspired by the season of winter in New England, with Christmas approaching. Rob is also able to tap into dark and disarming places within his music, and that lent itself nicely to the film.

Paul: What sort of reactions have you had to “The Christmas Party” so far?
Jeremiah: It’s been fascinating to observe the reactions. New York audiences tend to have a cynical attitude towards the minister and his wife, and often there’s nervous laughter until they’re swept up in the more eerie sequences — then they laugh again when they realize it’s not so bad, and finally they’re hit hard by the bleak climax. My audiences in Rhode Island are more familiar with these characters, since they can identify them as people they instinctively know. They view the film very seriously, and are more accepting of the religious couple. They see it as realism, or a slice-of-life. San Francisco, on the other hand, took it as a straight-up horror film where they were terrified completely by the Christmas Party itself, and aghast at what poor Gabriel had to go through. It varies from city to city, and from festival to festival.

But individual audience members have had very polarized responses to the film, and to the characters. Some love the grandparents, others find them irresponsible — and some find the minister to be a monster whereas others find him to be merely a neighbor seriously committed in his beliefs. That’s what I was hoping for with the film: to generate discussion.

Paul: So what’s next on your plate?
Jeremiah: I recently directed one of seven new commercial spot for Canon, demonstrating the features of their new XL2 camera. That was great fun, and afforded me the opportunity to direct a slapstick comedy. I’m also planning a short film to be shot in New Jersey, written by acclaimed playwright Suzanne Bachner. That’s a comedy-drama. But I’d love to make a horror movie, and am planning to work on a werewolf script this fall. It will take place in the same environment of rural alienation as “The Christmas Party”, and deal with similar themes of repression and desire. I’m actually very proud that members of the horror film community have responded so well to my work, and feel that the genre is especially important in today’s troubled times.
It’s an allegory for where we are.