Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Three On A Meathook (1972)

2.5 / 5 Mar '10
Tagline: A Padlocked Shed, Hooks of Cold Steel -- a Maniac on the loose
Directed by: William Girdler
Written by: William Girdler
Actors Include: Charles Kissinger, James Carroll Pickett, Sherry Steiner
Genre: Horror
Length: 78 minutes
Banned: Nope




Review:
So this is William Girdler's (The Manitou) debut film and boy is it cheap...I mean it looks like Herschell Gordon Lewis must have had twice the budget and gore effects then this had. The thing is, although it's relatively poorly made it's still relatively ahead of it's time (especially when you consider this predates The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by two years). Although today this seems very formulaic there really wasn't much of a formula to follow at the time so I give credit to Girdler on that account too. The plot is about a young Man named Billy who is desperate for some Lady attention. When he stumbles upon four lovely young ladies he offers them a place to stay for the night. See Mother is dead, and Father isn't too pleased about this, in fact he warns Billy never to bring Woman home because of his "issues with Women". After the girls are brutally slaughtered (including one of the first horror decapitations I believe) in ketchup Billy wakes up the next morning to their corpses not having a clue what happened. When he gets drunk to forget in a club he passes out and wakes up in the bed of a nice young waitress. They end up being fond of one another and so he invites her and her friend to his house for the weekend but will they survive? It actually nearly shares it's plot with the film Frightmare which is rather strange...I actually give credit to the plot for being decent. It's only the budget, acting, effects and large dull parts that make it less than a fun film to watch. Oh and I should mention, we have a few performances from quite the band American Xpress, quite ridiculous! Oh and when the band isn't on screen prepare for ridiculous AM '70s songs nobody has ever heard and for good reason.

Availability:  On DVD

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