HONEYMOON OF TERROR (1961)
Directed by Peter Perry
Something Weird DVD-R
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it from Something Weird!
THE FILM
A film that opens with "Directed
By Perri" and closes with "Finis"
suggests a certain sophistication.
After all, a singularly named director
can only point to Europe. We all
know what goes on in Europe.
Frank: "For Mrs. Frank White,
I would rent the Milky Way!"
Marion: "Oh Frank, I don't
think I should get pregnant right
away."
Exactly. It looks foreign. It sounds
foreign. Yet, Honeymoon Of Terror
isn't. This is where art school
meets home schooling and eventually,
everybody gets happy. Hop the trolley
to Horror-Nudie, USA. Pierre Perri
doesn't really exist here, but Peter
Perry does. Need proof? My Tale
Is Hot is indeed a real movie.
I double checked.
While the REAL Europeans were busy
doing it with Horrors Of Spider
Island in 1960, Peter Perry
was doing it in Hollywood. By 1965,
the horror-nudie would hit its apex
with Perry's Kiss Me Quick!,
a mindless midnight rendezvous between
Harvey Kurtzman's Mad, the early
halftones of Playboy, and a Halloween
Sound Effects LP. With Honeymoon
Of Terror, his second film
from 1961, Pete P. and West Coast
distro-guru Dan Sonney gather the
pocket change and shoot it (mostly)
kinked. This is a digest-sized "terror"
film; 60 minutes long, postcard
perfect, and next to no nudity.
Dale Berry ripped it off for The
Girl And The Geek in 1964,
but The Geek's got nothing on hipsters
like Frank and Marion. How's that
for a coup de grace?
It's an almost-three part tragedy.
Young newlyweds Frank (sounds like
a drugged Jerry Seinfeld) and Marion
(world's worst tent pitcher) get
married, drive to Vegas, hang out
in a tiny Motel room, visit remote
Thunder Island, and battle a rapist/killer
with "a club foot that drags".
The killer looks like Handy Andy.
That's it, but not really. We have
yet to discuss the Pete Perry "touch."
Honeymoon Of Terror's plot
might've been scrawled on a grade
schooler's notebook, but the awkward
disconnection could only come from
a true authority in the trash film
projects. Weird is in: Stock footage
of Vegas intercuts with actors against
black backgrounds, while demos for
the Clutch Cargo score play on.
Dialogue jumps from dictionary-limp
to unbelievably odd. Footage sometimes
speeds up, all home movie-like,
for no apparent reason. A dream
sequence recaps the entire first
half of the movie at the 30 minute
mark, but leaves out the prized
sight gag. Steadfast and supreme,
these inexplicable decisions hold
our hand when the chase footage
(and most everything else) grows
stale.
By the end, the beach stands serenely,
the night is still very young, and
I'm yearning for more. The Europeans
have nothing on "Perri."
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Things are a little hazy here and
there, but overall, the print is
exactly what you'd expect from a
black and white obscurity. A little
scratchy, a little noisy, but always
appropriate. The mono sound had
a bit of a high pitched buzz in
tow, but I got used to it.
EXTRAS
This is a Something Weird DVD-R,
so most certainly. Nearly an hour's
worth of vintage exploitation trailers
and shorts shoot by after the feature,
including spots for Married
Too Young, The Pusher,
and Mary Jane. There's
also a nifty scopitone-type music
bit called "Lover's Booze."
FINAL THOUGHTS
Baffled by the insaniac, snapshot
appeal of quaint monster-nudies?
Don't start here. However, if selected
early 1960s works from Barry Mahon,
Dale Berry, and yes, Peter Perry,
already light up your nights, Honeymoon
Of Terror won't disappoint.
It's more horror, much less nudie,
and all ignorant fun.
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 04.13.06 |
Ne pas de'ranger!
Thunder Island thunder
Marion-o
The club-footed one
|
