JUST
FOR THE HELL OF IT (1968)
BLAST OFF GIRLS (1967)
Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
Something Weird DVD
THE FILMS
Destruction! Really bad garage bands!
It’s a Herschell Gordon Lewis-themed
double feature from Something Weird.
Shall we?
Herschell Gordon Lewis has birthed
a new expoitation genre all by himself.
It’s called Destructploitation.
As of this day, there is one sole
film that defines it...one sole
film that can never be topped in
its depiction of rampant destruction.
Behold Just For The Hell
Of It and don’t say
I didn’t warn you.
Forget about a plot, because you
won’t find one here. Nope,
Mr. Lewis knows that viewers laid
down the cash to see one thing in
this picture: unflinching destruction
and violence, one scene after another!
There’s a teenage gang of
awkward looking kids. They’re
called “Destruction, Inc.”
The gang is led by Dexter (played
by Ray Sager aka The Wizard Of Gore)
and his bunny rabbit girlfriend
Mitzy. During the first hour of
this motion picture,you will be
exposed to gang fights, a baby placed
in a garbage can, a man assaulted
with house paint, little kids getting
beat up, and very gratuitous furniture
abuse. And that’s just the
start of it. Trust me when I say
that you’ll be laughing hysterically
within the first ten minutes --
the outrageous pranks performed
by Destruction, Inc. keep escalating
until they finally learn their lesson
at the climax of the film. Or do
they?
Like most of H.G. Lewis’ films
from his prolific late 60s period,
Just For The Hell Of It is completely bizarre and for the
most part, hilarious. It’s
filled with many classic moments.
Unfortunately, the film grinds to a halt
a little over an hour in, suffers
from some boring padding (swimming
pool romp, bumper pool square-off)
and gets a tad bit mean spirited
towards the end. Overall though,
I can’t help but laugh. I
mean, where does the spark of inspiration
for something like this come from?!
After the wall to wall insanity
of Just For The Hell Of It,
grab a pillow and take a load off
during the promising, but unfortunately
boring, Blast-Off Girls.
I have to be blunt here. On the
whole, this film was pretty awful.
Blast-Off Girls has
a good premise and utilizes a lot
of familiar faces from Hell,
but it’s so poorly crafted
and cheap that waiting out the duration
was a bit of a chore...
Boojie Baker is a slimy, crooked
manager of bad garage bands. He
whores women, bribes record producers,
and cheats his bands out of money.
After getting the brush off from
a band he’s managing, Boojie
comes upon “The Big Blast.”
He decides to make them the next
big thing and blurts out his catch
phrase, “Have a blast!”
constantly. “The Big Blast”
performs very badly produced garage
pop-rock. A lot. They make it big
and party. A lot. Not too much else
happens.
Blast-Off Girls is
very amateurish, but not in a good
way. There’s mucho talk, punctuated
with thick Chicago accents (this
was another of Herschell’s
movies that were filmed in Chicago)
and not much action. The whole thing
comes off as a gutter grade Monkees
show rip-off: bad sets, nonexistent
acting, never ending performance
scenes and not much to laugh at.
However, be on the lookout for THE
Colonel Sanders in a speaking cameo.
He winks at the camera.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Both films look like lower rung
H.G. Lewis films from the 60s. You’ll
find scratches, green emulsion lines,
and jump cuts throughout. Blast-Off
Girls fares worse in the
print department and appears here
in non-anamorphic widescreen, while
Just For The Hell Of It is full frame. Just For The
Hell Of It featured a few
fade-ins/outs mid-scene and some
surprising seconds of strobe flashing
for no apparent reason. There were
also a few scenes that featured
a very dirty lens. Transfers are
both fine. The audio is in glorious
mono and everything is audible.
EXTRAS
Ok, this DVD certainly delivers
here. We’ve got some really
fantastic trailers for other Lewis
films, some of which aren’t
available on DVD yet. My favorites
were the music video for Suburban
Roulette and The Psychic,
which featured a lot of footage
that wasn’t in the VHS version
that I saw. Most of the trailers
are narrated by Herschell himself
-- do not miss the fancy vocal effects
utilized during the “Something
Weird” trailer.
Onto the shorts...first up, an H.G.
Lewis short film titled Hot
Night At The Go-Go Lounge.
It’s prime 60s schlock. We’re
treated to some shots of packed
nightclubs. Then, out of nowhere,
you will be subjected to some very
unattractive topless go-go dancing.
Next up, we have an amazing curiosity
piece -- an actual drive-in sex
education book pitch from the 60s,
running around twenty minutes. Bear
witness to a classic huckster trying
his hardest to sell sex ed books,
complete with a deadly serious tone
and big Buddy Holly glasses. It’s
hysterical.
Also included is a gallery of exploitation
poster and ad art, complete with
actual concession stand audio announcements,
three groups of drive-in intermission
shorts (all are amazing), and a
great easter egg featuring a trailer
for H.G. Lewis’s very scary
The Magical Land Of Mother
Goose.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although Blast-Off Girls was a real stinker, I had fun with
this disc. The extras really make
up for the lacking second feature
and Just For The Hell Of
It was a good time. The whole
of this DVD is a must see for H.G.
Lewis devotees. A rental will probably
suffice for anyone else.
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 02.06.04 |
Furniture anger
Is nothing sacred?
Shot repeat #10
Little kids, beware
The Booj'
The Big Blast
It's really him
Makin' it big
|
