JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT (1968)
BLAST OFF GIRLS (1967)
Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
Something Weird DVD
Reviewed 02.06.04
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba

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.

Furniture anger


Is nothing sacred?


Shot repeat #10


Little kids, beware




The Booj'


The Big Blast


It's really him


Makin' it big