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Scum
of the Earth
(1963) |
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The obnoxious Mr. Lang heads a seriously smutty "modeling agency" which is no more than a lame front for a nefarious "dirty picture" racket. His agency thrives on trapping innocent young babes and thereafter forcing them by one means or another (usually blackmail) to comply with their sordid demands. Lang is a ruthless blimp of a sleazy suit who sits at his desk churning out orders and thinly veiled threats to those who are unfortunate enough to find themselves trapped in his sleazy web.On one occasion he turns moralistic and delivers a diatribe that ends up as the highlight of the entire film…but more on that later.
Sandra is an ageing blonde model on Lang's books who is looking to retire now that her prospects and body parts are beginning to sag. However the ruthless pig-like Lang refuses to let her go without cutting her a no win deal which she has no choice but to accept - threatened as she is with the worst of Lang's sick justice. The deal is that Sandra is to pimp for Lang and find him fresh meat to entice into the sordid modeling trade. If she manages to provide fresh "talent" then she herself will be spared more obscene pornographic photo sessions where she is made to "model" with sexual deviant muscle bound moron Ajax. Sandra tricks innocent young beauty Kim and brings him to Lang's rather charmingly deceptive and guilt ridden cameraman by the name of Harman. The smooth Harman is a seasoned hand at the game and soon has Kim going from shots for a shoe company to swimsuits in a few short days. Harman spins his web around Kim knowing that she is desperate to put some money together for a college education and she returns to him willing to take on more bold work. She is subsequently persuaded to pose topless and soon the rest follows as she is subjected to a sordid session with the animal-like Ajax. Soon poor Kim is the talk of the town as her pictures are circulated all over the more seedy areas of town. When Kim decides to take a stand and face up to her tormentors Lang delivers a stinging lecture in which Kim is told "All you kids make me sick, you're damaged merchandise….deep down inside you're dirty. Do you hear? Dirty!" The film qualifies with flying colours as another classic from the stable of Friedman and Herschell Gordon Lewis. Here they have pieced together a quite masterfully cheap and cheery exploitation epic full of references to the most debauched sexual activity which is never remotely shown on screen. It's another masterstroke of exploitation by the masters themselves who get away with putting together an incredibly cheap piece of film using actors that are amateurish at best and yet managing to turn a healthy profit at the end of the day - the film being a major hit on the drive in and fleapit circuit. The crew is very much the same as was used on Blood Feast which was churned out in the same year. Mal Arnold (Ramses in Feast) appears as one of Lang's sleazy goons but Thomas Sweetwood as the confused and guilt ridden Harman makes the strongest impression while Lawrence Wood shines as the ghastly Lang. H.G. Lewis didn't consider putting together a movie even a bit of a challenge, he considered the real art was in persuading the ticket buying public to part with their money on his movie and to this endeavor the man proved to be a small time genius. Scum is yet another example of Herschell Gordon Lewis's immense talent and creativity! Not to be missed by fans of trashy exploitation.
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