On this beautiful
All Hallow’s Eve-Eve, we’re going to hear from a true legend, The Godfather of
Gore himself, Herschell Gordon Lewis.
It would be impossible to overstate HG Lewis’ impact on the genre. A maker of ‘nudie cuties” during his early
career, he revolutionized the way horror was presented onscreen in 1963 when he
made Bloodfeast. Considered to
be the first “splatter flick,” it was the first time gore of that kind was seen
on the silver (mostly drive-in) screen.
His sanguine sin-ema classics like Two Thousand Maniacs, Color Me
Blood Red, The Gore Gore Girls, and The Wizard of Gore gave birth to
the idea that blood and guts sells.
Basically every genre of horror was either inspired by or altered by
that concept. Sure, gore would have
eventually become an ingredient in horror, but I doubt it would have done so as
dramatically. In other words, in my
mind Lewis, who has always maintaned an “Aw, shucks” type of demeanor regarding
his place in cinema history, just might be the single most influential director
as far as horror flicks of the last 50 years are concerned. He’s currently looking for an adventurous
producer so he can start rolling on Mr. Bruce and the Gore Machine. Dammit, someone better get on that right
away! Mr. Lewis, would you do the honor
of telling us what Halloween means to you?
“For those whose sense of excitement and whose anticipation for The
Unknown have been dulled by their dull lives, pedestrian holidays such as
Thanksgiving and Christmas are sufficient.
But for us gorehounds, Halloween is our
holiday. We own it. We revel in it. We build anticipation to the stroke of
midnight, when if the gods of hell see us cavorting, all hell breaks
loose.
On a personal level, Halloween has even
more significance for me, because that's when theatres that normally sneer at
my schlocky splatter films will book them, even for a midnight show. (Try
getting one of these movies booked into a theatre on an ordinary
Wednesday night.) And DVD rentals spurt.
Yes, it's my night. C'mon and share it
with me. We'll share our night in hell.”
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