The Gore Gore Girls (1972)

Any movie that’s completely denied entrance into a country (Australia), disallowed from being distributed or displayed did something right. And Herschell Gordon Lewis’ 1972 film, The Gore Gore Girls is it. The film can’t be said to be a thing of cinematic beauty, but in its abhorrent distillation of all things gross, the film maker and his product have succeeded in something much more entertaining: trash.

Some will attempt to explain away any short comings of the film’s technicality, beauty or grace by saying that the inclusion of gender exploration and how it relates to power constitutes some deep thinking. Maybe. Most likely, including thirty minutes of half naked, or completely nude dancing woman wasn’t a show of deep thought on the part of Lewis, but his love of buxom ladies. Even more likely, the director figured that a few extra pair of boobs or cheeks bouncing around would entice some more folks to buy a ticket and take in a viewing.

Regardless, the plot that Alan J. Dachman concocted finds Abraham Gentry (Frank Kress) at home relaxing after a day, assumed, fighting crime and figuring out some heavy, heavy case, when a young reporter shows up on his door step. Nancy Weston (Amy Farrell) explains that her employers at The Globe, a local newspaper, wants to pay him a lump some to work a murder case and will grant a bonus if he succeeds in solving the crime. The hitch? The paper gets to follow him around and report on his every move. After some sexually suggestive remarks, Gentry takes the deal and shuffles Weston out the door.

Even in this opening scene, it’s clear that The Gore Gore Girls is short on cash and needs to be long on atmosphere. Thusly, a great majority of the film is spent in strip joints as Gentry attempts to locate leads and extricate information out of various bar crawlers. Using only a few locations – the bar and a few homes – allowed for Lewis to not only refrain from crafting too many sets, but also made shooting scenes easier. All of the shots from any of the scenes could have been completed in a day, keeping costs down and making the length of production pretty short in contrast to studio pictures. But again, much like adding an extra boob or two, Lewis was attempting to create a digestible film that didn’t cost too much to make, resulting in the greatest potential for financial gain.

Lewis must have had some investment into the gross-out genre – he was involved in enough exploitation styled movies to figure that. But each of his filmic endeavors includes the same tenets: a squirrely script, low rent, cheap actors and enough blood to choke a horse.

To rap up the film neatly, though, after including all of the basics, The Gore Gore Girls climaxes in a twenty minute dance off, which once again flails titties left and right while also serving to flush out the killer…a surprise for sure.