The Godfather of Gore! That is all the introduction necessary for
genre fans to identify Herschell Gordon Lewis.
Showman and filmmaker, he made films by the score in the 1960s and into
the early ‘70s and then walked away from the business … later, he became a
legend.
While most of his renowned films are low-budget
splatter gems — Two Thousand Maniacs!, Blood Feast, Color Me Blood
Red, A Taste of Blood, etc. — Lewis also tinkered with
other “exploitative” genres and did a bang up job with his 1968 “biker-chick-flick,”
She-Devils on Wheels.
Word arrived this past week that Arrow Films, with
domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group,
has tabbed May 14 as the street for the stand-alone Blu-ray presentation of the
film (previously out in the October of 2016 17-disc/14-film box set, The
Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast).
Filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis correctly guessed
that there was a theatrical market for a “biker film” with a twist. After all, The Wild
Angels, Hells Angels on Wheels and
more were pulling in bucks, especially on the drive-in circuit, so why not one
featuring a female gang that was every bit as vicious as their male
counterparts. It worked.
As to bonus goodies, there’s a vintage commentary
with Lewis and Something Weird’s Mike Vraney, a pair of featurettes — “The
Shocking Truth!” and “Garage Punk Gore” — and filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis’
juvenile delinquency film, Just for the Hell of It!
thrown in for good measure.
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