Reel Bad Cinema: God's Bloody Acre (1975) review

GOD'S BLOODY ACRE 1975

Wayne Crawford (David), William Kerwin (Monroe), Jennifer Stock (Leslie), Daniel Schweitzer (Ezra), Sam Moree (Benny), Robert Rosano (Robert Rizzo), Suzanne Robinson (Carol Rizzo)

Directed by Harry Kerwin

The Short Version: GOD'S BLOODY ACRE is a hopelessly obscure oddity from the generally entertaining hixploitation genre. It desperately wants to be as offensive and tasteless as its $20,000 budget will allow by tossing every ingredient into this shit stew such as misogyny, racism and rape. When it's not making you erupt in laughter or boring the hell out of you, there're a few moments of creativity that show the admittedly green filmmakers wanted to do something "special" with the material. The finished product is assuredly "special", but more the short bus variety than anything noteworthy. In the end, this BLOODY ACRE is a piece of putrid property whose value will only go up for bad cinema buffs.


A backwoods father and his two redneck sons don't take kindly to construction workers bulldozing their land to make way for a new camping ground. After one of the workers is killed, the horny hillbilly trio turn their sights towards a handful of campers vacationing nearby.


This iredeemably stupid example of hixploitation cinema was unable to even recoup its $20,000 budget before being swallowed up in an obscurity earthquake. That's not to say it doesn't have a minuscule level of unintentionally brain dead charm, but fans of backwoods exploitation and rape revenge movies will most likely be looking at their watches in between fits of giggle spasms. If it weren't for a 'Movie Macabre' level of absurdity, this flick would be a featured presentation on 'The Dis List' column here at CAC. Instead, it finds a home nestled snuggly within the confines of the 'So Bad, It's Painfully Funny' section.


This Florida lensed no budgeter tries desperately to be rude, crude and socially unacceptable and fails monumentally. There's a few moments that do elicit a minor degree of offensiveness, but everything is so sloppily put together these few moments are only mildly diverting. GOD'S BLOODY ACRE is one of many examples of a group of friends getting together to make a movie during a time when any sort of cinematic trite could garner some kind of theatrical distribution. These days, this same sort of mishmash looks a lot more glossier, but no less idiotic and manages to get nationwide airings on the SyFy Channel.


The soundtrack is a mixed bag of 'road movie' type country western tunes, Bread style ballads and woefully inappropriate DeWolfe library tracks that will very easily awaken fans of both Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) and Shaw Brothers kung fu movies. Kung fu fans will have a field day recalling the dump truck filled array of cues haphazardly assembled here and heard elsewhere in films such as BRAVE ARCHER (1977), INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN (1978), KILLER CONSTABLE (1980) and FLAG OF IRON (1980). The film is also padded with a lot of cross country local flavor and a handful of interesting segues that offer up background on some of the characters. However, the overpowering ineptitude is too smart for whatever intricacies the filmmakers can muster.


It should be clarified, though, that the makers of BLOODY ACRE--their first feature--had a script that contained fragments of making a statement on societal issues scattered around its 87 minute running time. During the 1970s environmental concerns were a hot topic and numerous movies exploited those concerns. The filmmakers tried that here, but these bits gets hopelessly lost among numerous scenes that either want to expand on its characters or simply offend the viewer.


The film flirts with racial indifference in a mind-boggling moment wherein one of the characters--an expletive spewing Archie Bunker type--remarks about "three niggers in a rolls royce", to which his wife replies, "They're not niggers. They're black. If they have it, they probably worked hard to get it". This triggers her husband to fire back with "Bullshit!" In what ends up as a veritable slap in the face, this stereotype is reinforced when the three black men harass David (now hitchhiking after his motorbike breaks down) by beating him up and stealing his wallet! This bit of irony is as truly offensive as the movie gets.


The character of Leslie is the poster girl for battered women in cinema. She leaves her neolithically abusive boyfriend whose pinnacle of vocal enlightenment is his utterance of the word "bitch". After being slapped around and insulted, she takes off on the road where more humiliation awaits. It seems everywhere she goes she suffers further degradation by any number of cretins who immediately start grabbing "things" on her well developed and defined body. She then meets up with David and after tending to his wounds, indulges in some sexual frolicking in a nearby pond in what amounts to an excuse to get her naked. The filmmakers try valiantly to outrage the viewer and end up inadvertently "spoofing" the subject matter instead.


The sequence that starts the three stooges murder spree is a true 'D' movie rib tickler. After the sight of seeing a tree come down, the rednecks are sent into a mental tailspin. They decide to take their frustration out on a lone construction worker trucking along on his bulldozer. The trio proceed to hurl rocks at both the man and his machine. In a moment that can only be described as a major league brain fart on the part of the construction worker, the man heads for the safety of the undercarriage of the bulldozer just below the big blade while the retarded hick of the bunch jumps around and screams in the drivers seat. The blade comes down and gives the half baked illusion of cutting the man in half. His lower half is clearly visible half buried in the dirt. This entire sequence is far funnier than most comedies and we're asked to take the sight of three rednecks hurling rocks at a bulldozer seriously while this exciting library music familiar to kung fu film lovers blares in the background.

"Maybe we can knock off early today?"

One of the biggest laughs is derived from the afro'ed Sam Moree--the mentally challenged hillbilly--attempting to jump aboard the 'dozer, beating the hell out of it in the process and nearly killing himself when he slips and falls nearly breaking his neck on the top portion of the machines blade. Much to the filmmakers good nature, they leave this slip up in. Hell, the whole movie is one big bad take. What's even funnier is the way the mutilated discovery is treated by the dead man's co-workers. They seem more concerned with getting off early!


The one scene that seems to get the most attention is the rape scene towards the end. This sequence attempts to corral the controversial subtext inherent in the Susan George rape scene from the light years better STRAW DOGS from 1971. Here, whatever tastelessness the makers were gunning for is tepid at best. Some might find this moment unpleasant, but it comes off as bewilderingly misplaced amidst the laughable nature of the film. The music doesn't fit and besides the sexual frustration felt by Suzanne Robinson's character, it's difficult to fathom her suddenly indulging in the stinky mountain man love that's furiously pumping away at her. After taking out Monroe (William Kerwin, the lead in both BLOOD FEAST and TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! plays the hick patriarch here) with a shotgun, the inbred's bedspread takes off on foot and ends up on the receiving end of the least graphic throat slashing of all time.

He's either napping or at the premiere of GOD'S BLOODY ACRE.

In its defense, there's some things that will be mildly attractive to only the most ardent trash specialist. There's a good amount of Southern Fried local yokels, nudity, sex, and some ridiculous violence including a right well done foot chase/brawl during the closing moments. Sadly, outside of the hilarious bulldozer murder sequence early in the film, not much happens till the last twenty minutes. In the late 1980s TransWorld Entertainment released the film on VHS in an attractive package that made the film look better than it really is.


The makers of GOD'S BLOODY ACRE do try hard, but unfortunately, they come up short. They had better success producing the nasty DEATH WISH styled GETTING EVEN (1976) aka TOMCATS (which is also on this disc) and the likes of VALLEY GIRL (1983) and NIGHT OF THE COMET (1984). With a title and premise that promises some sleaze appeal, BLOODY ACRE fails to impress. This is one plot of land most will want to rent instead of buy.

This review is representative of the Code Red DVD. The amazon link is below.

God's Bloody Acre / Tomcats

The Working Girls (1974) review

THE WORKING GIRLS 1974

Sarah Kennedy (Honey), Laurie Rose (Denise), Lynn Guthrie (Jill), Mark Thomas (Nick), Ken Del Conte (Mike), Solomon Sturges (Vernon), Gene Elman (Sidney), Cassandra Peterson (Katya)

Directed by Stephanie Rothman

The Short Version: A witty script and some likable leads enhance this last film from female exploitation extraordinaire, Stephanie Rothman. Her script is an unusual interpretation of the modern feminist slant without an overabundance of the typical misogyny and exploitation of women found in so many similar films. Mixing the salacious with the serious, some fans may be frustrated or even bored that this is more a prat fall-less R rated THREE'S COMPANY episode instead of a wall to wall T&A flick. Nonetheless, it's refreshing to see a movie such as this attempt something different. Still, most will likely find more interest in Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson's bosom bearing burlesque strip dance eighteen minutes into the feature.

***WARNING! This review contains images of nudity***


Honey Wholesman (wholesome?), a spunky and liberated young woman, comes to Los Angeles to find work. Totally broke, she ends up meeting two women, Denise and Jill and they end up sharing a place together. Denise, a painter, ends up in a relationship with a street musician Honey had brought home one evening; Jill becomes a stripper and falls for the son of a mafia boss while Honey--who finds she has a knack for the stock market--ends up working for an eccentric and quirky millionaire. Their sexually liberated and free spirited lifestyles bring them troubles, but through resourcefulness and ingenuity, it's just one more day of life in the big city.


Reportedly Stephanie Rothman thinks very little of her days toiling in the down and dirty outer reaches of the exploitation universe. She has nothing to be ashamed of as she was very good at making them. For THE WORKING GIRLS, Rothman also wrote the script which is punctuated with witty lines and a strong feminist slant. While there's plentiful nudity (both male and female), the director was obviously going for something different than the typical T&A being offered up by both Dimension and their bigger rival, New World Pictures. Rothman had previously directed THE STUDENT NURSES (1970) for Roger Corman and THE WORKING GIRLS is structured in much the same way coming off as Dimension Pictures version of the NURSES film, which begat a string of sequels including PRIVATE DUTY NURSES (1971) and CANDY STRIPE NURSES (1974).


Rothman's film is frequently fun and slightly compelling in its depiction of ambitious, smart women during the Sexual Revolution of the 70s era and also of others living in the world around these liberated and head strong females. While it's not as salacious as it could be, the Dimension brass--in typical 70s independent fashion--accentuated the sex aspect of the script in the films trailer and even went as far as to insinuate the three main characters as gold-diggers! Also of note, Rothman personally supervised this transfer taken from the original 35mm archived print.


If nothing else, THE WORKING GIRLS's biggest claim to fame is the appearance of Cassandra Peterson as Katya, a busty stripper at 'The Tiger's Tail'. Prior to cementing herself within the minds and libidos of young men of all ages with her enduring characterization of Elvira, Peterson takes it all off here during a burlesque strip session eighteen minutes into the movie. Almost unrecognizable without her memorable 'Frank's Bride' bouffant, Peterson's voice is unmistakable. Her sultry bump and grind, tit twirl-moneymaker shaker recalls her later high gloss Vegas style teaser-ama showstopper that concluded her underrated big screen version of ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK (1988).

"What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a banana before?"--In the trailer, there's an unused take where you see the actor with a banana in his hand while saying the line.

The score by Michael Andres contains some rollicking cues and melancholic sounds and like so many movies from this decade, there's a croonin' harmonica backed ballad (It All Depends On Me) that echoes the plight of the character(s). Aside from the exploration of strong women struggling in a male dominated world, there's also a hint of the way changing times were viewed by the general populace. Sydney, the owner of the Tiger's Tail, mentions how he's losing business to "today's generation" when people can go and ogle naked bodies on the beach for free instead of paying to watch someone strip. Also, at the end, Denise breaks the news to Honey that they're being kicked out of their apartment as the buildings owner disapproves of the living arrangements between the three girls and one guy. This foreshadows the hit sitcom THREE'S COMPANY (1977-1984), a series based on a popular British sitcom entitled MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE from 1973.



In typical 70s fashion, the advertising promotes these women as anything but sophisticated. However, the characters of Honey, Denise and Jill are anything but dumb, helpless and self-serving. Honey has a degree in math, Jill is working her way through law school with plans to be a lawyer or a judge and Denise is an accomplished painter and apartment manager. The men in their lives are involved in criminal activities or just plain out there. It's interesting how males are perceived here as a bad element, but not without some remnants of a conscious. Some are viewed as cowering to an outside force ie Sidney handing over a chunk of his clubs profits for a mafia protection racket. Not once do these women entertain thoughts of criminality although Honey flirts with it upon getting a "job" from a prospective "employer" that wishes her to kill her husband--"Run him down with a car and then back over him a couple of times to make sure he's had it." Turns out the woman's husband was a wife murderer.


Speaking of Honey, she's the most complex and three dimensional of the three women. Upon first meeting her, you'd expect her to be the stereotypical dumb blonde, which she is not. She has this sort of Betty Boop voice which may annoy some, but it fits her personality like a glove. We never learn much of her background, or where she comes from, but she's definitely a likable soul after the opening scene wherein she gets a meal, but has no money to pay for it. The owner has no work for her but suggests one thing in particular she can do for payment. Knowing full well what that is, Honey proceeds to strip down claiming she can't come back later so they can just get it on right there. The owner freaks out and promptly boots her out of his establishment.

"This is gonna be an artistic first. The first nude with his arm in a sling."

Getting off to a nicely humorous start, you'd think you were about to enjoy a sex comedy of the 'Small Town Girl In the Big City' sub-genre, but you'd be mostly wrong. Watching the film, one can't help but wonder if Rothman were truly attempting something different amidst clashes with the studio to amp up the 'Sugar & Spice' potentiality of the script. The film does often tease this, but rarely goes all out the way other similar movies would have gleefully embraced. On that, THE WORKING GIRLS (1974)--Rothman's last film as a director--is a unique, playfully entertaining semi exploitation picture that doesn't go quite far enough to satiate the sex and sin crowd and contains just enough raunchiness to betray its serious feminist aesthetic. For the serious 70s fan and drive in enthusiasts, THE WORKING GIRLS get the job done.

This review is representative of the Code Red DVD