ORGY
OF THE DEAD (1965)Director: Stephen C. Apostolof
Rhino Home Video
ORGY
OF THE DEAD (1965)Lovingly referred to as the "worst
director of all time," the late great Ed Wood was mainly turning his attentions
to writing at this stage in his career (the mid 60s). ORGY OF THE DEAD is apparently
based on a novel(!) that he sold for a song, and the film marks the first collaboration
between Wood and sexploitation great Stephen C. Apostolof (aka A.C. Stephens),
an alliance that would last until Wood's untimely death in 1978. People say
that Wood's directed films are purely bad, but the horror/nudie effort dubbed
ORGY OF THE DEAD makes them look like Cannes award winners.
Following up his unforgettable performances in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and NIGHT OF THE GHOULS, pasty Hollywood psychic Criswell rises from his tomb to downwardly gaze at idiot cards and deliver inane dialog. He plays the Emperor of the Night (wearing one of Bela Lugosi's authentic Dracula capes) and overseas a night of perversity amidst a cemetery. His sexy companion is the Black Ghoul (Fawn Hall), a busty vampiress that was an evident influence for Elvira, right down to the bouffant-style wig and the dagger housed in her belt.
Meanwhile,
young couple Bob (William Bates) and Shirley (legendary sexploitation starlet
Pat Barrington, here billed as "Pat Barringer") are riding in the
car, talking drearily about his career as a horror writer. Through the innovation
of stock footage, their automobile crashes and they wind up lying near the cemetery
and are subsequently tied up and forced to watch uninspired striptease artists.
These dancers are all attractive women who sinned in life, and now in death
are forced to strip down to a g-string and prance around to the upbeat tunes
of Jamie Mendoza-Nava. Each girl has some kind of theme, and Pat Barrington
(who looks absolutely luscious in the buff) doubles as the blond Gold Girl as
her red-headed character watches her perform and get dunked in a vat of gold,
being pulled out looking like Shirley Eaton in GOLDFINGER.
Originally written as "Nudie
Ghoulies," ORGY OF THE DEAD is simply one of the worst, and therefore essential
viewing. It's hard to figure out how Wood could have written a comprehensive
script, as the screen time is mostly taken up by the ample amount of dancers
who come out to strut 
there
stuff--this film runs over 90 minutes, and Ed even manages to throw in some
light whipping and flogging for the fetish crowd. The bits of dialog are naturally
absurd, and the cast members read it as if they were in a grade-school pageant.
Criswell's acting and reaction shots brings on too many unintentional laughs
to mention, and Pat Barrington's screams of fear show why she was never cast
in horror films. The whole thing takes place on one smoky graveyard set, and
a wolfman and mummy are also tossed in to civilly converse on the sidelines
(unfortunately, they don't get lapdances).
Rhino has quietly released ORGY
OF THE DEAD on DVD to the gratitude of all the Ed Wood completists out there.
The films is give a new digital transfer "supervised by the director"
and looks pretty nice. The Eastman colors are bright and bold for the most part.
There is a sufficient amount of speckling on the source print, but nothing at
all too 
distracting,
as detail is very sharp. It's presented full frame, but it could have used the
anamorphic treatment, or at least letterboxed to mat out the abundant dead space
and properly compose it to its original aspect ratio. The mono audio is surprisingly
clear and complements the film perfectly.
Rhino has thankfully included
a 20-minute interview with Bulgarian-born director Apostolof. He talks about
how he got into filmmaking, and how he was introduced to Ed Wood, mentioning
their initial meeting at the Brown Derby restaurant where he showed up in drag
(try to picture Wood in angora sweater, mini-skirt and facial hair!). Apostolof
states he never saw an Ed Wood film as to not hurt his friend's feeling with
negative criticism--this coming from the man who directed ORGY OF THE DEAD!
The interview is very entertaining, and Apostolof even reveals his intentions
for a proposed sequel! Also included is the original theatrical trailer ("See
the bride who murdered her husband and now must dance perpetually before his
skeleton"). (George
R. Reis)