THE UNDERTAKER AND HIS PALS (1966)Director: David C. Graham
VCI
THE UNDERTAKER AND HIS PALS (1966)This film is basically a knock-off of H.G. Lewis's early 1960s gorefests, with the look and feel of a Ted V. Mikels production. Like the directorial efforts of those two "masters," THE UNDERTAKER AND HIS PALS is amateurish in every way, but it's tongue-in-cheek attitude, mixed with excessive bloodshed is somewhat amusing.
Played strictly for laughs, the film opens up with a trio of leather-clad biker boys on the trail of murder. When they get to the apartment of the blond Miss Lamb (who answers the door in her tug panties), the bullies brutally stab her and dismember her legs. At the moment of violence, the film transforms from bland sepia tone to rich 60s color (a comparison to THE WIZARD OF OZ here would be pointless!).
It turns out that the trio is made up of an annoying undertaker (Ray Dannis) who is eager for patrons to his funeral home, and two half-wits that run "The Greasy Spoon," a sleazy coffee shop that ironically serves "Leg of Lamb" right after the murder! If it were up to these guys, most of the cast would end up in the funeral parlor and/or on the menu, but a womanizing private dick (who's secretary, "Miss Poultry also falls victim) intervenes.
There are a few chuckles, and the film runs just a little over an hour, so it's very easy to sit through. There's plenty of over-the-top, grand guignal gore (including authentic surgery inserts), but some of it appears to be trimmed down. Supposedly, there was a more uncut edition, but this is probably the only cut to exist at this point. Maybe its short running time is due to its triple feature drive-in pairings with THE EMBALMER and Mikel's similar THE CORPSE GRINDERS.
VCI's DVD is pretty damn good for what is. The source print is in pretty good shape, with the occasional blemishes, and the color is very vivid. There is grain throughout the duration that allows for some tolerable digital artifacting, but if you're buying this film with any kind of knowledge of its history, you'll be very happy.
VCI's screen menus are getting better: this one shows a scalpel being tossed, resulting in a screen full of dripping red blood. There is also select cast & crew filmographies (though it mistakenly lists star Dannis as director of THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES...). We also get an amusing but color-faded trailer, as well as nearly a half hour worth of other VCI horror trailers, including the unreleased (on DVD) DR. BLACK AND MR. HYDE, and several shot-on-video flicks that would make terrible DVDs! (George R. Reis)