THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA!/THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO!: Another fun DVD release.

[Chris K.]

THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA! Plot: Reverend Roscoe Boone (Jeffery Allen) creates his own church as he can combine religion with moonshine operating, making a huge profit on the side. But when a federal agent (Tim Hoyt) and some liquor store operators 'legal' moonshine try to put Boone out of business, it all spells trouble.

THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! Plot: Country western singer Hank Jackson (played by real country western singer Claude King) is convinced to run for the Senate. But, his campaign is a intricately planned Republican propoganda created by Sid Angelo (Ray Sager) that has clever comericals and fake 'live' discussions, all scripted with no substance. When Hank's girlfriend accuses him of selling out, Hank throws Sid out and reverses to Democrat, which goes downhill for him.

THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA! is Herschell Gordon Lewis' return to TWO THOUSAND MANICAS! and MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN. And the results are so-so at best. Lewis, a fan of country music and hillbilly settings, seems to have let it all go in this one. Jeffery Allen is great as the Bible-quotin' Foghorn Leghorn character and he gives it his all. And Larry Drake, way before his DARKMAN and DR. GIGGLES fame, is pretty funny as the imbread stuttering assitant to Allen's character. But then, everybody else doesn't really seem to be trying hard. Tim Hoyt, who was in THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, looks tired and uninterested in the film, and THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA! was Hoyt's last film so what a way to go! Raymond Szegho, or known under his screen alias as 'Ray Sager', isn't given much to do. And when all seems lost, Lewis delivers some mild gore: a woman is stoned to death, two girls are crucified, and a head is blown off with a shotgun. But it's not all up to Lewis ultra-gruesome charm. At beast, THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA! is average.

THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! was once to be thought as one of Lewis' "lost" films. Released on a double bill with Lewis' THE GORE GORE GIRLS in 1972, THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! was all but forgotten due to being quite different from most of Lewis' other products and that it dwelled into a subject that was never experimented with as much in the independent/mainstream film community: political satire-drama. And for those who don't like any of Lewis' films, you might want to give THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! a hot as you might be suprised as to how it turns out. Unlike other Lewis films, THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! offers absolutely no gore and very little sex (and I am pretty sure that was why people were turned-off by this film). What the film does offer is a smart, well-written script from Allen Kahn that shows how politics are being handled. Kahn's knowledge of politics is very minimal, but the film's main focus in how politics are being used in a way that seems very underhanded. Back when this movie was shown, it came across as far fetched and unsusal as the idea of politics being controled by the media and mass marketing appeal rather than important values or debates. Watching this movie today, one wonders if this could shade some echo's on Arnold Schwarzeneger's recent political run for the governor of California! Today, politics are controled by both media and mass marketing appeal so THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! doesn't seem as far feteched as it once was. And not only that, but the film doesn't seem to focus on either Conservative-Republicans or Liberal-Democrats as being good guys. The cold-hearted Republicans are implied as bigoted, misguided individuals who have no sense of morality, decency, or real values. And the bleeding-heart Democrats are implied as a bunch of sad-sacks with no ideas on how to improve things. In fact, the whole film seems to be in-between political parties, which could be another reason why people turned down seeing this film as it doesn't choose sides. The performances is also pretty damn good. Claude King, who struck it big with his only hit song "Woverton Mountain", does a nice performance and shows that he has a great musical talent (and it's a shame that he didn't go far with it). Also, Raymond Szegho is great as Sid Angelo. Also throw in some very catchy musical songs written by H.G. Lewis himself (under the 'Sheldon Seymour' moniker), a fun sense of humor attached to it, and great politcal satire and you have THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO!

THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA! and THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! are presented by Image Entertainment and Something Weird Video in their regular 1.33:1 Full Frame format, both taken from super-rare 35mm prints. Considering that the two film's original 35mm negatives are lost, the rare 35mm prints are all that we have and the fact that they survived is more astonishing than ever. The picture quality on the two films varies: THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA! has some vibrant colors, it suffers from heavy blue-green colored and dark black emulsion scratches, while shades of print speckling pop up from time to time with very little jump cuts. THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! on the other hand has very little scratches present, and the color is in good shape. THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO! print matches better against THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA!. Both films have so-so sound, so you might have to turn up your volume a bit.

Most H.G. Lewis fans will be disappointed that he didn't contribute an audio commentary. But then, disappointment turns into joy as Daniel P. Krogh gives a commentary track to both films. Krogh, who worked with Lewis on a few of his 70's era pictures as an actor, crew member, and author of the book "The Amazing Herschell Gordon Lewis and His World of Expolitation Films", supplies a generous amount of info and tidbits on the two pictures. Krogh's track is worth a listen.

Extras are efficant: bonus H.G. Lewis trailers for THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA!, THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO!, A TASTE OF BLOOD, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS!, THE WIZARD OF GORE, BLAST-OFF GIRLS, SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS, and SOMETHING WEIRD are provided. A musical clip from MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN is also shown, while a short clip from Barry Mahon's NAKED MOONSHINE is presented. And last, but not least, is a gallery of Herschell Gordon Lewis poster art.

While THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA! is no MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN, it's worth a viewing or two just to see the great Jeffery Allen give a fantastic performance, as well as seeing Tim Hoyt and Larry Drake give a go at it. As for THE YEAR OF THE YAHOO!, it's definately Herschell Gordon Lewis' best film right next to TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! and A TASTE OF BLOOD and I advise those who like political satire-drama give this one a chance.

[The Burgomaster]

My copy of this DVD arrived in the mail today. Can't wait to watch it!