The Corpse Grinders - Sean Kenney

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Flesh Grinders" )

directed by Ted V. Mikels
USA 1971

One of the more overtly horrific efforts of schlockmeister Ted V. Mikels (THE GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS), THE CORPSE GRINDERS - from a script by Arch Hall Sr. (EEGAH!) and Joseph Cranston (THE CRAWLING HAND) - has an oddly sober tone much of the time despite its oddball and comic elements including dull protagonists against almost Andy Milligan-esque dysfunctional villains and background eccentrics, and occasionally atmospheric camerawork that could just as easily have been influenced by Mario Bava or Riccardo Freda as it could have been by EC Comics. When bodies of local residents attacked and eaten by their cats start piling up in the hospital, Dr. Howard Glass (Sean Kenney, TERMINAL ISLAND) and his lover Nurse Angie Robinson (Monika Kelly, LOVE MINUS ONE) start investigating and find the common link to be the owners' choice of cat food: the gourmet Lotus Cat Food ("For cats who love people!"). This makes sense since the company's owners Landau (Sanford Mitchell, MARSHA: THE EROTIC HOUSEWIFE) and Maltby (J. Byron Foster, SENSUAL ENCOUNTERS) have a deal with Farewell Cemetery caretaker Caleb (Warren Ball, THE HAREM BUNCH) and his batty wife Cleo (Ann Noble, SINS OF RACHEL) to supply corpses (injected with pork-flavored embalming fluid by equally nutty morticians) as ingredients mixed with barley in the titular "corpse grinder". When Caleb gets too greedy and one of the employees gets too curious, Landau hits upon the idea to use a fresher source ("The world is full of ingredients!") just as Howard's and Angie's investigation leads them to the factory and its locked processing room. In 2000, Mikels directed the direct-to-video THE CORPSE GRINDERS 2 and executive produced THE CORPSE GRINDERS 3 in 2012.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 21 April 1972 (West Germany)

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DVD Review: 88 Films (The Ted V. Mikels Collection) - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	88 Films Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:13:06
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.84 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Subtitles	none
Features	Release Information: Studio: 88 Films Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by director Ted V. Mikels • Making of 'The Corpse Grinders' (11:15) • Theatrical Trailer (2:06) • 88 Films Trailer Park: • 'Two Moon Junction' • 'Blood Orgy of the She Devils' • 'Hideous!' • 'Girl in Gold Boots' • 'Robot Wars' • 'Dollman' • 'Doll Squad' • 'Castle Freak' • 'Slice & Dice' DVD Release Date: March 17th, 2014 Amaray Chapters 8

Comments

88 Films' DVD features a colorful anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) transfer converted to PAL from an NTSC source (presumably the one for the Image Entertainment's OOP 2001 DVD), which makes the already softish and murky 35mm cinematography even more so. Extras include a solo audio commentary by director Ted V. Mikels in which he reveals that he was the cat wrangler on the film, that the graveyard sets wer built on the grounds of his Glendale castle, and how easy it was to find people who wanted to play corpses. There are a lot of silent passages on the track, but Mikels does speak up whenever a new actress appears onscreen or a location he is proud of acquiring.

In the "making-of" retrospective featurette with some overlapping stories from the commentary. Mikels recalls how the film was made almost entirely on deferment including the actors' pay (Mikels owned and maintained his camera, lighting, and editing equipment), getting to use Cecil B. Demille's home for the Babcock residence, putting make-up artist Sherri Vernon in front of the camera when an actress had to leave after a shot took so long to set up (he would later give her a larger role in THE DOLL SQUAD). He also recalls that the attacking cat in the opening teaser belonged to actor Richard Gilden (the star of his film THE BLACK KLANSMAN) as well as the importance of temperament over talent in casting and crewing a film. The film's trailer is available as part of the "88 Films Trailer Park" set of ten coming attractions along with a couple other forthcoming Mikels releases.

- Eric Cotenas

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