Poor Pretty Eddie/Review

A black pop-star, Liz Wetherly (played by Leslie Uggams. A dead ringer for Nichelle Nichols when it comes to looks and speech) has plans for relaxation to settle down in a quiet, remote place before she sets off for her upcoming tour. Even though this movie is far from a conventional horror film, a familiar horror device is put into use when Liz's car breaks down somewhere deep in the south (I don't recall if a specific location ever given, but since she says she's on her way to Atlanta, I'm gonna take a guess and say she's somewhere in Georgia) it appears that "Bertha's Oasis" (an Inn/Hotel) is the nearest place that Liz will have to settle for while her car gets repaired. What you'll find in "Bertha's Oasis" is the owner herself, Bertha (Shelley Winters), a washed-up chorus girl. There's also Keno (Ted Cassidy) who plays the role of the trashman, mechanic, janitor...You name it--He seems to do it. And last, but certainly not least is bartender/clerk, Eddie Collins (Michael Christian) Eddie has dreams of becoming a famous music star and when Liz shows up, he feels he can have Liz help his rise to stardom. Not to mention, he's got the hots for her. This doesn't sit well with Bertha who becomes jealous of the whole situation. Later on that night after a social dinner with Sherrif Orville (Slim Pickens), Orville soon pulls Eddie aside and manipulates Eddie into thinking that Liz loves Eddie. Easily conned, Eddie believes him and refuses to back down in giving Liz her privacy in her hotel. It looks like Liz's fearless attitude towards her surroundings has now gotten her into trouble as she finds her herself being raped by Eddie.

Even though her car is fixed..Or has been fixed...Eddie purposely delays Liz from leaving and is going to make her love him no matter what. Keno (the only guy closest to having a caring heart around these parts) gives Liz a chance to try to sneak off, but she's soon pulled over by a deputy and taken to Orville. Let's just say what happens next to Liz will have her wanting to return to the arms of her kidnapping rapist!!! Since Liz is now a former shell of herself, she has no choice but to accept a wedding dress for a marriage at "Bertha's Oasis" where she will now be Eddie's bride.

Boy oh boy. Where do you start with this one? Alright, how's this for a start? Having the film open with a gleeful Liz singing "The Star Spangled Banner" at a lively football game which has the song dissolving into the dense scenery of the decrepit Inn where she will soon have to endure a living hell was a brilliant start. You couldn't have asked for a more precise setup than that. After that, some eye-catching, wide-angle cinematography inside the Inn for the dinner scene will grab your attention. And when Eddie does his music demo for Liz (complete with his Elvis-attire) you suddenly get the feeling that you're being transported into Lynch-ian territory. After you get through the haul of having a few slow sections involving Shelly Winters doing her (In)famous whining and moaning towards Eddie, we're back into the belly of the beast. Consisting of more surprisingly effective (And stomach-twisting) sequences. Starting with the rape. Though the rape is (thankfully) nowhere near as graphic as seen in the likes of I Spit On Your Grave, but the fact that the scene is intercut with dogs breeding over a hillbilly ballad is just as horrific. Stomach-twisting indeed. After this is done, we're treated to some surprising hallucination scenes which momentarily causes the viewer to do a double-take on what they've just seen.

After soaking all this up, it really comes across as if the filmmakers achieved their goal of making something extremely repulsive, correct? But it also sounds like (despite the terrible subject matter) the results are awe-inspiring when it comes to filmmaking ideas, editing, photography, camera-speeds and sound. Speaking of sound, kudos goes to music composer Grant Boatwright who sets the tone with some quintessential horror cues in the early going, and eclipsing the madness with a haunting rendition of "Here Comes The Bride". Rounding out the rest of the soundtrack are the sound effects themselves. Obviously director Chris Robinson took a page from Peckinpah and went full glory with slo-mo action, but you can throw away the "hack" notion once you hear the echos and eerie slowed-down screams from the participants. Acting-wise, the performances should be self-explanatory since you can easily get an idea of what the performers are capable of (especially for Winters, Cassidy, Pickens and Taylor) but I wasn't familiar with Christian (who also served as co-producer) and what an intro this was for him in this role. Lastly, this movie is said to have a different version depending on what title you see it under. I know that might be hard to accept given that just about every exploitation movie ever made tended to have multiple titles, but the genesis of this project originated out of a stage play and "Heartbreak Motel" is said to be the more play-oriented of the bunch. Which means more dialogue and more character development. BUT since we're here at The GCDb, Poor Pretty Eddie turned out to be the definitive, Drive-In/Grindhouse version of the movie. This film is as draining as an experience as the hard-hitting shocksploitation genre can offer, but what us Grindhouse/Drive-In fans want is to be rewarded in the end. Therefore, this movie could NOT end any other way than what the filmed result was. I don't want to give too much away on what exactly happens, but all I'll say is that you can't help but to scream for blood at the film's conclusion. Poor Pretty Eddie doesn't disappoint on giving you that.

Reviewed by Laydback