A
writer named Bob (William Bates) takes his girlfriend (Pat Barrington) on a
midnight ride to a cemetery to get inspiration for his newest horror tale. Along the way, they get into an accident and
are knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, The
Emperor of the Night (Criswell) rises from his tomb and holds court in the
graveyard. He is joined by a sidekick
modeled on Vampira (Fawn Silver) and they watch as several undead strippers
dance. (“If I am not pleased by
tonight’s entertainment I shall banish their souls to everlasting
damnation!”)
First
up is a Native American dancer (“she died in flames”), then a hooker does a
striptease in front of a skeleton.
Eventually, the couple wakes up and make their way to the cemetery to
watch the girls dance. Just when you
think it can’t get any better, the Mummy and the Wolf Man show up to capture
the couple and tie them up and force them to watch more girls dance.
In
short, Orgy of the Dead is one of the greatest movies ever made. It was a collaboration between director Steven
C. Apostolof and screenwriter Ed Wood. While
they went on to work on a slew of nudie movies together (including the
immortal Fugitive Girls), this was their first and best outing.
Although
Apostolof was at the helm, there’s still plenty of Wood trademarks here. The appearance of Criswell, the stilted
dialogue (“Torture! Torture! It pleasures me!”), shots that alternate
between day and night, and guys covering their faces with Dracula capes means
this would make a great double feature with Plan 9 from Outer Space. I mean you have monsters, naked girls,
bondage, Ed Wood dialogue… What more
could you possibly want from a movie?
Orgy
of the Dead is essentially a series of burlesque dance routines held together
with a B horror movie. That is to say,
it’s awesome. The dances are actually
pretty good too. There are plenty of
topless women gyrating about and Apostolof films it all in glorious
fashion. One girl (also Barrington) gets
pelted with gold by two dudes in striped sarongs before being dipped in
gold. (The Goldfinger influence is
heavy.) In another, a woman in a cat
suit gets whipped while she dances.
Other dances include a bullfighter’s wife, a zombie, and a woman in a
wedding dress. The excellent,
fog-shrouded graveyard adds a level of sexiness to the routines. They wouldn’t have been nearly as hot if they
took place in an ordinary strip club, that’s for sure!
I
know Plan 9 gets all the accolades, but Orgy of the Dead contains some of my
favorite Ed Wood lines ever. The best
dialogue exchange comes when Bates and Barrington stumble upon the nude dancers
in the graveyard. Barrington asks, “Is
it some kind of college initiation?”
Bates
replies, “It’s an initiation alright, but not to any college as you or I know
it!”
The
Vinegar Syndrome blu-ray is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The film has simply never looked better. The graveyard sets look lush and the red dye
jobs on the dancers really pop. If you’re
a Wood fan, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I can’t wait till they release Fugitive
Girls!
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