5.0 out of 5 stars A must see for film freaks!

A.G.#.f. · April 29, 2020

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } At the top left of the cover, there's a "stamp" that reads "Famous Monster #1." (A nod to fifties horror comics.) Can one infer that there will be a two? Three? And beyond? A series of Severin docs would be fantastic!The characters populating Adamson’s life in the B-movie biz weren’t all saucy chicks with bubblegum lipstick, dubbed chimpanzees, the H'Wood fringe and alkies with one foot in the grave - celebrated cinematographers such as Vilmos Zigmond (DP for Altman, Boorman, Milos Foreman, Spielberg, etc.), Gary Graver (a prolific DP high and low: hardcore X, slashers, Disney, mainstream, TV) and Lazlo Kovacs (Easy Rider, Shampoo, Five Easy Pieces, Freebie and the Bean, Ghostbusters) got their start with Al - not unlike Roger Corman University. (Albiet the "Corman School" alum is much more distinguished.) Adamson took a few wrong (and weird) turns off-screen: UFO nuts, a killer con man and Charles "Chuck" Manson.Behind-the-scenes stories (all illustrated with film clips, archival footage and stills) feature Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, The Ritz Brothers, would-be Adamson stars The Three Stooges(!) and so many more - even the elusive Raphael Nussbaum, the writer/director of Pets(1974) - maybe the best S&M story-ever-told is mentioned. (Nussbaum produced and wrote Al's softcore roughie, The Female Bunch - included on this bluray.) Me thinks that latter-day (two, anyway) Stooges, Lon Chaney Jr. and general film arcania obsessive, Gilbert Gottfried would love this doc.Al Adamson never got as much recognition as Roger Corman (a pragmatic pro with an eye for talent) or Larry Cohen (wildly talented). He wasn't as "weird" or outsized as Ed Wood, Ray Dennis Steckler or T.V. Mikels. While Wood has become an iconic historical figure - "Ed Wood" is used as a kind of shorthand for everything "bad" or just odd. As far his "peers" (chronologically, anyway) such as Ray Dennis Steckler and TedV. Mikels : their stock plummeted once viewers actually saw their films -as opposed to looking at stills and reading (Lester Bangs' 'Incredibly Strange...' piece being the most notable) in various books and zines. Sitting through a Mikels or Steckler film proved to be tough sledding. (Their respective output is pretty awful.)And then there was Al: most of his output is truly weird and wonderful. Or as Adamson said: "My movies are pretty good." Adamson was a pretty regular guy - with a singularly rarified career and life (and death).Blood and Flesh presents Al Adamson as one of the rare good guys, which makes the story of his life all the more endearing, and the story of his death impossibly more tragic.The interviewees are excellent: the actors, producers, friends, family and even law enforcement (homicide detectives, lawyers) are extremely articulate, one gets the feeling that you know the guy. Some sad, some funny. Longtime Adamson fan, Michael J. Weldon (of the Pyschotronic book/zine) does a great job as the resident expert.The amount of ground director David Gregory covers is incredible. I doubt there's a living person who isn’t interviewed. Longtime producers who were there at the start of Adamson’s career in the 1960s all the way down to a camera assistant on his last shoot in the 1990s sit down with smiles to contribute. “Blood and Flesh” could have made do with far less without anyone noticing. His longtime housekeeper, who is still emotionally distraught 25 years later. Indeed, she's almost as much of a victim as Adamson. Her presence lends this film the gravitas needed for the True Crime portion.Success as an Academy Award-winning collaborator with Steven Spielberg and Brian DePalma doesn’t keep renowned cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond from adding a tale of being paid his $100/day fee in coins and singles because Adamson scraped the money together by delivering newspapers between takes. It doesn’t get more guerilla than that! Even when Zsigmond and others talk about getting the runaround while calling Adamson a skinflint, they bend forward laughing about it. This obvious affection makes for refreshing and heartfelt -while still being unafraid to speak frankly about his less admirable traits (more of a scamp than a rip-off artist) make for a very well rounded portrait.I assumed the only person “Blood and Flesh” couldn’t get would be Adamson’s killer Fred Fulford. Unexpectedly, Fulford’s voice does speak briefly via a 2019 telephone interview. David Gregory and his producers really did think of everything, and then made sure they utilized footage with aplomb - Adamson's murder was "covered" by Inside Edition, Hard Copy and other Tabloid TV shows of the era. Video of the scene (a la The Wonderland Murders, although not nearly as gruesome) and courtroom footage also is utilizedGregory works with editors Michael Capone and Mark Hartley (director of the indispensable Not Quite Hollywood and Machete Maidens) to make a movie that’s smartly cut with energetic pacing. Through new interviews in addition to archive footage (Including Adamson on the Joe Franklin Show! Bonus!), dozens and dozens of unique people participate. “Blood and Flesh” builds its narrative by having those voices pitch in on singular thoughts, sometimes having them complete another’s sentence, so they tell a complete story collectively without anyone needing to take a breath.Example: a discrepancy over how much money Satan’s Sadists (Russ Tamblyn at his best) made by having four different men cite four different numbers - downward from 20 million to 10 million to 600k and finally just “a lot of money.”“Blood and Flesh” eliminates visual lags with copious clips from Al Adamson’s complete (I think) output. The film is already bursting with content yet makes it seem like you get more than a "mere" 100 minute runtime. Add the copious bonus footage AND the aforementioned feature, The Female Bunch and your night is set!A minor quibble: The UFO conspiracy scene (mid-90s) should've been dropped or more fully explained. His creepy then-girlfriend (his longtime wife and muse/star Regina had just succumbed to cancer) is interviewed. Was she a True (UFO) Believer, a wannabe actress or an opportunistic hag, preying on a grieving man? All of the above in my opinion - of course, my opinion is based on the info provided by the filmmakers. Then again, Adamson's arrangement with his murderer eerily shows where his head was at during his final years. His longtime partner, Sam Sherman, when asked about the UFOria phase supplies: a) Al was simply making a UFO documentary (X-Fi!es fever was at its apex, what self-respecting exploitation auteur wouldn't jump on that). And in practically the same sentence Sherman - not especially convincingly - offers: b) that yes, Adamson was close to cracking the truth...not unlike the X-Files. I'd like to think that Sherman, in spinning a good yarn (or would be myth) is protecting his friends dignity. While the film makes clear Adamson's grief over his wife's death, leaving him (I think) prey to nutty, mercenary women, UFO cults and a killer con man right out of Single White Female. Are there dots that needed connecting? I dunno, but I wished the filmmakers handled it better. Again, minor quibble...though a long paragraph. (Sorry.)Great doc from David Gregory: his best known is Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Dr. Moreau as well as The Godfathers of Mondo and The Joe Spinell Story. Gregory's films are so compelling, his docs - ostensibly about films and their creators - gives the viewer a rare peek at a particular time and place - on AND off the screen.Great bluray by Severin (support physical media!). Tons of extras, the aforementioned feature film. Extended interviews (Russ Tamblin looks fantastic - what's his secret?). Believe it or not I've left tons of stuff out, this really delivered - much more than my addled mind can remember.The bonus film, The Female Bunch is a roughie/western, similar to a Frost/Cresse number. The story/screenplay is credited to the aforementioned Raphael Nussbaum, whose classic Candice Rialson vehicle Pets has attained (thanks, in part, to QT) iconic status. As per IMDb and Wikipedia, it was his only credit. Both sites have just been updated. You learn something everyday...Check it out!

5.0 out of 5 stars Colorful, Interesting Documentary

M. · June 12, 2020

As fans of outsider genre cinema know all too well, sometimes the artists behind these b movie curios can have stories as wild as the movies themselves, which is certainly the case for cult legend Al Adamson. The shocking murder of Adamson is fairly well known, but The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson goes more in depth than ever before and covers the rest of Adamson’s life, including his unique and colorful collection of pictures. David Gregory directs the documentary and much like he did with the excellent Richard Stanley piece Lost Soul, he crafts an experience that keeps you hooked in from the start. While perhaps not quite as off the rails as Stanley’s tales during the Dr. Moreau debacle, The Reel Life packs in plenty of wackiness and b movie behind the scenes stories, so those who appreciate Adamson’s work or low rent schlock in general should be entertained here. The doc is feature length, so it fits in a good amount of information, but never drags or feels padded out in the least. The pace is always on point and makes a perfect introduction to Adamson’s catalog, thanks to the frequent clips and behind the scenes anecdotes. So The Reel Life is a good movie on its own, but has great secondary value as a primer for the pictures and a doorway into Adamson’s cinematic art. Visit my site for a full review!