Deathmaster

[Richard Romeo]

Hi Ho all--

thinking about the death of the 60s and hippie freaks
and whatnot, happen to see this quite big B-movie
Deathmaster about hippies who come under the influence
of a Manson-like vampire
it's quite bad but I like the campy bad (with music
from Ray Conniff!)

rich

http://www.esplatter.com/reviewsatog/deathmaster.htm


When Charles Manson's cult murdered Roman Polanski's
wife, Sharon Tate, and several of her friends in
Southern California in 1969, it sparked a powerful
fear of hippies nationwide that definitely had an
impact on horror cinema. Some quickie Manson
exploitation films would get made, naturally. For some
films, however, the influence was a little bit more
subtle and a lot more unnerving. This is one of those
movies.

To say "Deathmaster" is unnerving is a little odd
because on one level the film is about as campy as a
Russ Meyer movie. Set in the still-psychedelic and
swinging early 1970s, it stars hippies who say things
like "far out" and "man" and play bad acoustic guitar
songs. But watching these characters become seduced by
an evil entity is still unnerving. The film is a great
period piece because it captures the essence of what
destroyed the hippie culture: addiction. OK, OK. That
sounds a little bit overly serious. But "Deathstalker"
does have a small following, and I believe the reason
why is that it touches a bit of a nerve in some of us.

The film opens with a hippie discovering a coffin
floating in the ocean. After opening the coffin, he's
swiftly murdered by another hipster - this one looking
like he just came off a long heroin bender. Later, a
beautifully dressed guru shows up a hippie party. He
begins explaining the purpose of life to the
enthralled revelers. "Eat living food," he says. "Then
you'll come alive!" 

"We groove on what you're saying," he's told. It isn't
long before a cult around this mysterious stranger
emerges. What the flower children don't know is that
their new leader is a vampire. Quarry is great as the
Charles Manson-like Khorda, blood-sucker guru of lost
flower children. Quarry is charismatic in the role,
and a hell of a lot more interesting here than he was
in the Count Yorga movies. Produced just a few years
after the Manson killings, it's impossible not to see
the influence the whole Manson scene had on "The
Deathmaster." Actually this may be the best
Manson-style movie out there.

 



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