The story kind of goes like this for the lost version. Mary Kent is a mentally unstable woman who catches her boyfriend and best friend going at it. This sets her off on a killing spree that only ends when the child of her boyfriend she was carrying decides to make an appearance and makes this bad girl to go hell in the process.
Fast forward sixteen years and Vicki takes up the family business due to her adopted family being a bunch of melon farmers. More murders and mesmerising editing are abound.
Doris Wishman was a pioneering female filmmaker who at a time when independent film was owned and operated almost solely by men, she wrote, produced, directed and edited no more than forty one movies in a career that spanned forty seven years. Taking into consideration also that she operated exclusively within the cut-throat exploitation film business, Doris Wishman's Professional achievements are colossal. The films themselves however, especially A Night to Dismember, whose catastrophic production nearly stopped Wishman making films altogether, well, let's get to it.
Regarded by many of the few who have seen it as one of the worst slasher movies ever released, the abridged version of A Night To Dismember, which starred pornographic actress Samantha Fox and was released in 1989 by MPI video who probably had no earthly clue what they had in their hands, is a head on collision of 60's sexploitation cinematography, voice over that's more audio description than narration tool, poorly matches inserts of pornstar lead, an editing style whose spectrum ranges between avant-garde and interrogation device and perhaps the most randomly composed collection of library music in the history of cinema. No pun intended, this 1989 release is a nightmare pairing of 1960's sexploitation frugality and Herschell Gordon Lewis' enduringly crude shock tactics. Lord knows what people thought after they rented this out, like surely it was beamed in from another planet. No matter who you are, this purely aesthetic experience is at times more than mere flesh and blood can stand. For me personally, it's a work of art. I cannot even fathom myself trashing something this unique.
The story goes that A Night To Dismember had primary photography which took place in 1979, laid on the cutting room floor, and stayed there for a few years until Doris finally got some money together and put out an ad in Variety in 1983. Now after this, not much is known about what really happened to the product in question as the very existence of this unearthed en quote lost version of A Night To Dismember contradicts a lot of the only source of information regarding this film's production which was Doris Wishman's so called first hand account.
According to the late Wishman, many of the film's shortcomings, most notably the crackarse editing, were explained away as such. Doris always shot her movie trailers first as a promotional aid to sell the movie and complete the feature with whatever money she raised. So, after shooting the film and having sent it off to a certain MovieLab, (the film processing company in which all the processing and printing work was accomplished), a disgruntled lab employee set fire to the whole building to get back at his bosses and in the process destroyed most of the footage that would have made up the movie. Top this off with not having the film materials insured and the hubris that must naturally come with being Doris Wishman, the mad moolah of nylon feet spend eight months assembling a new version of the film, using outtakes, clips from her trailer, and the cheapest of re-shoots to help pad out what little was salvaged from the fire to the bare minimum feature length running time of 70 minutes. Quite a story, one of vindication, resolve, and ultimately, triumph. But I do not believe it anymore, and here's why...
Cinematographer Chuck C. Davis for whatever reason, I have none myself to pry, decided to just give one of only three existing copies apparently of the master tape of the original cut of A Night To Dismember to film appreciation club Hamilton Trash Cinema, who then subsequently ripped and released it on youtube, forever changing exploitation cinema history in the process. This monumental find proved that most of the footage not only was in tact, but was also compiled together and according to Davis was even released in Europe years ago. He doesn't trust his memory that much though on this apparently, but he did remember seeing paperwork from the film's distributor that heavily suggested that at least one print of the film was exported to Europe. And though no hard evidence of a European release exists, the fact of the matter remains that we now have a film that it's own director profusely claimed just did not exist. Well, it does. And I'll end this story with a little quote from Davis
"Diana Cummings was the lead in the original "LOST" version. She was replaced by Samantha Fox....not the English singer but the American Porn Star. Doris told me that she (Doris) needed money and that to "salvage" the results of the disgruntled MovieLab worker she re-edited the film from the undamaged negative. I'm not sure that I believe this as I know that Samantha gave Doris $2000 to be the lead in the updated version. The questions are #1. Did it need to be updated or #2 Did Doris need some cash?" And now, finally, i review the actual A Night To Dismember.
What can i say? Well, it seems to have had on-location sound for one thing. That's a surprise. There's a narrator that actually contributes to the film's structure. Hold me Abigail. What's also surprising is that there is an actual story here. One of hereditary mental illness, love triangles, and much to do about murder. It plays out much like an Andy Milligan film from round about the same time and say what you want about Milligan's work, at least it's more comprehensible than what A Night To Dismember used to be.
Being a Doris Wishman film, regardless which version, she would actually have had to try to not make A Night to Dismember the trash classic that it is. The most significant highlight of the lost version for me was how hyperbolic the story was in it's bleakness. Our protagonist is not only mentally unfit, she's also being cheated on, gets pregnant with her boyfriend's child, gets beat up by her dad because of it, died during childbirth and her offspring is forced to live on with the curse as it were of her mother's madness. Classical Wishman misanthropy, the default mood of New York exploitation cinema.
Two more stand out elements of the lost version are the truly ambitious gory set pieces which now have better build up and feature more coverage and secondly the seemingly now original insane music score which is by far one of the most unsettling you can come across within the entire slasher sub-genre. An esoteric, often oppressive offering that echoes the immaculate sound design work of Last House on Dead Street. Really great stuff.
So what else can I say other then that the lost version of A Night To Dismember is a prime slice of golden age era low budget slasher sleaze that is as grimy and hysterically depressing as you could ever hope to see emerge from New York's exploitation scene. I loved what we already had, but the comprehensiveness of the original version can only make this underseen slasher gem more exposed with it's improved accessibility. It would be a dream of mine to see both versions of this piece of exploitation history scanned in HD and made readily available. Highly, highly recommended.
Fast forward sixteen years and Vicki takes up the family business due to her adopted family being a bunch of melon farmers. More murders and mesmerising editing are abound.
Doris Wishman was a pioneering female filmmaker who at a time when independent film was owned and operated almost solely by men, she wrote, produced, directed and edited no more than forty one movies in a career that spanned forty seven years. Taking into consideration also that she operated exclusively within the cut-throat exploitation film business, Doris Wishman's Professional achievements are colossal. The films themselves however, especially A Night to Dismember, whose catastrophic production nearly stopped Wishman making films altogether, well, let's get to it.
Regarded by many of the few who have seen it as one of the worst slasher movies ever released, the abridged version of A Night To Dismember, which starred pornographic actress Samantha Fox and was released in 1989 by MPI video who probably had no earthly clue what they had in their hands, is a head on collision of 60's sexploitation cinematography, voice over that's more audio description than narration tool, poorly matches inserts of pornstar lead, an editing style whose spectrum ranges between avant-garde and interrogation device and perhaps the most randomly composed collection of library music in the history of cinema. No pun intended, this 1989 release is a nightmare pairing of 1960's sexploitation frugality and Herschell Gordon Lewis' enduringly crude shock tactics. Lord knows what people thought after they rented this out, like surely it was beamed in from another planet. No matter who you are, this purely aesthetic experience is at times more than mere flesh and blood can stand. For me personally, it's a work of art. I cannot even fathom myself trashing something this unique.
The story goes that A Night To Dismember had primary photography which took place in 1979, laid on the cutting room floor, and stayed there for a few years until Doris finally got some money together and put out an ad in Variety in 1983. Now after this, not much is known about what really happened to the product in question as the very existence of this unearthed en quote lost version of A Night To Dismember contradicts a lot of the only source of information regarding this film's production which was Doris Wishman's so called first hand account.
According to the late Wishman, many of the film's shortcomings, most notably the crackarse editing, were explained away as such. Doris always shot her movie trailers first as a promotional aid to sell the movie and complete the feature with whatever money she raised. So, after shooting the film and having sent it off to a certain MovieLab, (the film processing company in which all the processing and printing work was accomplished), a disgruntled lab employee set fire to the whole building to get back at his bosses and in the process destroyed most of the footage that would have made up the movie. Top this off with not having the film materials insured and the hubris that must naturally come with being Doris Wishman, the mad moolah of nylon feet spend eight months assembling a new version of the film, using outtakes, clips from her trailer, and the cheapest of re-shoots to help pad out what little was salvaged from the fire to the bare minimum feature length running time of 70 minutes. Quite a story, one of vindication, resolve, and ultimately, triumph. But I do not believe it anymore, and here's why...
Cinematographer Chuck C. Davis for whatever reason, I have none myself to pry, decided to just give one of only three existing copies apparently of the master tape of the original cut of A Night To Dismember to film appreciation club Hamilton Trash Cinema, who then subsequently ripped and released it on youtube, forever changing exploitation cinema history in the process. This monumental find proved that most of the footage not only was in tact, but was also compiled together and according to Davis was even released in Europe years ago. He doesn't trust his memory that much though on this apparently, but he did remember seeing paperwork from the film's distributor that heavily suggested that at least one print of the film was exported to Europe. And though no hard evidence of a European release exists, the fact of the matter remains that we now have a film that it's own director profusely claimed just did not exist. Well, it does. And I'll end this story with a little quote from Davis
"Diana Cummings was the lead in the original "LOST" version. She was replaced by Samantha Fox....not the English singer but the American Porn Star. Doris told me that she (Doris) needed money and that to "salvage" the results of the disgruntled MovieLab worker she re-edited the film from the undamaged negative. I'm not sure that I believe this as I know that Samantha gave Doris $2000 to be the lead in the updated version. The questions are #1. Did it need to be updated or #2 Did Doris need some cash?" And now, finally, i review the actual A Night To Dismember.
What can i say? Well, it seems to have had on-location sound for one thing. That's a surprise. There's a narrator that actually contributes to the film's structure. Hold me Abigail. What's also surprising is that there is an actual story here. One of hereditary mental illness, love triangles, and much to do about murder. It plays out much like an Andy Milligan film from round about the same time and say what you want about Milligan's work, at least it's more comprehensible than what A Night To Dismember used to be.
Being a Doris Wishman film, regardless which version, she would actually have had to try to not make A Night to Dismember the trash classic that it is. The most significant highlight of the lost version for me was how hyperbolic the story was in it's bleakness. Our protagonist is not only mentally unfit, she's also being cheated on, gets pregnant with her boyfriend's child, gets beat up by her dad because of it, died during childbirth and her offspring is forced to live on with the curse as it were of her mother's madness. Classical Wishman misanthropy, the default mood of New York exploitation cinema.
Two more stand out elements of the lost version are the truly ambitious gory set pieces which now have better build up and feature more coverage and secondly the seemingly now original insane music score which is by far one of the most unsettling you can come across within the entire slasher sub-genre. An esoteric, often oppressive offering that echoes the immaculate sound design work of Last House on Dead Street. Really great stuff.
So what else can I say other then that the lost version of A Night To Dismember is a prime slice of golden age era low budget slasher sleaze that is as grimy and hysterically depressing as you could ever hope to see emerge from New York's exploitation scene. I loved what we already had, but the comprehensiveness of the original version can only make this underseen slasher gem more exposed with it's improved accessibility. It would be a dream of mine to see both versions of this piece of exploitation history scanned in HD and made readily available. Highly, highly recommended.