Plot: What’s it about?
In The Defilers, we follow the path of two young men who plan to kidnap a girl, but their sick plans don’t end there in the least. Once the two have taken her and lock her within a basement, they begin to use her as their sex slave. Of course, she wants no part of all this, but when she resists, the two men abuse her even more. After time has passed and she has been beaten into submission, it seems as though the two young men finally have their own human sex toy, even if at the cost of the girl’s freedom. In Scum of the Earth, the storyline centers on young Katie, who needs money for college. Her need for tuition cash has driven her to means beyond her normal self, in the form of posing for photos, although with good intentions at first. But after the scumbag photographer works her mind a little, she is topless and shamed in no time, all because she needed money to better herself. But her troubles have just begun, as she soon finds herself in the midst of a massive plot, which includes murder.
If ever a double feature was put together well, it would be this one, with The Defilers and Scum of the Earth on board. The two films are alike in many ways, from subject matter to producer and in truth, if you like one of them, I assume the other will strike your fancy as well. These movies show females in less than optimal situations, so if rape and sexual abuse in films is against your morals, then don’t bother to watch these two flicks. It can be hard to watch movies like these two sometimes, but then again, you can’t look away at times either, but don’t feel bad about it all. Not a lot in terms of nudity in either of these two, but the sexual tension is run amok here, so I’d still keep the younger viewers off this stuff for now. I know these exploitation flicks have a narrow audience, but this release is a terrific one, with two features and supplements for one low price. So if you’re interested in the least and can handle the subject matter, don’t hesitate to look over this excellent double feature edition from Something Weird Video (distributed via Image Entertainment).
The man who produced both of these films was David F. Friedman, who is a legend in the realm of exploitation cinema. Although he directed a few films, Friedman is best known for his work as a producer, which he served as on some true classicks. Friedman knew how to turn a fun product on a tight budget, which is what he had to do in most of his efforts. As limited as the cash was, the films produced by Friedman usually come out pretty well, even if campish and reliant on sex & blood in the end. But that is the point of these exploitation pictures, to have fun and see a wild motion picture, even if the acting and production values left a lot to be desired. Other films produced by Friedman include She Freak, Blood Feast, The Big Snatch, Ilsa She Wolf of the SS, Two Thousand Maniacs, and Color Me Blood Red. Scum of the Earth was directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, who also helmed such pictures as The Blast Off Girls, The Wizard of Gore, A Taste of Blood, Living Venus, The Gruesome Twosome, and The Gore-Gore Girls.
Video: How does it look?
Both of the films are shown in full frame transfers, which seems to be an acceptable form in both cases. The Defilers looks much like a video transfer, with some sort of tracking issues, which cause the image to pulse at times. This is not a serious problem, but you can notice it throughout and as such, I am a little let down. But while Scum of the Earth is more stable in that respect, it has a much more worn source print, which causes problems also. But both look close to decent in the end, although not as good as I would have liked. But in truth, full scale restorations just wouldn’t be justified, since the audience for these films is so limited.
Audio: How does it sound?
Not a lot to discuss on the audio front, although the included mono options seems to handle the basics well enough. The tracks don’t have a lot of age related problems like hiss or distortion, but a couple small instances do surface in the presentations. But on the whole, the audio is clean and clear throughout, so no real complaints. The sound effects and music don’t amount to much, but come across well here and leave little room for concern. No issues in the least with the dialogue, so every classic line is presented in fine form. I didn’t expect much from these tracks and I didn’t get much, but it was enough to make it all sound good.
Supplements: What are the extras?
In addition to the intermission shorts and other drive in goodies, this disc houses a nice selection of bonus materials. You can view two short films that focus on naked flesh, Intimate Diary of Artists’ Models and Naked Fury, both of which seem right at home on this disc. This release also includes two trailers for The Defilers, as well as a wealth of bonus trailers for other sexploitation films. A selection of exploitation artwork is also tacked on, but the best bonus is still to come. As you view The Defilers, you can enable an audio commentary track from producer David F. Friedman, who as usual, has a wealth of insight and humor to add to the film. I wish he could have recorded tracks for both features, but I am very pleased to have this one.
