Scum of the Earth (1963)

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writer:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Release Date:

8 October 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A naive and innocent teenage girl is blackmailed into modeling in the nude for a photographer whom is in league with a teenage gang whose boss illegally sells photos of teenage girls being abused and degraded.

Plot Keywords:

Blackmail | B Movie | Photography | Psychotronic | Sexploitation

Cast

William Kerwin	...	Harmon Johnson (as Thomas Sweetwood)
Allison Louise Downe	...	Kim Sherwood (as Vickie Miles)
Lawrence J. Aberwood	...	Lang (as Lawrence Wood)
Sandra Sinclair	...	Sandy (as Sandy Sinclair)
Mal Arnold	...	Larry
Craig Maudslay Jr.	...	Ajax
Christy Foushee	...	Marie (as Toni Calvert)
Doug Brennan	...	Carl
Christina Castel	...	Shirley
Edward Mann	...	Mr. Sherwood
Lou Youngman	...	Dave, punk in diner
William Caulder	...	Joe, punk in diner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Herschell Gordon Lewis	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Herschell Gordon Lewis		(as Lewis H. Gordon)

Writing credits
Herschell Gordon Lewis		(as Lewis H. Gordon)

Produced by
David F. Friedman	....	producer (as Davis Freeman)

Original Music by
Manuel Ortiz		(as Jonas Peabody)

Cinematography by
Herschell Gordon Lewis		(as Marvin Lester)

Film Editing by
Patrick Murphy		(as James Randall)

Production Management
Will Johnston	....	production manager

Sound Department
David F. Friedman	....	sound (as David Mason)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robinson Charter	....	electrician

Distributors

• Box Office Spectaculars (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• CMV Laservision (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2000) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Quotes:

Lang:It's time for straight talk, Kim. It's not my fault you posed for Harmon. It's not my fault you posed for Larry in the nude. You did it, its your problem, its pretty late to act prissy and prim. All you kids make me sick! You act like little Miss Muffet and down inside you're dirty...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Drive-in Movie Memories (2001)

Scum Of The Earth

Scum Of The Earth, is about a young girl named Kim, who is asked to do portraits for a photographer named Harmon. Kim, finds out how much she will be making and it will be enough to send her to college so she agrees to model for Harmon. Soon Harmon tells her that he wants her to pose topless for the photos and that she will be paid more than double what she was making before. Kim, is scared but agrees to do it. Kim, then releases she doesn't like what she has gotten into and the boss of these photo shoots named Lang, won't let her leave and soon Kim, finds out she is in for a lot of trouble. Scum Of The Earth, is written and directed by cult filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis, who is best known for his gory horror films such as Blood Feast (and this film stars a lot of the cast of Blood Feast) but this film is not a horror. It instead is a drama about an illegal pornography ring. I'am a big fan of Herschell Gordon Lewis's low budget B horror films and I like his non horror movies as well. They aren't the best looking or acted films but they are always guaranteed to entertain and Scum Of The Earth does that. The film is compelling and I wanted to see how the story would turn out and the film got more intriguing as it went along. I would've preferred if the film were perhaps a little longer but I did like what I saw and was entertained. Another entertaining B film from the master of gore Herschell Gordon Lewis.