"Just for the Hell of It" isn't exactly the cinematic masterpiece Herschell Gordon Lewis will be remembered for. Lewis made himself immortal among horror/cult cinema fanatics as "The Godfather of Gore"; a nickname he earned because he was the first one to direct horror movies where blood, guts and gore literally burst from the screen. Movies like "Blood Feast", "Two-Thousand Maniacs", "The Gore Gore Girls" and "The Gruesome Twosome" truly represent HG Lewis' repertoire and lifework, whereas "Just for the Hell of it" is merely just a rapidly produced and nonchalantly elaborated story to cash in on the contemporary popular trend of juvenile delinquency thrillers. There's no actual story and particularly the first full hour of the film feels like a compilation episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos: The Bad Kids Edition". It's basically just a series of amateurishly edited together clips showing a gang of youthful thugs pulling pranks and committing petty crimes in their area. At first their pranks are quite pitiable and laughable (wetting people with a garden hose, smearing pies in a salesgirl's face
) but they gradually turn into harsh crimes and near the end of the film they even turned to gang-rape and murder. The gang members refer to themselves as "Destruction Inc" which is quite the apt name since they surely like to break all kinds of stuff, varying from people's mailboxes, living rooms, snack bars, boats and even baby-carriages. The "plot" only just starts to unfold itself after an hour into the film, when a courageous boy stands up against the vicious gang but then gets falsely accused, threatened and targeted for vengeance. Moral of the story: look the other way when violence is being committed near you! "Just for the Hell of it" is an okay film if you're into cheap and extremely low-budgeted 60's exploitation, but it definitely contains too many overlong sequences of padding and repetitiveness. It's just plain boring to watch a bunch of people demolish all the furniture in one and the same room for five whole minutes. The acting performances are below par, as to be expected from this type of poverty row film production, but it's nevertheless quite funny how these "juvenile" delinquents are depicted by actors and actresses who're all at least in their late twenties. The gangs' last crime on the beach and particularly the denouement form the undeniable highlights of "Just for the Hell of it" because these sequences are shocking and vile, and the use of make-up effects in these scenes finally state clear that you're watching a H.G Lewis' flick! The theme song is also very exhilarating and catchy, so I'll give an extra point for that as well.
23 Reviews
All hail Herschell Gordon Lewis.
BandSAboutMovies25 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This movie - his attempt at a whole new genre that was the pornography of destruction - is completely unhinged and out of control, even a half-century after it was made.
Just watch the opening, where a gang of teens go from partying to suddenly decimating everything in their path, trashing an apartment in a moment of joyous destruction. As Lewis says on the intro to the film on its new Arrow Video release, "Watch this and think about how much fun everyone had making it."
The gang Destruction Incorporated are here to terrorize small towns in Florida just for the hell of it, according to their insane leader Dexter, who has brought together Denny, Bitsy and Lummox as his crew. They beat up a bartender, splash a man with paint and set a woman's newspaper on fire. Cops? They just make fun of the cops. These kids aren't square. They just like messing things up for everyone else.
Not even cozy little coffee shops are safe. They just provide an arena for fist fights and grabbing store owners and burning their hands on the very stove that they make java on. The police try again to stop the gang, but no witnesses want to come forward. The violence only stops for a moment before the gang goes wild all over again, beating blind people, attacking men with their own crutches, throwing a baby into a garbage can and then destroying its stroller. They don't care about anything or anyone, only the feeling of breaking things and the thrill of getting away with it.
Then, the gang invades a little league baseball game and starts attacking the children before Doug gets involved. Sadly, when a senile old woman calls the cop, he gets blamed. While he's in jail, the gang beats a man on a beach blanket and assaults his girlfriend before they're murdered.
If the police aren't going to stop things, Doug and his girl Jeanne will. Bitsy, the mascot of the gang, lures Doug out of his house in the hopes she'll testify against the Destruction boys, but it's just a trap. His girlfriend is brutally attacked and left for dead with a drawing of a rat carved into her stomach. You know, for as kind of a man as Lewis seems while introducing this film, he's an absolute maniac behind the camera.
Doug chases Denny and Bitsy, which leads their motorcycle into an explosive accident and our hero, such as it is, gets arrested. However, Dexter and Lummox have escaped and when told that two of the gang are dead, he answers, "Why cars, man?"
The movie ends with blood written on glass that says, "THE END... of this movie, but not the violence."
This is a movie that doesn't care that you find it worrisome or troublesome or problematic. If it could sneak into your parents' house and beat them up with pool cues, it would do it right now. In fact, it just might be.
Just watch the opening, where a gang of teens go from partying to suddenly decimating everything in their path, trashing an apartment in a moment of joyous destruction. As Lewis says on the intro to the film on its new Arrow Video release, "Watch this and think about how much fun everyone had making it."
The gang Destruction Incorporated are here to terrorize small towns in Florida just for the hell of it, according to their insane leader Dexter, who has brought together Denny, Bitsy and Lummox as his crew. They beat up a bartender, splash a man with paint and set a woman's newspaper on fire. Cops? They just make fun of the cops. These kids aren't square. They just like messing things up for everyone else.
Not even cozy little coffee shops are safe. They just provide an arena for fist fights and grabbing store owners and burning their hands on the very stove that they make java on. The police try again to stop the gang, but no witnesses want to come forward. The violence only stops for a moment before the gang goes wild all over again, beating blind people, attacking men with their own crutches, throwing a baby into a garbage can and then destroying its stroller. They don't care about anything or anyone, only the feeling of breaking things and the thrill of getting away with it.
Then, the gang invades a little league baseball game and starts attacking the children before Doug gets involved. Sadly, when a senile old woman calls the cop, he gets blamed. While he's in jail, the gang beats a man on a beach blanket and assaults his girlfriend before they're murdered.
If the police aren't going to stop things, Doug and his girl Jeanne will. Bitsy, the mascot of the gang, lures Doug out of his house in the hopes she'll testify against the Destruction boys, but it's just a trap. His girlfriend is brutally attacked and left for dead with a drawing of a rat carved into her stomach. You know, for as kind of a man as Lewis seems while introducing this film, he's an absolute maniac behind the camera.
Doug chases Denny and Bitsy, which leads their motorcycle into an explosive accident and our hero, such as it is, gets arrested. However, Dexter and Lummox have escaped and when told that two of the gang are dead, he answers, "Why cars, man?"
The movie ends with blood written on glass that says, "THE END... of this movie, but not the violence."
This is a movie that doesn't care that you find it worrisome or troublesome or problematic. If it could sneak into your parents' house and beat them up with pool cues, it would do it right now. In fact, it just might be.
No big deal...but Alan Smithee...
Herrkritik5 April 2011
White did not throw the baby in the garbage can and at Tarantinos Beverly theatre it opened the Grindhouse Film Fest so it must be recognised by the Grindhouse elite community somehow, so maybe to some it is not as bad to some as it appears to you. In Berlin, knock off copies are still available, it still plays regularly in subject appropriate theatres and there has been recently been gang actions mirroring the illness that the gang in Just For The Hell of It portrayed, again, using the opening figure with the knife on T-shirts. If it can get Berliners crazy enough, maybe we get back into the international scene again. Linking up with the Russians that are fans, maybe we can get our demands faster. Maybe we need a wacko like Denny Fortune to run for Anti-Christ. His attitude is not unlike our (and the Russians) early leaders who could of taken over the world.
Bully, Bully
BaronBl00d27 January 2002
A group of crazy, violent teens makes life a living hell for a town of babies, handicapped people, blind men, and single women with nary a cop in sight when anything happens, shortly after anything happens, or even after that. Herschell Gordon Lewis tries his hand at making a teen gang violence picture with some kind of social commentary. But the result is a film with a very sadistic side and loads of intentional(I think they were at least) and many unintentional laughs. Acting, a far off feeling in most Lewis films, is fairly decent here. The youthful leads convey menace enough to hope something terrible happens to them. The group plays all kinds of pranks...some harmless at first but then work their way up to murder and rape. The Lewis touch is clearly evident in the relentless, unfeeling tone of the film. It has no heart at all. Because it has some laughs and shows some situations of intended violence hitherto unseen in any of Lewis's works, I would take a moment and see the film....just for the hell of it!
Boring, cheap and stupid...ranking it among Hershell Gordon Lewis' better films!
planktonrules27 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This film was made by the crown prince of gore and schlock, Hershell Gordon Lewis. It begins with some young people at a party. All of the sudden, one of the 'untamed youth' begins smashing things--at which point they all join in with the fun. What makes it rather strange is that some of them have knives and even hatchets!! Where did they hide them and what sort of folks bring hatchets?! This opening scene lasts about three times longer than it should and could have used a strong editing. Then, the credits roll along with some of the most nasal and annoying music I've heard in years. Tary Rebanar's voice is high-pitched and annoying enough to raise the dead!! Sadly, strains from his god-awful warbling came and went throughout the film.
Once the movie begins, you'll most likely notice how bad the sound is--like it's being filmed with a super 8mm movie camera. As for the acting, everyone seems to over-emote--even the band, whose guitarist and bass player appear to be having grand mal seizures. Really...you need to see them bouncing about to believe it. I am sure the king of subtle, Lewis, instructed them on the finer points of acting and style.
What follows are some poorly choreographed fights (I truly think Lewis just yelled out "okay, start breaking things" and let them wing it) and MORE destruction of rooms full of cheap furniture. And, like the first time, it seems to go on forever. You'd think these 'youth gone wild' would have gotten bored with this after a while, and so they do. For kicks, then, they fry a guy's hand on the stove, burn newspapers that sit right in front of the camera and smash apart a baby carriage. I especially loved the shot of the baby sitting in a trashcan--just looking at the punks as they did their thing. It was dumb but also kind of funny. Sadly, however, the film didn't stop there. It kept showing more and more and more of the same sort of thing--these kids beating up and humiliating adults time and time again. It really got old very quickly and just looked like padding and made up the bulk of the film. Acting and plot just didn't seem that important. Yet I was also left to wonder how they could do this so many times in broad daylight and yet the cops STILL couldn't figure out who these young whippersnappers were!!! And, considering how loud and obnoxious and noticeable the crazed kids were, you almost thought the cops in the film should have been played by Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.
Finally, to break the monotony of the same old attacks again and again, a group of four nice girls are invited to one of the gang's parties and are drugged and raped. But, instead of this signaling a move to more serious crimes, in the next scene the gang literally goes out and beats up little children playing baseball. I know it was supposed to be shocking but I just thought the whole thing was incredibly silly. And, once again, the scene seemed to go on way too long. However, even though it's a horrible scene, just get a load of that old lady as she watches the attack! I loved her expressions--the type that make Edith Massey seem like a brilliant thespian.
Unfortunately, in addition to the old lady being a horrible actress, she also misidentifies who caused the problems--saying that an innocent kid was at fault for attacking an entire gang. And, the brain-addled police seem to think this is reasonable and arrest the boy. They ignore another more credible witness and don't even bother talking to the little kids! Hmm...it seems the police aren't really blind--just really, really stupid! In the following scene, by the way, you learn what else the vicious gang likes to do for fun. They play bumper pool!!! So, as the gang play, the innocent guy who was just arrested comes into the room full of these clean-cut looking thugs and threatens them!!! What part of stupid didn't this guy understand?! He has just shown that he's dumb enough to join this town's police force. Yet, oddly, we see no beat-down--just the gang enjoying six packs of everyone's favorite beverage, Carling Black Label (could they have perhaps been a sponsor!?). What happened to the dumb guy who just threatened to kill them (and without a gun or tank or even backup to help)?! What follows instead is a rape scene that showed a lot more than I'd assumed they could get away with back in 1968.
However, apparently the gang didn't forget about the dumb guy and you see them about to exact their revenge. In the very next scene, his girlfriend calls the cops to report the threatening phone calls she got and they respond that there's nothing they can do(?). I think the Keystone Kops would have been an improvement over the police in this goofy town. What follows are more sexual assaults and mayhem until finally, finally the gang is finally stopped in a weird scene where a bike just explodes for no reason.
This film, with a few exceptions here and there, managed to make gang violence rather boring. Too many scenes should have been shortened, there were too many attacks and not enough story. All in all, the violence just got old and dull very quickly and the story never made sense as people cannot be THAT dumb! While this is a terrible film in almost every way, for Hershell Gordon Lewis this is NOT among his worst films. No, for that you might want to try MONSTER A GO-GO and THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA. Believe it or not, however, Lewis did make one low-budget films that didn't completely suck--the surprisingly good TWO THOUSAND MANIACS. This proves that if you try hard enough, you're bound to get lucky once.
Once the movie begins, you'll most likely notice how bad the sound is--like it's being filmed with a super 8mm movie camera. As for the acting, everyone seems to over-emote--even the band, whose guitarist and bass player appear to be having grand mal seizures. Really...you need to see them bouncing about to believe it. I am sure the king of subtle, Lewis, instructed them on the finer points of acting and style.
What follows are some poorly choreographed fights (I truly think Lewis just yelled out "okay, start breaking things" and let them wing it) and MORE destruction of rooms full of cheap furniture. And, like the first time, it seems to go on forever. You'd think these 'youth gone wild' would have gotten bored with this after a while, and so they do. For kicks, then, they fry a guy's hand on the stove, burn newspapers that sit right in front of the camera and smash apart a baby carriage. I especially loved the shot of the baby sitting in a trashcan--just looking at the punks as they did their thing. It was dumb but also kind of funny. Sadly, however, the film didn't stop there. It kept showing more and more and more of the same sort of thing--these kids beating up and humiliating adults time and time again. It really got old very quickly and just looked like padding and made up the bulk of the film. Acting and plot just didn't seem that important. Yet I was also left to wonder how they could do this so many times in broad daylight and yet the cops STILL couldn't figure out who these young whippersnappers were!!! And, considering how loud and obnoxious and noticeable the crazed kids were, you almost thought the cops in the film should have been played by Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.
Finally, to break the monotony of the same old attacks again and again, a group of four nice girls are invited to one of the gang's parties and are drugged and raped. But, instead of this signaling a move to more serious crimes, in the next scene the gang literally goes out and beats up little children playing baseball. I know it was supposed to be shocking but I just thought the whole thing was incredibly silly. And, once again, the scene seemed to go on way too long. However, even though it's a horrible scene, just get a load of that old lady as she watches the attack! I loved her expressions--the type that make Edith Massey seem like a brilliant thespian.
Unfortunately, in addition to the old lady being a horrible actress, she also misidentifies who caused the problems--saying that an innocent kid was at fault for attacking an entire gang. And, the brain-addled police seem to think this is reasonable and arrest the boy. They ignore another more credible witness and don't even bother talking to the little kids! Hmm...it seems the police aren't really blind--just really, really stupid! In the following scene, by the way, you learn what else the vicious gang likes to do for fun. They play bumper pool!!! So, as the gang play, the innocent guy who was just arrested comes into the room full of these clean-cut looking thugs and threatens them!!! What part of stupid didn't this guy understand?! He has just shown that he's dumb enough to join this town's police force. Yet, oddly, we see no beat-down--just the gang enjoying six packs of everyone's favorite beverage, Carling Black Label (could they have perhaps been a sponsor!?). What happened to the dumb guy who just threatened to kill them (and without a gun or tank or even backup to help)?! What follows instead is a rape scene that showed a lot more than I'd assumed they could get away with back in 1968.
However, apparently the gang didn't forget about the dumb guy and you see them about to exact their revenge. In the very next scene, his girlfriend calls the cops to report the threatening phone calls she got and they respond that there's nothing they can do(?). I think the Keystone Kops would have been an improvement over the police in this goofy town. What follows are more sexual assaults and mayhem until finally, finally the gang is finally stopped in a weird scene where a bike just explodes for no reason.
This film, with a few exceptions here and there, managed to make gang violence rather boring. Too many scenes should have been shortened, there were too many attacks and not enough story. All in all, the violence just got old and dull very quickly and the story never made sense as people cannot be THAT dumb! While this is a terrible film in almost every way, for Hershell Gordon Lewis this is NOT among his worst films. No, for that you might want to try MONSTER A GO-GO and THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA. Believe it or not, however, Lewis did make one low-budget films that didn't completely suck--the surprisingly good TWO THOUSAND MANIACS. This proves that if you try hard enough, you're bound to get lucky once.
The worst piece of crap I've ever seen.
bigmoneygriff19 August 2001
What possesses someone to make such a f**ked up piece of crap? I LOVE bad movies, but I have truly seen hell on film & this is it. This gets my worst rating. Tormenting blind people & babies, beating up little kids, breaking into women's homes & raping them, oh that's real entertainment! Even worse than the fact the film was made is that Something Wierd just put it out on a double feature DVD. I don't get it.
Dreadful, even by H.G. Lewis's standards
tomgillespie20023 September 2011
Herschell Gordon Lewis has made some memorable films in his time. 1968's Blood Feast introduced the film world to the wonders of gore and although it is an undeniably terrible and amateurish film, it certainly had it's charms. They came thick and fast after that, and his CV added the likes of 2000 Maniacs!, Color Me Blood Red, The Gruesome Twosome, and The Gore Gore Girls. Again, these are all terrible films, but his horror output is genuinely wildly entertaining due to their zero-budget sets, awful scripts, worse acting, and extremely ropy gore make-up. The other films he made in and around these did not share these charms - they were quickies made on a half-idea based around a specific exploitative subject - in this case, juvenile delinquents. They were even given their own sub-genre, known as 'J.D.' films.
Just For The Hell Of It is based around a gang of young men and women as they participate in a lot of anti-social behaviour, seemingly only for cheap kicks. Beginning at a party that soon deteriorates into the absolute destruction of the room, they abolish it with fists, feet, hammers, and whatever else they can get their hands on. Their acts become more outlandish, as they throw water over passers-by, set fire to things, throw a baby into a bin, beat an injured man with his own crutches, and hit a blind man with his cane. Innocent, bronze-skinned meat-head Doug (Rodney Bedell) seems to be caught up in it and frequently finds himself crossing paths with the gang, especially leader Dexter (Ray Sager).
What is basically an interesting idea is dealt with by H.G. Lewis' usual graceless and heavy-handed approach. The film is nothing more than one act of anti-social behaviour after the next, and it goes on for 90 long minutes. The most ridiculous thing is that the gang does all this in broad daylight, in front of lots of witnesses and bystanders, yet they seem to manage to evade the cops. Even when they attack a bunch of kids playing baseball, Doug runs over to help - yet an old woman passing by somehow manages to mistake the whole gang for Doug, who she ends up blaming. The laughable moral message at the end ('This is the end of the movie, but not of the violence') seems ridiculous coming from the man who directed Blood Feast. I really don't want to waste any more words on this film because it simply doesn't deserve it. Simply horrifying film- making at its very worse. But I somehow still love you, Herschell.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
Just For The Hell Of It is based around a gang of young men and women as they participate in a lot of anti-social behaviour, seemingly only for cheap kicks. Beginning at a party that soon deteriorates into the absolute destruction of the room, they abolish it with fists, feet, hammers, and whatever else they can get their hands on. Their acts become more outlandish, as they throw water over passers-by, set fire to things, throw a baby into a bin, beat an injured man with his own crutches, and hit a blind man with his cane. Innocent, bronze-skinned meat-head Doug (Rodney Bedell) seems to be caught up in it and frequently finds himself crossing paths with the gang, especially leader Dexter (Ray Sager).
What is basically an interesting idea is dealt with by H.G. Lewis' usual graceless and heavy-handed approach. The film is nothing more than one act of anti-social behaviour after the next, and it goes on for 90 long minutes. The most ridiculous thing is that the gang does all this in broad daylight, in front of lots of witnesses and bystanders, yet they seem to manage to evade the cops. Even when they attack a bunch of kids playing baseball, Doug runs over to help - yet an old woman passing by somehow manages to mistake the whole gang for Doug, who she ends up blaming. The laughable moral message at the end ('This is the end of the movie, but not of the violence') seems ridiculous coming from the man who directed Blood Feast. I really don't want to waste any more words on this film because it simply doesn't deserve it. Simply horrifying film- making at its very worse. But I somehow still love you, Herschell.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
Is this the best of JDs in Miami?
lastliberal7 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Oh, those terrible kids. I was their age at the time of this film and I am ashamed that this is the best example of juvenile delinquency Lewis can muster.
"Terrorizing" old ladies by burning newspapers in her yard and spraying her with a hose? This is terrible. Give them the chair. Taking a cane from a blind man and crutches from an injured old man. Oh how horrible! Putting a toddler in a trash can while they wreck the stroller. Big men! These were just wimps. tearing up a newspaper. Oh, come on.
There were some rapes (not that you would see anything), and ultimately a murder, they were scum, but so is this picture.
"Terrorizing" old ladies by burning newspapers in her yard and spraying her with a hose? This is terrible. Give them the chair. Taking a cane from a blind man and crutches from an injured old man. Oh how horrible! Putting a toddler in a trash can while they wreck the stroller. Big men! These were just wimps. tearing up a newspaper. Oh, come on.
There were some rapes (not that you would see anything), and ultimately a murder, they were scum, but so is this picture.
Relentlessly gory, humorless JD flick.
sonya9002830 August 2009
I rented this film on DVD, as part of a double feature. Netflix packages lots of their classic films, on DVD this way. In addition to the feature films, the DVD also included some extra film clips. Some of the extras were fun to watch, especially the old Drive-in Intermission clips. They sure brought back fond memories, of trips to the Drive-in during my childhood days.
Just For The Hell Of It, was little more than a melodramatic yarn about violent, delinquent teens. This film stood-out from others of it's kind, by portraying the teen violence as particularly vicious. There was even a scene where a toddler was snatched from it's carriage, and put in a garbage can, by one of the teens. The incredible mayhem that these teens indulge in, is way beyond youthful hijinks.
It's obvious that the producers of this movie, were trying to shock the sensibilities of the older generation in the 60s. Seems like back then, the under-30 crowd were forever keeping their elders bewildered. But very few young people, were actually as brutal back then, as they're portrayed to be in this movie. So the premise of the film, really stretches the bounds of credibility. This movie doesn't even work as a campy film. It's just too grisly, and lacks any real element of humor at all. Only those who like gory slasher films, might enjoy this movie.
Just For The Hell Of It, was little more than a melodramatic yarn about violent, delinquent teens. This film stood-out from others of it's kind, by portraying the teen violence as particularly vicious. There was even a scene where a toddler was snatched from it's carriage, and put in a garbage can, by one of the teens. The incredible mayhem that these teens indulge in, is way beyond youthful hijinks.
It's obvious that the producers of this movie, were trying to shock the sensibilities of the older generation in the 60s. Seems like back then, the under-30 crowd were forever keeping their elders bewildered. But very few young people, were actually as brutal back then, as they're portrayed to be in this movie. So the premise of the film, really stretches the bounds of credibility. This movie doesn't even work as a campy film. It's just too grisly, and lacks any real element of humor at all. Only those who like gory slasher films, might enjoy this movie.
1969 Herschell and Charlie Manson connections
critiquehomme23 March 2011
For entertainment, Charlie Manson LOVED the goriest of magazines and movies or at least something hatefully abusive to women and/or children. He must of thought Herschell's 'hack-em up' films were an great option at the drive-in in the 60's, when they were released. It's coincidental that between Herschell Gordon Lewis filming on Charlie Manson's Spaun ranch in the late 60's and 'Charlie and the gang' getting revenge on the the recording industry (one school of thought), Just For the Hell of It was released. The actual events in the hills of Los Angeles and fictional events in this movie appear way too similar to be a coincidence (instead of 'pig' written on the wall in red, it was 'FUZZ'). Another troubling connection is that besides acting like Manson the cripple kicking, baby throwing White (Denny Fortune) got his albums title song internationally released with THE most controversial 1969 Charlie Manson tune (sung by the Beach boys???) on EMI's Ah Feel Like Ahcid.
All this should scare the public more than the connections of Just For the Hell of It, Burgess, Kubrick and the making of Clockwork Orange should interest them.
All this should scare the public more than the connections of Just For the Hell of It, Burgess, Kubrick and the making of Clockwork Orange should interest them.
If done in France in the 50s, it probably would be hailed as a masterpiece . . .
dburton213 November 2022
But it wasn't, and it isn't. A very tedious effort here from Herschell Gordon Lewis about a gang of teenage hoodlums. For some of Lewis' films, you accept the low budget and amateurish acting for the bravura moments of gore and weirdness, but there are none here, so what's the point. What stands out most is some unintentional comedy in scenes in which Lewis has his actors attempt to break things, but they have a lot of trouble doing so because they're knocking around real objects, not fake movie props: furniture, a boat; even with an actor attacking it with an axe, a wooden boat takes quite a licking but keeps on ticking. An ordinary baby carriage also proves surprisingly sturdy despite attempts to damage it. So that's my main takeaway from the movie: the decline in American craftsmanship.
Classic 60's JD film
stevenfallonnyc4 June 2005
"Just For The Hell of It" has to be one of the greatest exploitation flicks I have ever seen. I wanted to see it ever since seeing the trailer a few years ago, which was basically just kids ripping stuff apart. How can you not love that? The film sets the tone quickly as almost immediately the gang destroys a roomful of furniture, even before a single word is muttered on screen. It actually takes seven minutes for any words to come out of anyone's mouth, as after the initial destruction we see a wild late 60's band, complete with guys who seemed like they influenced Angus Young with their head banging on stage.
From there, the movie is virtually non-stop as the gang goes literally from one thing to another, destroying stuff, bothering people, causing all sorts of hell. Some of the things they do are throwing buckets of water at people, hosing down a woman, ripping clothes off a clothes line, ripping up a magazine a woman is reading, and more. These scenes are completely hilarious.
The acts seem to get more violent as the film progresses, as those things progress into beating a blind man with his cane, beating an injured man with his crutches, beating an eatery owner and burning his hand (after destroying his place), and putting a baby in a garbage can while destroying the carriage (where did the mother go?).
The funny thing about all of this is that the gang does it all in broad daylight, in congested places where there are plenty of cars and people around, and of course no one does anything. Even when the gang starts beating on a bunch of little kids playing baseball in the park (in a hilarious scene where you can spot a kid or two laughing as they are being tossed around) one old lady who does see what happened, blames a guy trying to stop the gang for starting a fight with them, and has him arrested.
Then from there, things get much more violent and a little less funny as the gang adds murder and gang-rape to their mayhem.
Much of "Just For The Hell of It" appears to have been shot silent, with sound added later, adding to the cheesiness of the whole thing. It is funny listening to goofy 60's music as the gang commits these crimes, and they also seem to produce hammers and axes wherever they are when they start breaking stuff, despite the fact that you never actually see them carrying any weapons.
The film almost never drags, constantly going from one destructive event to another for almost the entire duration, until the last 15 minutes when things slow down a bit to build up some tension. The guys are all smart alecks and the girls are all pretty. This is a classic JD problem child flick that anyone into very cheesy low-budget stuff will get a huge kick out of. It is H.G. Lewis after all, no one does it quite like him!
From there, the movie is virtually non-stop as the gang goes literally from one thing to another, destroying stuff, bothering people, causing all sorts of hell. Some of the things they do are throwing buckets of water at people, hosing down a woman, ripping clothes off a clothes line, ripping up a magazine a woman is reading, and more. These scenes are completely hilarious.
The acts seem to get more violent as the film progresses, as those things progress into beating a blind man with his cane, beating an injured man with his crutches, beating an eatery owner and burning his hand (after destroying his place), and putting a baby in a garbage can while destroying the carriage (where did the mother go?).
The funny thing about all of this is that the gang does it all in broad daylight, in congested places where there are plenty of cars and people around, and of course no one does anything. Even when the gang starts beating on a bunch of little kids playing baseball in the park (in a hilarious scene where you can spot a kid or two laughing as they are being tossed around) one old lady who does see what happened, blames a guy trying to stop the gang for starting a fight with them, and has him arrested.
Then from there, things get much more violent and a little less funny as the gang adds murder and gang-rape to their mayhem.
Much of "Just For The Hell of It" appears to have been shot silent, with sound added later, adding to the cheesiness of the whole thing. It is funny listening to goofy 60's music as the gang commits these crimes, and they also seem to produce hammers and axes wherever they are when they start breaking stuff, despite the fact that you never actually see them carrying any weapons.
The film almost never drags, constantly going from one destructive event to another for almost the entire duration, until the last 15 minutes when things slow down a bit to build up some tension. The guys are all smart alecks and the girls are all pretty. This is a classic JD problem child flick that anyone into very cheesy low-budget stuff will get a huge kick out of. It is H.G. Lewis after all, no one does it quite like him!
Killing for the Thrills
gavin69424 November 2016
A young teenage boy is blamed for a Florida neighborhood being terrorized. But the real culprits are a gang of four punks leading a group of local delinquents on a nihilistic lifestyle of destruction and mayhem.
What strikes me about the film is the parallel with "Clockwork Orange". This is obviously not intentional, but the gang accosting an old (apparently blind) man seems very much like the droogs attacking homeless men. Lewis approaches it in a far more gruesome manner, however, with some of the violence very much Ripper-esque. Alex (in "Clockwork") is somehow sympathetic, despite being a murderous rapist. But Dexter (played by Ray Sager) is just a pure sociopath.
Worthy of note is the appearance of musician Larry Williams. Williams is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to 1959 for Specialty Records, including "Bony Moronie", "Short Fat Fannie", "High School Dance" (1957), "Slow Down", "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (1958), "Bad Boy" and "She Said Yeah" (1959). John Lennon was a fan, and the Beatles and several other British Invasion groups covered several of his songs.
What strikes me about the film is the parallel with "Clockwork Orange". This is obviously not intentional, but the gang accosting an old (apparently blind) man seems very much like the droogs attacking homeless men. Lewis approaches it in a far more gruesome manner, however, with some of the violence very much Ripper-esque. Alex (in "Clockwork") is somehow sympathetic, despite being a murderous rapist. But Dexter (played by Ray Sager) is just a pure sociopath.
Worthy of note is the appearance of musician Larry Williams. Williams is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to 1959 for Specialty Records, including "Bony Moronie", "Short Fat Fannie", "High School Dance" (1957), "Slow Down", "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (1958), "Bad Boy" and "She Said Yeah" (1959). John Lennon was a fan, and the Beatles and several other British Invasion groups covered several of his songs.
Even the title screams Grind House
Tabularasamon7 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Just for the Hell of it was recently brought back to Hollywood to open the 2011 Grindhouse Film Festival in Tarantino's beautifully renovated New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles(thanks for saving history Q).
Just for the Hell of It was an Herschell Gordon Lewis 'indie', 'low budget', 'Grind House' movie (before all those terms became vogue and before people acted like they made them up). It is a 'godfather of Grind House' production of non-stop miscreant havoc initiated by a very dull and inept 'leader' Dexter (Sager/Smash Cut w/Sasha Grey and Lewis himself), carried out after being twisted into truly demented evil by Denny (White/Capitol Records,Fantasy films)and his minions, on everyone in south Florida and specifically Doug (Bedell/??) and Jeanne (Gynes/??), with the assistance of pretty and perky bad girl Bitsy (Nobel/ She Devils on Wheels). White, the 'most vicious of the gang' and Bitsy die like real bad boys and girls should, in a motorcycle accident after a chase scene that needed more than $32.50 on production and editing, however, it was going directly to Drive-ins and quality never was or ever will be a Lewis quality.His genre repertoire includes exploitation, hicksploitation, sexploitation, destuctploition, etc. so you can't judge him by his early Dahmer, Gacy and Gein training films.
It was one of the HGL 'Summer of Love' films and it must be that "only love stopped the Demon"(Micky Knox) as it's a one of a kind HGL genre where someone, generally a defenseless, sobbing and franticly screaming adolescent girl, is NOT raped, hacked up alive, eaten and then laughed at... probably because he did not write it (a girl did) and probably why NETFLIX rents it.
FF: In Hollywood, Lou Ferrigno had started a fight with White about who was Denny Fortune in Just For the Hell of it, him or White. In his inimitable fashion and in the middle of Sunset Blvd, the REAL one and ONLY Johnny Legend and Something Weird Video try to get to the truth and calm the two psychos down in Sleazemania on Parade w/Gene Autry, Steve Allen, Angie Dickenson, Doug McClure and Mr T.
White wins so watch out Trejo.
Considering the ill effects caused by other genres Lewis has tried, the story lines and poor performances of today's films in general, I think this is worth whatever Netflix or Something Weird Video charges.
Just For the Hell of It has been teamed up on a SWV DVD with Blast-off Girls. I never saw it as the 'duncemeister' Sager, who's still with Lewis, and 'Satan' White, whose tunes were FITTINGLY recently released with Charlie Manson tunes sung by the Beach Boys on EMI, are in this movie also. I did not want to see Sager say "duh" again and although I read White only wrote and performed the opening tune Bad Day (he should of wrote Bad Film), I don't even want the chance of seeing him throwing another baby in a garbage can, so beware..
Just for the Hell of It was an Herschell Gordon Lewis 'indie', 'low budget', 'Grind House' movie (before all those terms became vogue and before people acted like they made them up). It is a 'godfather of Grind House' production of non-stop miscreant havoc initiated by a very dull and inept 'leader' Dexter (Sager/Smash Cut w/Sasha Grey and Lewis himself), carried out after being twisted into truly demented evil by Denny (White/Capitol Records,Fantasy films)and his minions, on everyone in south Florida and specifically Doug (Bedell/??) and Jeanne (Gynes/??), with the assistance of pretty and perky bad girl Bitsy (Nobel/ She Devils on Wheels). White, the 'most vicious of the gang' and Bitsy die like real bad boys and girls should, in a motorcycle accident after a chase scene that needed more than $32.50 on production and editing, however, it was going directly to Drive-ins and quality never was or ever will be a Lewis quality.His genre repertoire includes exploitation, hicksploitation, sexploitation, destuctploition, etc. so you can't judge him by his early Dahmer, Gacy and Gein training films.
It was one of the HGL 'Summer of Love' films and it must be that "only love stopped the Demon"(Micky Knox) as it's a one of a kind HGL genre where someone, generally a defenseless, sobbing and franticly screaming adolescent girl, is NOT raped, hacked up alive, eaten and then laughed at... probably because he did not write it (a girl did) and probably why NETFLIX rents it.
FF: In Hollywood, Lou Ferrigno had started a fight with White about who was Denny Fortune in Just For the Hell of it, him or White. In his inimitable fashion and in the middle of Sunset Blvd, the REAL one and ONLY Johnny Legend and Something Weird Video try to get to the truth and calm the two psychos down in Sleazemania on Parade w/Gene Autry, Steve Allen, Angie Dickenson, Doug McClure and Mr T.
White wins so watch out Trejo.
Considering the ill effects caused by other genres Lewis has tried, the story lines and poor performances of today's films in general, I think this is worth whatever Netflix or Something Weird Video charges.
Just For the Hell of It has been teamed up on a SWV DVD with Blast-off Girls. I never saw it as the 'duncemeister' Sager, who's still with Lewis, and 'Satan' White, whose tunes were FITTINGLY recently released with Charlie Manson tunes sung by the Beach Boys on EMI, are in this movie also. I did not want to see Sager say "duh" again and although I read White only wrote and performed the opening tune Bad Day (he should of wrote Bad Film), I don't even want the chance of seeing him throwing another baby in a garbage can, so beware..
Hilarious J.D. film! Rides the line between black comedy and high camp
chas7715 April 1999
H.G. Lewis' films are not for everyone. He uses amateur actors that he finds in the cities he films in and the sets are probably houses that the actor's parent's own. But his films are so out there and so bizarre that I can't see how you wouldn't get a kick out of them. "Just for the Hell of it" centers on a large group of white-bred kids who, for no reason whatsoever (hence the title) decide to engage in pranks ranging from fairly harmless (hiding a blind man's cane) to truly evil (raping a girl on a beach and putting her boyfriend in a sinking boat). If you want to know what a stereotypical late '60's drive-in film was like, this would probably be your best bet.
Even I was never this bad!
Horror Fan21 February 1999
This film has about the naughtiest juvenile delinquents ever shown in a motion picture. They do horrific things to their poor neighborhood. They destroy property and their school, dumb paint on people, torment a blind man, attack elementary kids playing soccer, put a baby in a trash barrel and roll it away, and axe and splatter paint all over newspapers about these things. What's their excuse? "We did this just for the hell of it." This is incredibly violent, and it sure served as a lesson to me when I saw it, I totally stopped carving my name on benches, writing messages on mirrors with marker, and drag racing.
The best kind of house party, but the cheapest way to film it
tina19787 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Another typical exploitation film from the past. The acting is dreadful and the whole film just has that cheap feel to it. I read that HG Lweis liked to hire locals to appear in his films, and here it seems pretty obvious. The film is fun to watch but leaves much to be desired. The best scene is the first scene in the film, which is the house party. I can't remember whose house it was supposed to be. One minute everyone is dancing and having a good time and the next minute the guys and girls are destroying everything they can get their hands (and axes) on. The thing that ruins this first scene is the fact that all of the fun and destruction only takes place in a single room. Not very realistic at all in my opinion, again it feels cheap. If I had been there, and everyone else was already destroying the living room like that, the first thing I would have done is head to the kitchen to smash the fine china before anyone else had a chance.:P This movie just doesn't seem very realistic at all, in my opinion. If you have a chance to see it, by all means see it. Just don't expect a high quality production.
Unbelievable juvenile delinquent opus from H.G. "Gore" Lewis
Casey-5217 October 2000
Shot back-to-back with SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS, JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT is almost as good. Filled with amazing scenes of mass destruction and devilish deeds, HELL may be the ultimate j.d. film. Too bad it came a few (10) years too late!
Destruction Inc. is a leather-jacket, bike-riding teenage gang who, for the duration of the film, cause trouble for law-abiding citizens and the law. That's it. There really is no plot here, just scene after scene of crimes committed by boys AND girls.
HELL is obviously the sister of SHE-DEVILS. The cast, almost all having appeared in SHE-DEVILS, includes Rodney Bedell, Nancy Lee Noble, Ruby Tuesday, Pat Poston, a number of the men from the stud line, two of the biker chicks, and the heroine's mother! Ray Sager, who plays one of the gang leaders, later played Montag in WIZARD OF GORE! Nancy Lee Noble really deserved more roles in these types of movies. She's great in SHE-DEVILS and is good here, too. I have yet to see her in THE GIRL, THE BODY & THE PILL, but she has already become one of my psychotronic favorites. On another note: the music is all from THE GRUESOME TWOSOME, with the exception of the two songs performed by the Florida garage band. I wish a CD would come out of music that Larry Wellington supervised for H.G. Lewis' films. He really aided the 60s feel of movies like this one, GRUESOME TWOSOME and SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS.
JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT is, like I said, scene after scene after scene of mass destruction. This gets a little repetitive, but never gets dull. The main gang leader (I'm hazy on the name of the actor) seems more apt to play the good-looking hero and I would love to have seen him try that role. Not H.G. Lewis' best, but JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT is full of scenes that only Lewis would film and that 60s Florida feel that makes it indescribably fun to endure.
Destruction Inc. is a leather-jacket, bike-riding teenage gang who, for the duration of the film, cause trouble for law-abiding citizens and the law. That's it. There really is no plot here, just scene after scene of crimes committed by boys AND girls.
HELL is obviously the sister of SHE-DEVILS. The cast, almost all having appeared in SHE-DEVILS, includes Rodney Bedell, Nancy Lee Noble, Ruby Tuesday, Pat Poston, a number of the men from the stud line, two of the biker chicks, and the heroine's mother! Ray Sager, who plays one of the gang leaders, later played Montag in WIZARD OF GORE! Nancy Lee Noble really deserved more roles in these types of movies. She's great in SHE-DEVILS and is good here, too. I have yet to see her in THE GIRL, THE BODY & THE PILL, but she has already become one of my psychotronic favorites. On another note: the music is all from THE GRUESOME TWOSOME, with the exception of the two songs performed by the Florida garage band. I wish a CD would come out of music that Larry Wellington supervised for H.G. Lewis' films. He really aided the 60s feel of movies like this one, GRUESOME TWOSOME and SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS.
JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT is, like I said, scene after scene after scene of mass destruction. This gets a little repetitive, but never gets dull. The main gang leader (I'm hazy on the name of the actor) seems more apt to play the good-looking hero and I would love to have seen him try that role. Not H.G. Lewis' best, but JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT is full of scenes that only Lewis would film and that 60s Florida feel that makes it indescribably fun to endure.
Amazing Juvenile Delinquent Epic from the Exploitation Master...
matrixj2331 January 2007
H.G. Lewis was on quite a roll in the late 60's... In fact, he directed 11 films (!) in '67 and '68. I realize that Lewis has his share of detractors. Many consider him a no talent hack who relentlessly regurgitated disposable entertainment at a disturbingly prodigious rate during the mid-to-late 60's. They often bemoan the nailed-down camera work, wooden acting, and ridiculous situations depicted on screen. Interestingly, these are the exact elements that make Mr. Lewis's films so endearing to me...
When I watch movies, I do so for two main reasons. Either I want to be entertained and amused; or I want be pulled out of my comfort zone, and placed in a mental area in which I am forced to think about and ponder various facets of life. This film entertains in a big way. In fact, most H.G. Lewis films never fail to entertain me and bring a big smile to my face...
Mr. Lewis is best know as being the Godfather of Gore. Not many film-goers realize that Mr. Lewis was an incredibly versatile movie making machine; dipping into children's films, morality tales, hillbilly musical comedies, juvenile delinquent tales, nudies, roughies, and other assorted ephemera...
'Just For The Hell Of It' is H.G. Lewis's juvenile delinquent masterpiece. These are some bad kids...
The film starts out with a bang, and within 45 seconds a reckless groups of youths can be found laying waste to and completely trashing a house. These bad boys (and girl) are led by Ray Sager(as Dexter). The entire film is dedicated to the exploits of Dexter and company, as they terrorize a town and it's inhabitants. The pranks and mischief start out relatively harmlessly (setting newspapers on fire, dousing citizens with water, destroying laundry, trashing a restaurant), become more bizarre and off-color (putting a baby in a trash can, beating a blind man with his own cane), and of course become very malicious (gang rape and murder)...
I really enjoyed this film quite a bit. With subsequent viewings, it has never ceased to put a smile on my face. I also liked that Mr. Lewis didn't try to justify or explain the actions of the rowdy youth- they did it all 'Just For The Hell Of It'.... they did it for the kicks... In fact, You should watch this highly entertaining piece of nostalgia for the same reason...
When I watch movies, I do so for two main reasons. Either I want to be entertained and amused; or I want be pulled out of my comfort zone, and placed in a mental area in which I am forced to think about and ponder various facets of life. This film entertains in a big way. In fact, most H.G. Lewis films never fail to entertain me and bring a big smile to my face...
Mr. Lewis is best know as being the Godfather of Gore. Not many film-goers realize that Mr. Lewis was an incredibly versatile movie making machine; dipping into children's films, morality tales, hillbilly musical comedies, juvenile delinquent tales, nudies, roughies, and other assorted ephemera...
'Just For The Hell Of It' is H.G. Lewis's juvenile delinquent masterpiece. These are some bad kids...
The film starts out with a bang, and within 45 seconds a reckless groups of youths can be found laying waste to and completely trashing a house. These bad boys (and girl) are led by Ray Sager(as Dexter). The entire film is dedicated to the exploits of Dexter and company, as they terrorize a town and it's inhabitants. The pranks and mischief start out relatively harmlessly (setting newspapers on fire, dousing citizens with water, destroying laundry, trashing a restaurant), become more bizarre and off-color (putting a baby in a trash can, beating a blind man with his own cane), and of course become very malicious (gang rape and murder)...
I really enjoyed this film quite a bit. With subsequent viewings, it has never ceased to put a smile on my face. I also liked that Mr. Lewis didn't try to justify or explain the actions of the rowdy youth- they did it all 'Just For The Hell Of It'.... they did it for the kicks... In fact, You should watch this highly entertaining piece of nostalgia for the same reason...
watch it for the hell of it
ethylester13 December 2004
I loved this movie. Aside from the raping women, attacking guys on crutches and tormenting blind people, the pranks in this movie were harmless and hilarious.
Don't tell me you didn't think it was funny when those guys interrupted a little boys' game of softball and pretended to beat them up. All they did was hold the kids upside down and tickle them. Everyone does that with kids. And hosing somebody down isn't what I would call "horrific" violence. And don't tell me you haven't fantasized about taking a paint can or a bucket of soapy water and dumping it over some innocent bystander's head! I think if I could commit crimes for one solid day and never ever have to face the consequences, I would do all the things the kids did in this movie (aside from what I mentioned in the second sentence). Wouldn't you like to just go into some well-furnished room and rip everything apart wildly, painting on the walls and yourself, pulling apart tables and chairs and bashing things with dull axes? Wouldn't you like to destroy a bicycle and not have to worry about replacing it? What about a crappy old boat? I know I would!
This movie lets you live vicariously through a middle class teen gang. All the rules society places on you about safety, obedience, respect, vandalism, etc etc, get broken! And it feels good! It makes you laugh. You wish you could be in this film.
There is a plot, but the film's shining moments are these pointless acts of low violence. You can sometimes see the actor's smiling while acting these out. It just looked so FUN. And, from my perspective, those 60's boys are the best lookin'. Enjoy this film. I did!
Don't tell me you didn't think it was funny when those guys interrupted a little boys' game of softball and pretended to beat them up. All they did was hold the kids upside down and tickle them. Everyone does that with kids. And hosing somebody down isn't what I would call "horrific" violence. And don't tell me you haven't fantasized about taking a paint can or a bucket of soapy water and dumping it over some innocent bystander's head! I think if I could commit crimes for one solid day and never ever have to face the consequences, I would do all the things the kids did in this movie (aside from what I mentioned in the second sentence). Wouldn't you like to just go into some well-furnished room and rip everything apart wildly, painting on the walls and yourself, pulling apart tables and chairs and bashing things with dull axes? Wouldn't you like to destroy a bicycle and not have to worry about replacing it? What about a crappy old boat? I know I would!
This movie lets you live vicariously through a middle class teen gang. All the rules society places on you about safety, obedience, respect, vandalism, etc etc, get broken! And it feels good! It makes you laugh. You wish you could be in this film.
There is a plot, but the film's shining moments are these pointless acts of low violence. You can sometimes see the actor's smiling while acting these out. It just looked so FUN. And, from my perspective, those 60's boys are the best lookin'. Enjoy this film. I did!
Mindless fun, exploitations fans delight
KGB-Greece-Patras3 August 2007
Not being a fan of exploitation films, but for years after violent, extreme, provocative films in general, I stumbled upon this little flick from the 1968. I hadn't yet seen any other film from Herschell Gordon Lewis {shame!), so I thought I should give it try.
It's quite strange this is not more popular, because, if this is what Herschell Gordon Lewis films feel like, then I would like to see more. It is probably one of the earliest samples of mindless politically incorrect cinema done pretty sloppy but effectively, a classic exploitation, if you ask me, and even if you regularly don't take it too seriously, it's quite daring for 1968. Some scenes might raise a smile to some, intentionally or not.
So, this quite unknown film is recommended for those after a nice old party film for a night with friends, pizza and beers {the music just feels great with this one), exploitation fans {this is a must) and in general, those who are looking for mindless fun, not shocked by somewhat explicit material.
It's quite strange this is not more popular, because, if this is what Herschell Gordon Lewis films feel like, then I would like to see more. It is probably one of the earliest samples of mindless politically incorrect cinema done pretty sloppy but effectively, a classic exploitation, if you ask me, and even if you regularly don't take it too seriously, it's quite daring for 1968. Some scenes might raise a smile to some, intentionally or not.
So, this quite unknown film is recommended for those after a nice old party film for a night with friends, pizza and beers {the music just feels great with this one), exploitation fans {this is a must) and in general, those who are looking for mindless fun, not shocked by somewhat explicit material.
Wild teens on a rampage
Woodyanders4 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A gang of heinous nihilistic teenagers terrorize a small Florida town. It's up to token straight-laced nice kid Doug (likeable Rodney Bedell) to put a stop to these no-count punks.
The scenes with these adolescent hellions wreaking all kinds of havoc are positively hysterical: The unruly hoodlums destroy all kinds of stuff like chairs, mirrors, tables, and couches, splash water on folks, take a cane away from a blind man, stomp on a cripple hobbling on crutches, dump a baby in a garbage can (they trash the baby's carriage, too!), set newspapers on fire, and even rudely disrupt a baseball game being played in the park by little kids. Why do they commit these terrible things? Simply because they can, man! In a hilarious touch, the police prove to be hopelessly incompetent and are almost never around when they are needed most. Best of all, director Herschell Gordon Lewis treats the whole ridiculous thing with loveably misguided seriousness, which in turn only adds to the movie's considerable campy appeal. Toss in a catchy theme song called "Destruction," cap it all off with an appropriately bleak ending, and the net result sizes up as an absolute schlocky hoot and a half.
The scenes with these adolescent hellions wreaking all kinds of havoc are positively hysterical: The unruly hoodlums destroy all kinds of stuff like chairs, mirrors, tables, and couches, splash water on folks, take a cane away from a blind man, stomp on a cripple hobbling on crutches, dump a baby in a garbage can (they trash the baby's carriage, too!), set newspapers on fire, and even rudely disrupt a baseball game being played in the park by little kids. Why do they commit these terrible things? Simply because they can, man! In a hilarious touch, the police prove to be hopelessly incompetent and are almost never around when they are needed most. Best of all, director Herschell Gordon Lewis treats the whole ridiculous thing with loveably misguided seriousness, which in turn only adds to the movie's considerable campy appeal. Toss in a catchy theme song called "Destruction," cap it all off with an appropriately bleak ending, and the net result sizes up as an absolute schlocky hoot and a half.
Too bad there isn't a minus stars rating! Minus 10!
carkent1-14 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This is such a piece of crap from its apparent dollar store budget which shows in the sets, props, "acting" (if that's what you could call it), mismatched color, bad lighting and on and on. If you are curous, just watch any 3 minutes and that is how the entire inept film is. Is it an attempt at humor--or further ineptitude--that the juvenile delinquents spend as much time tearing up a woman's magazine pages as they do assaulting a couple and smashing an already broken boat. Did they drown the supposedly unconscious but still blinking victim or did the director just forget to show him again? It is surprising that Mr. Lewis even bothered to give it a title.
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