The original "Corpse Grinders" made a load of money, but it's not exactly riveting cinema. The idea of guys making cat food out of human corpses is kooky and weird. However, the movie doesn't do much with that bizarre premise. It moves at a glacial pace and almost feels too competent, which is a weird thing to say about a Ted V. Mikels film.
That brings us to "Corpse Grinders 2", the very belated yet very memorable sequel. By this point Mikels had retired from Hollywood, but he was still making 'movies' in and around Las Vegas. Calling them movies is generous, because they were shot with a consumer-grade video camera and ignore insignificant details like plotting, acting, basic common sense, lighting and sound. I love this phase of Mikels' career. He didn't have to listen to anyone anymore and throws any idea he has at the screen, helped by dozens of mostly elderly partners in crime.
The cast of a later Ted V. Mikels is always really bloated. There are waaaaaaay too many people in this movie, making me wonder if he just gave anyone who showed up to audition a role. Do we really need this many government agents? Granted, he does have some star power in here as well. Liz Renay and Dolores Fuller were both scream queens in the 1960s and didn't mind doing nonsensical bit parts in between casino visits. Flora Myers on the other hand has done some other films under the pseudonym 'Great Granny Gigi'. I urge you not to look that up, but I'm sure you will.
The main plot is basically the exact same thing as the first one, though it does amuse me how cool everyone is with the corpse idea now. In the original film, it took a while before they got this preposterous idea. In this sequel, Landau and Maltby (nephews of the original characters) decide on it the first time we see them. How do they get corpses? Easy, they just pay the caretaker of the cemetery fifty bucks for every corpse he digs up. Even if you forget the part where he's incriminating himself: he has to dig all the way to the corpse (they tend to be six feet under), fill up the hole again AND get rid of all the evidence. What is the hourly rate for this guy? Pumping gas would probably be more lucrative.
The subplot about the alien race doesn't interest me that much, but Mikels sure thinks it does. These 'cat people' are on a dying planet without food and water, and the neighboring 'dog people' (seriously, what was this guy on?) are ready to invade. They solve all this by... buying some cases of cat food. Congratulations, you have sorta kinda solved one of the three problems. I've got to be honest here: these aliens have too much screen time. In fact, they take over the whole finale of this movie, giving us a huge anti-climax to boot.
That shouldn't suggest I didn't like this movie. I adore it. It's a director with nothing to lose doing whatever he feels like, helped by what I assume to be friends and acquitances. If only we could all retire in such a manner.
That brings us to "Corpse Grinders 2", the very belated yet very memorable sequel. By this point Mikels had retired from Hollywood, but he was still making 'movies' in and around Las Vegas. Calling them movies is generous, because they were shot with a consumer-grade video camera and ignore insignificant details like plotting, acting, basic common sense, lighting and sound. I love this phase of Mikels' career. He didn't have to listen to anyone anymore and throws any idea he has at the screen, helped by dozens of mostly elderly partners in crime.
The cast of a later Ted V. Mikels is always really bloated. There are waaaaaaay too many people in this movie, making me wonder if he just gave anyone who showed up to audition a role. Do we really need this many government agents? Granted, he does have some star power in here as well. Liz Renay and Dolores Fuller were both scream queens in the 1960s and didn't mind doing nonsensical bit parts in between casino visits. Flora Myers on the other hand has done some other films under the pseudonym 'Great Granny Gigi'. I urge you not to look that up, but I'm sure you will.
The main plot is basically the exact same thing as the first one, though it does amuse me how cool everyone is with the corpse idea now. In the original film, it took a while before they got this preposterous idea. In this sequel, Landau and Maltby (nephews of the original characters) decide on it the first time we see them. How do they get corpses? Easy, they just pay the caretaker of the cemetery fifty bucks for every corpse he digs up. Even if you forget the part where he's incriminating himself: he has to dig all the way to the corpse (they tend to be six feet under), fill up the hole again AND get rid of all the evidence. What is the hourly rate for this guy? Pumping gas would probably be more lucrative.
The subplot about the alien race doesn't interest me that much, but Mikels sure thinks it does. These 'cat people' are on a dying planet without food and water, and the neighboring 'dog people' (seriously, what was this guy on?) are ready to invade. They solve all this by... buying some cases of cat food. Congratulations, you have sorta kinda solved one of the three problems. I've got to be honest here: these aliens have too much screen time. In fact, they take over the whole finale of this movie, giving us a huge anti-climax to boot.
That shouldn't suggest I didn't like this movie. I adore it. It's a director with nothing to lose doing whatever he feels like, helped by what I assume to be friends and acquitances. If only we could all retire in such a manner.
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