Love his films or hate them (but seriously though… how could you hate such delightful exploitation goodness?) there’s no denying that legendary director Al Adamson had one hell of a life… a life detailed in Severin’s newest Blu-ray release; Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson!
Most of you lot are no doubt familiar with Adamson; the shit-kickin’ indie filmmaker that dabbled in all manner of drive-in fare featuring everything from monsters to bikers to secret agents (and so much more) and served up well-seasoned with a dash of John Carradine here, a tit or two there… and pure insanity all around.
Seriously just look some of these titles and tell me they aren’t pure rad-ass awesome: Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Satan’s Sadists, Horror of the Blood Monsters… those are fried ghoulish gold thru and thru!
Now that’s all freaky fun n’ gory games, but unfortunately Adamson’s life ended up as a true horror show as in 1995 he went missing only to be found murdered, his body hidden under a freshly installed pool… also, there’s aliens involved…
Severin Films’ David Gregory has found himself an absolute fuckin’ goldmine in the story of Adamson’s bananas existence (as he did in 2015’s Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau documentary… can’t wait to see what he covers next). Everything from independent filmmaking to screwy (and often unscrupulous) film distribution to alien encounters to an evil handyman are involved; all to dizzying, unbelievable, and always entertaining effect… a story this crazy you just couldn’t make up… oh, and Charles Manson factors into the whole thing just to keep things reasonable…
Along the way Al is brought to life by those that knew him best (warts and fuckin’ all these chats are believe me), and earns our sympathy as being a genuine, if fuckin’ stingy, dude. That is definitely a plus as when the film dives into far, far left field with alien hybrids and murder, you still are super game to take the ride and side with Adamson… and absolutely swallow whatever the story throws our wicked way!
Now while I say the story of Al Adamson is pretty damn special in and of itself, there are bonus features included here that make the whole arcane affair that much sweeter! First up we get a collection of outtakes followed by a storage unit visit featuring frequent Adamson actor Russ Tamblyn. After that we get a promo reel for Adamson’s unfinished alien research doc Beyond This Earth, a trailer for Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson, and a poster gallery for Adamson’s films.
But hold the fuck on cats n’ creeps as you also get a second feature; Adamson’s 1971 wicked women opus The Female Bunch; sourced from the best surviving film material (so expect some rough spots and faded color).
The Female Bunch concerns a gang of femme fatales who’s primary hobbies include running drugs, acting like psychos, and fuckin’… a lifestyle that begins to sit a bit funny with their newest recruit Sandy (Nesa Renet) who begins to have second thoughts about the rough and tumble antics she’s now up to her armpits in.
Think the Manson Family meets Billy the Kid with lesbians, heroine, and Lon Chaney Jr. and you are definitely picking up what this flick is laying down… plus if you swaped out our protagonists horses for motorcycles you’d have a distaff biker flick (a genre Adamson excelled at).
The Female Bunch has a few special features of it’s own including: a sequence of extended scenes, the segment from Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson that concerned The Female Bunch, and two theatrical trailers for the film.
You’ve never heard a tale as wild n’ woolly as the one that is Al Adamson’s life, and this film presents it all pitch perfectly… a true must own for lovers of psychotronic cinema!
