Fans of exploitation films, especially in blacksploitation sub-genre definitely know the work of Jack Hill. The man has worked in many sub-genres, from the above mentioned, to horror, gothic, racing, sexploitation, and so many more. In the early days of his career, he was often called in to “fix” or “finish” a film that had issues, such as The Terror (1963) or Blood Bath (1966). He also worked with Karloff on his last four films, or at least the parts with aged actor that were filmed in the states. Afterwards, the rest of the film was finished in Mexico.
The shame is that unless you’re a real fan of the genre, most people don’t realize the impact Hill had on the films we love. Thanks to editor Anthony Taylor, Headpress Books, and a great selection of authors, they are putting together a collection of essays on the works of this unheralded master of cinema.
Continue reading
Sometimes I am just amazed at not only some of the titles that get released on blu-ray, but in the huge special editions that they come out with. Case in point, a title that Arrow Video just announced. At the end of May, they will be releasing a special edition of the 1966 film Blood Bath. But this isn’t just any ordinary film that was made under the Roger Corman umbrella. In fact, it started as a film being made in Yugoslavia by someone named Rados Novakovic and called Operation Titan. But it didn’t really fit Corman’s approval, so he hired Jack Hill to take the film and see if he could make something out of it, which he did, and would be later called Blood Bath. But for various reasons, such as the film stock from the original footage and what Hill shot didn’t match up that too well. So because Hill went on to make Spider Baby, the film was set aside. Then Corman came back to the picture and hired Stephanie Rothman to see what she could do with it. She changed the title to Track of the Vampire and made it more of a vampire film! According to Hill, about 80 % of the film is what he shot, but I have to say that it is kind of a mess of a picture, even though it has one of the best posters from that era!
kitleyskrypt.com 