Mention
the name Lee Frost and most people will say, "Who?" Some
people might even remember him for his exploitation films of the
70's, such as the hilariously campy THE
THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972 - where bigot Ray Milland has his
head sewn on to the body of big black ex-footballer Rosey Grier), the
biker film CHROME AND
HOT LEATHER (1971) or the black actioner THE
BLACK GESTAPO (1975). What many people do not know is that
Lee Frost (who also used the names Les Emerson, R.L. Frost and Robert
L. Frost when making films) was by then an accomplished director/writer/actor
who was one of the best of a crop of low-budget filmmakers who got
their start in the field of early 60's sexploitation sleaze. Lee
Frost (real name: Ralph Lee Frost) came into prominence in 1962 with
a little no-budgeter called SURFTIDE 77.
It was during that time that he met sleaze producer Bob Cresse
(Whose life story would make a great book. He died in 1998.) and the
late Wes Bishop, who would collaborate with Frost on most of the
films he directed. The partnership that this trio formed would turn
out some of the most unusual (and well-made) sexploitation classics
that the nudely-aware 60's had to offer. Their first outing as
partners was the seminal film HOUSE
ON BARE MOUNTAIN (1962), which many consider to be the first
all-monster/nudie-cutie film. Although tame by
today's standards, this film proved to be a bonanza at the boxoffice,
making millions from an audience starving to see nude (and quite
attractive) women. Filmed in three days for a few thousand bucks, HOUSE
paved the way for other filmmakers to make their own monster/nudies,
including Peter Perry's infamous DR. BREEDLOVE
(1964 - aka KISS ME QUICK).
The success of HOUSE afforded the trio to make more nudie
films. Some of those titles included: LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD
(1963), HOLLYWOOD'S WORLD
OF FLESH (1963), THE SEXPLOITERS
(1965), THE DEFILERS (1965), MONDO
FREUDO (1966), MONDO BIZARRO
(1966), THE PICK-UP (1967) and RIDE
HARD, RIDE WILD (1970 - with Frost directing under the name
"Elov Peterssons") . This led up to three of Frost's most
notorious films: HOT SPUR
(1968) and then LOVE CAMP 7
and THE SCAVENGERS (both 1969) . HOT
SPUR was one of the first nudie westerns (along with Dave
Friedman's BRAND OF SHAME)
and was praised by a lot of critics as being a "fine example of
the western tradition" even though it had so much frontal nudity
in it. THE SCAVENGERS was about a bunch of Civil War scum who
invade a town and rob, torture and rape the townspeople before being
put down by a bunch of freed slaves. LOVE CAMP 7 was a
whole other can of worms. Reviled by critics as an "exploitation
of the Holocaust tragedy", this was the first film to show the
horror and bloodshed inside a Nazi concentration camp. Whippings,
rapes,
orgies
and torture are shown rather gleefully, not helped by the fact that
most of the Nazis are portrayed by Jewish men (including Bob Cresse
as a scene-chewing commandant). Noted for its frequent use of flesh
(but no pubic hair), LOVE CAMP 7 was the precursor of such
films as ILSA-SHE WOLF
OF THE SS (1975) and the countless Italian imitations
of the 70's. LOVE CAMP 7 played to packed audiences all over
the world and was one of the films that led to the "Video
Nasties" ban in England in the early 80's. Lee Frost was not
just a director. During the 60's he handled the chores of dubbing,
shooting additional scenes and editing foreign-made films that Cresse
picked up for U.S. distribution. If a film was considered too
"tame" for America's newly-found thirst for filmic flesh,
Frost would shoot inserts which contained nudity, often seemlessly
inserting them so that audiences weren't aware that they were added.
Films such as FESTIVAL GIRLS
(1962), NIGHT OF LUST (1965)
and MASSACRE OF PLEASURE
(1966) contained Frost's superb insert technique. When Cresse would
acquire some Japanese films for U.S. release, he would hire Frost to
direct the dubbing. Frost would at least try to match the actors'
lips, something you don't see in the dubbed versions of the Godzilla
or other giant monster flicks. Frost directed the dubbing on THE BITE (1966),
HENTAI
(1966 - a.k.a. ABNORMAL), ADOLESCENCE (1967) and many
others. Frost was also an expert editor and cinematographer, working
on such films as ECCO (1965) and ZERO
IN AND SCREAM (1970 - with Frost using the name "Les
Emerson"). As the 70's approached, Frost dissolved his
partnership with Cresse (Cresse retired from the business after
getting shot in the stomach trying to help a woman who
was being beaten up). Frost, along with Wes Bishop, made some
enjoyable exploitation pictures for the major independents. Frost
directed CHROME AND HOT LEATHER and
THE THING WITH TWO HEADS
for American International Pictures. He made CHAIN
GANG WOMEN (1971) and POLICEWOMEN
(1973) for Crown International Pictures and then directed the X-Rated A
CLIMAX OF BLUE POWER (1974). Frost then went on to make THE
BLACK GESTAPO (1975 - a.k.a. GHETTO
WARRIORS) for Bryanston Films. GESTAPO is probably my
favorite Frost Film, partly because it is a brutal blaxploitation
film (a man has his nuts cut off and flushed down the toilet!) and
partly because Frost and Bishop have roles as white gangsters who
manage to get beaten up in every scene they are in (Frost also had a
small part in John Hayes' GARDEN
OF THE DEAD - 1972). This film is also interesting to see
how Charles Robinson (Mac on TV's NIGHT
COURT) got his start. He plays the ruthless leader of a band
of black vigilantes who thinks he's above the law. The Internet Movie
Database (www.imdb.com) lists that
Frost directed the film SLAVES IN CAGES
(1972) using the name "Carl Borcht", but I find it highly
suspect. This site is riddled with inaccuracies. Frost and Bishop
also wrote the screenplay to the extremely popular cult film RACE
WITH THE DEVIL (1975), directed by the late Jack Starrett.
Noted mainly for its
downbeat
conclusion, RACE caught on with public with its mix of car
chase action and supernatural satan worshipping. It played for years
on drive-in double and triple bills. Frost was also responsible for DIXIE
DYNAMITE (1976), THE
BOOB TUBE STRIKES AGAIN (1977) and THE DISC JOCKEY (1983
- aka E.S.P.). In 1985, he directed the obscure and
long-thought lost documentary MICKEY
THOMPSON: MAN IN THE STEEL CAGE before
retiring from making films.. He would return in 1994 to direct and
star in PRIVATE OBSESSION
(see review below). To this date, that is his last directorial
credit. During the 80's and early 90's Frost worked at a film
laboratory editing industrial films. With his high output of unusual
films, it's about time for someone to rediscover his early films. Lee
Frost was a pioneer in the field of early exploitation and deserves
the same type of recognition that Dave Friedman, H.G. Lewis, Barry
Mahon, Doris Wishman and Harry Novak are currently receiving. His
films were nothing short of professional, even when he didn't have a
lot of money to work with. Most of his early films can be purchased
from Something Weird Video.
I tip my hat to the late Mike Vraney for all the good he had done in
getting these films available to all the new viewers too young to
recall them. For an intimate interview with the elusive Mr. Frost
check out Issue #20 of Steve Puchalski's excellent zine, Shock
Cinema.
UPDATE:
Lee Frost passed away on May 25, 2007. At least we have all his films
to remind us just what an undiscovered and underappreciated talent he
was. R.I.P. Mr. Frost.
FROST REVIEWS
DIXIE
DYNAMITE (1976) - The Feds
converge on Bandera County, Georgia and force Sheriff Phil Marsh
(Christopher George) to arrest moonshiner Tom Eldridge (Mark Miller)
for running an illegal still. Tom breaks free and a car chase ensues
(where the cars smash through a fruit stand and a chicken coop, both
car chase staples) and evil Deputy Frank (co-producer/co-scripter Wes
Bishop) shoots out one of Tom's tires, causing his car to veer off
the side of an embankment and explode, killing Tom. Sheriff Marsh,
who is a decent guy caught up in circumstances beyond his control,
forces Deputy Frank to tell Tom's two daughters, Dixie (Jane Anne
Johnstone) and Patsy (Kathy McHaley), the bad news. Mack (Warren
Oates), a motorcross racer and good friend of Tom and the girls,
promises Dixie and Patsy that everything will be OK, but that
couldn't be farther from the truth. The kindly bank manager (R.G.
Armstrong) is able to hold off mortgage payments on their farm for
three months, but with little prospects for jobs and an evil
businessman name Dade McCrutchen (Stanley Adams) who wants to
foreclose on all delinquent mortgages and buy-up the properties,
Dixie and Patsy are in serious financial problems. McCrutchen has
inside knowledge that the properties are sitting on top of a fortune
in natural gas, so he blackmails the bank manager to foreclose on
Dixie and Patsy's farm. When Patsy gets caught shoplifting in the
town grocery store, Deputy Frank drives her out to the
sticks and rapes her, telling her later that if she says anything
about it, he will throw her in jail for the shoplifting charge. Dixie
and Patsy are then thrown out of their home and, at the auction of
their property, McCrutchen buys the farm for the minimum $14,000 bid
when the girls are unable to raise the money. Dixie comes up with a
plan for retribution, but first she has Mack teach her and Patsy how
to ride dirt bikes. The girls then steal two motorcycles, a couple of
rifles and a truckload of dynamite out of a quarry and proceed to
blow up McCrutchen's operation, one piece at a time. They become the
county's public enemy number one (and two) and a reluctant Sheriff
Marsh is forced to hire additional men to capture them. Things come
to a boiling point when the girls plan on robbing the town bank and
stealing all of McCrutchen's money (as well as destroying all the
foreclosure papers). The girls pull off the bank job (an ingenious
plan that entails a bomb and the corpses of two female stiffs that
they have stolen) and then blow up McCrutchen in his limousine so
that his car goes down the same embankment where their father was
killed. Dixie, Patsy and Mack take the loot and move to Rio De
Janiero, where they live high on the hog. This PG-rated action/exploitation
flick, directed and co-written by the late Lee Frost, is a funny and
sometimes shocking piece of genre filmmaking. This is an
old-fashioned "good old boy" Southern action film, where
the bad guys are just plain bad and the good guys (and girls) are
very good until pushed to the breaking point. The standout here is
Wes Bishop as Deputy Frank, a slimy police officer who's a little too
quick on the trigger. After being responsible for Tom's death and
then shooting an unarmed drunk in a bar fight (not to mention the
rape of Patsy), Sheriff Marsh rightfully fires him ("You don't
pull a gun in a bar fight!") and he takes a job as a security
guard at the quarry. After stealing the truckload of dynamite while
under his watch, the girls later humiliate him at the side of a road,
stealing his gun and making him plead for his life. After thinking he
dodged a bullet, Frank goes home and calls Sheriff Marsh to report it
(he doesn't mention his gun being stolen or pleading for his life,
though) and is then blown sky-high in his bathroom while taking a
piss, thanks to a bomb the girls planted in his toilet! Warren Oates
is wasted here and spends most of his screen time behind a motorcycle
helmet (an obvious stuntman) or looking embarrassed. It is also said
that one of the dirt bike riders was none other than Steve McQueen,
who was bored and did some uncredited stuntwork for $200. Christopher
George is good as the sheriff that doesn't try too hard to catch the
girls (even though they kill at least three people on-screen) and Lee
Frost cameos as a pathologist. All-in-all, this is a fun little
exploitation flick that contains songs by Duane Eddy, The Mike Curb
Congregation, Porter Jordan, Jerry Styner and Warren Oates but, since
this is rated PG, there is no nudity, which is a little
disappointing. Both Jane Anne Johnstone and Kathy McHaley (this is
their only screen credit) wear plenty of skimpy outfits, though.
Other Southern-based 70's exploitation films with strong female leads
include TRUCK STOP WOMEN
(1974), GATOR BAIT (1974), THE
GREAT TEXAS DYNAMITE CHASE (1975), BOBBIE
JO AND THE OUTLAW (1975), MOONSHINE
COUNTY EXPRESS (1977) and BAD
GEORGIA ROAD (1977). Also starring Phil Hoover, Conlan
Carter, Dorothy Konrad and Cheryl Ann Jensen. Dimension Films
released this theatrically and Wizard
Video first released this on VHS in the early 80's. VCI
Home Video offers a fullscreen print on DVD in less than
pristine shape, but it is watchable. Rated PG.
POLICEWOMEN
(1974) -
After foiling a major jailbreak at a female prison where only two
prisoners escape, policewoman Lacy Brown (Sondra Currie) is promoted
to go undercover and investigate a gang of female gold smugglers and
smash their ring. Before she does that, she has to prove herself to
some chauvanistic cops who believe she is not up for the job. After
passing her shooting and driving tests with flying colors, she then
takes on the police karate instructor (William Smith), beating him to
a pulp after he treats her like a little girl. After fitting her with
a tracking device, her new partner, Frank (Tony Young) and Lacy go
undercover as a couple to spy on the gang. Her cover is nearly blown,
thanks to some bumbling male cops, but Lacy solves the problem by
running the person off the road, the car exploding. The leader of the
gang is a sprite (and butch-looking) old lady named Maude (Elizabeth
Stuart), who has her girls knock over banks, deal in drugs and are
involved in other highly illegal doings. The lone male member of the
group, Doc (Phil Hoover), is the weight-lifting muscle of the gang
and is also Maude's frustrated husband (she turns him down for sex
repeatedly, saying she has a headache or that her mouth hurts!). As
Lacy starts falling in love with Frank (who is quite useless when it
comes to fighting or firing a gun), her cover is blown by one of the
two escaped prisoners in the beginning of the film, who have joined
Maude's gang. Now Lacy will have to use her street smarts, as well as
her police training, to get out of a very life-threatening situation.
She finds help with a gang member with a surprise of her own.
If it weren't for the frequent female nudity on view and the foul
language (the excahnge between a female Chinese and Black gang member
is priceless), this Crown International Picture could have been an
episode of one of any of the countless police TV series made in the
70's. The fact that Lacy hardly gets to join the gang before being
outed seems to defeat the entire purpose of her undercover role.
Director/writer Lee Frost and producer/writer partner Wes Bishop give
us a couple of car chases, a boat chase and some of the lamest
martial arts action your eyes will ever witness. Made back in the day
when women cops were fairly new to the scene, this film has not aged
very well as many of the situations and much of the dialogue
seem dated. Still, some of the scenes are funny, including big Bill
Smith being defeated by a woman and pouting because she chipped his
tooth and split his lip, Maude's frequent hilarious threats towards
men ("You'll be walking with your legs close together!")
and Doc's constant disdain for women ("Every one of these cunts
is trouble!"). It's an enjoyable relic from the swinging 70's,
with decent acting, some beautiful women and lots of tongue-in-cheek
dialogue. The only drawback is it's 100 minute running time and some
scenes that go on for much too long. A little pruning would have been
beneficial. Also starring Jeanie Bell (TNT
JACKSON - 1975), Chuck Daniel, Laurie Rose and Richard
Schuyler. A Rhino Home Video
Release. Rated R.
PRIVATE
OBSESSION (1994) -
Lee Frost returns! After nearly 20 years away from directing, Lee
Frost comes back to the fold with his take on Stephen Kings MISERY.
A somewhat crazed fan named Richard (Michael Christian, who is also
the Associate Producer) kidnaps world-reknown model Emanuelle
(Shannon Whirry) and locks her in a specialy built area of his house
complete with breakproof glass,
electronic locks and hidden cameras. Richard begins a slow, torturous
campaign to turn Emanuelle into his idea of the perfect woman.
Richard knows that she is an advocate of womens rights and
keeps her locked in the room, playing one of her televised speeches
over and over again on a TV set next to her bed. When she unplugs the
TV, Richard turns off the water, takes away her clothes and refuses
to give her anything to eat until she plugs the TV back in. After a
couple of days without water or food (she stoops so low as to drink
some water from the toilet tank!), she gives in and plugs the TV set
back in. Richard turns the water back on, buys her some expensive
clothes and cooks her a gourmet dinner. She gets drunk, does a
striptease in front of the camera and has hot sex with Richard. After
the act is done, Emanuelle unsuccessfully tries to escape, which
really ticks Richard off. He takes all her clothes, towels and
blankets and turns off the water again until she repents and tells
him that it is a mans world and she will do whatever he wants.
Richard accepts her apology and has sex with her again. The tables
are turned when Richard is duped by Emanuelle and gets trapped in his
own escape-proof rooms. It is now Emanuelles turn to play her
televised speech over and over again to an unappreciative Richard.
And she likes it! Completely devoid of violence, this low-budget
erotic thriller relies heavily on the ample naked charms of Shannon
Whirry (ANIMAL
INSTINCTS
- 1992) and the unrated, so-close-to porn, sex scenes. Michael
Christian (POOR
PRETTY EDDIE
- 1973) plays Richard as someone who doesnt need to resort to
physical violence to get his way (even Emanuelles kidnapping is
painless). Richard would rather use mental torture than harm
Emanuelle physically. Bo Svenson and Rip Taylor (sans hairpiece) have
cameos as a private dick and travel agent respectively. Lee Frost not
only wrote and directed, he also edited (he shows some editing
prowess in a scene involving a doggie door), wrote the lyrics to some
of the songs and puts in a brief appearance as a private dick named
Jerry. This film is basically a two character play, and while it is
slow going in some spots, it does hold the attention due to
Whirrys uninhibited performance. This is not the best film of
Frosts career, but new Frost is better than no Frost at all.
Welcome back, Lee! A Triboro Entertainment Group Home Video & DVD
Release. Unrated.
ZERO
IN AND SCREAM (1970) - A sniper
(Michael Stearns) is killing innocent men who are making love in the
Hollywood Hills in this compact (63 minutes) little exploitationer
from Lee Frost (using the pseudonym "Lee Emerson" here). It
seems our sniper has no problem watching women dancing completely
naked at the local strip joint, but when she makes love to a man, he
believes the man has lost the right to live. His exact words are,
"When a man climbs on top of a woman, she becomes ugly!"
The sniper is invited to a party by a stripper, where everyone
but him goes skinnydipping in the pool and begin having sex (both
oral and intercourse) in front of him. He gets turned-on in his own
way: He gets in his car, drives to a spot where he has visual access
to the pool and shoots the man in the pool making love to the
stripper with a high-powered rifle. The police are baffled and a
radio newscaster begs the sniper to turn himself in. The sniper has
dreams of making love to the stripper, but it is apparent that he has
problems doing it in real life. The question becomes why? Is it a
psychological or physical problem? We finally do learn his name (it's
Mike) when he goes to the stripper's house to pay his condolences. He
then spies on her having a lesbian tryst that night and the next
morning takes her prisoner while he spouts his twisted philosophy,
his rifle laying on his lap (I'm sure Freud would have something to
say about that). He makes her do a striptease and then rapes her (I
guess it was a psychological problem), warning her to keep her mouth
shut or he'll be back. She doesn't and he comes back for some sniper
revenge, only to have the tables turned on him in the ironic final
shot. I am amazed at the amount of full-frontal nudity (both
male and female) and sex (which treads dangerously close to hardcore
territory) this film has on display. Originally slapped with a
self-imposed X rating, this film is primarily a series of softcore
loops followed by some quick gun violence. There is one dream
sequence where Mike in making love to the stripper in the pool and
she is shot by an unseen sniper in the head. Mike grabs his rifle,
but is unable to shoot, even though bullets are flying left and
right. This could be interpreted as meaning Mike is impotent, but I
seriously doubt the film has it's sights set that high. This is
basically 63 minutes of sex punctuated by a few moments of violence.
Nothing more, nothing less. The print of the film Something Weird has
on their triple feature DVD
(with THE ZODIAC KILLER -
1971 and THE SEX KILLER -
1967) is full of emulsion scratches, giving it that grindhouse feel.
Films like this could never be made today. How you feel about that
depends on your morality. Also starring Dawna Rae (as the stripper),
David Kelly, Sherill Thomas, Edward Frank and John Medford. A Something
Weird Video Release. Not Rated.