Saturday, June 5, 2010

Maniac (1934), Dwain Esper.

Jumbo jocks. 

Uh, WOW.  We have flashes of boob, a stick-on beard kit, a guy that raises cats, "Yeahhhh I got thousands of 'em!  I'm in the busssssssssssiness!" and a lot of shouting and screaming and clattering of lab equipment.  And Jumbo Jocks!  I had to crack open Michael Pitt's Poverty Row Studios, 1929-1940 to make heads or tails of this.  Grandfather of the grindhouse movie, director Dwain Esper and his wife Hildegarde Stadie cobbled this and other oddities together, bypassing the censors, distributing the films themselves and reaping substantial profits.  This one is a patchwork of the grotesque and titillating! If you love cats, you may have to cover your eyes...

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