Necromania (1971)
** (out of 4)
Danny and Shirley, a young couple suffering sexual problems, shows up at the house of Madame Heles (pronounced "Heals") in hopes that the witchdoctor can cure them. The problem is a rather hard on in the fact that Danny is having a problem rising to the occasion, which has left Shirley unsatisfied and gives her thoughts of ending the relationship. The Madame won't show up until midnight but thankfully there's a few other guests on hand who will try and tackle the hard job of saving the young couple.
Necromania was shot in the matter of days (if not one day) with the budget of $7,000. The film was shot in two versions, one hardcore version (54-minutes) as well as a softcore version (51-minutes), which is the one most people has seen thanks to various bootleg markets. The three minutes difference in running times is that of hardcore sex. We get a few money shots but there really isn't that much of a difference in the two. The soft version features mostly kissing and while I'm sure it would get an NC-17 rating today, it really isn't too graphic. This new uncut version does feature an extended ending as well as some more graphic sex.
I was fairly shocked to see how well this movie was directed. Yes, it doesn't take too much talent to film sex scenes but Wood actually keeps the film at a nice pace as well as keeps the so-called story going. We don't get any of the typical Wood craziness and the cast isn't nearly as bad as those in previous Wood films. For the most part this is just a sex film but thankfully we get some tasty Wood dialogue, which is a real hoot and again, the dialogue is actually good instead of the bad stuff that usually just makes us laugh at its dumbness. The girl has some wonderfully funny insult lines thrown at her boyfriend, which are quite clever in their own way.
Other interesting moments to Wood fans will be a short cameo by Criswell's coffin, which was previous used in Night of the Ghouls. Another charming moment is a small dedication from the director to his favorite star Bela Lugosi who has his name mentioned at the start of the film. Wood, being a huge fan of Lugosi makes a nice little turn to throw his name out there, which is nice to see. The sex scenes are not erotic but we do get some very funny dubbing, which never matches up to the lip movement. I won't get into graphic detail but while one woman has her mouth full, the words coming out is rather funny. Other funny moments include various sound effects used for laughs as well as a nice music score, which helps things move along.
Necromania isn't a classic Ed Wood film but I'm sure fans of the director will want to check it out. There's enough zany moments to keep Wood fans entertained and it's also interesting to note that the film is pretty well made considering this was probably the smallest budget Wood ever worked with and that's saying a lot.
