The Girl, the Body, and the Pill (1967)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A high school teacher is teaching sex ed to her students and this doesn't sit well with some of the parents. The one the most offended is Wesley Nichols (Bill Rogers) as he's the type that likes to preach and force his views on people but as the film plays out we see what a hypocrite he actually is.
Herschell Gordon Lewis' THE GIRL, THE BODY AND THE PILL certainly isn't a masterpiece but fans of his work will certainly want to check it out. I must admit that the film started off extremely strong before it somewhat started to show its flaws as it continued. The most entertaining stuff happened towards the start of the movie when the film and its director seemed to be tackling and raging against those who are so childish and rather stupid to think that teach teens about sex was a bad thing.
The first portion of the film appears to have the director really trying to deliver a message and I thought he did a very good job with it. The attack of the teacher is shown to be something rather stupid and I liked the message that was being sent. The problem is that after about thirty-minutes or so the film starts to take a look at the lives of some of the students and the various problems they get into thanks to the pill. This includes a good girl who falls in love for the first time. It also deals with a bad girl who is stealing her mother's pills. Of course, the parents of these two come full circle as the story plays on.
For the most part this is a pretty entertaining film, although I wish that the film had stuck closer to what it started off like. The stories towards the end are rather predictable and the performances really weren't strong enough to carry them. This was especially true for Rogers who comes across quite campy in several scenes. Some unintentional laughs are to be had. Still, if you're a fan of the director then THE GIRL, THE BODY AND THE PILL is worth watching.
