Scum of the Earth (1974)

Scum of the Earth. What a title! I love it when movies are so blunt in their names, so eye catching. You almost want to rent them based on the title alone. Movies like I Spit on Your Grave and Cannibal Holocaust share a similar feeling of disgust when you first hear them. It's enough to blindly rent them, hoping the titles are an indicator on how good the movie is, and simply not false advertisement (cough, Zebub, cough).Scum of the Earth is not misleading. The title actually sets the tone nicely. Of course there is an alternative title to this flick; Poor White Trash 2. I personally prefer Scum of the Earth, I feel Poor White Trash really doesn't do this movie justice as a title. It's not your average backwoods hillbilly horror movie, this is something far more gritty and disturbing. This is some slimy and uncomfortable cinema. Something that might make you feel the need for a shower afterwards. This is Scum of the Earth.The plot is fairly basic. Helen and Paul have just gotten married, and are celebrating their honeymoon in a secluded cabin in the peaceful tranquility of a forest somewhere in the south. An unknown assailant brutally murders Paul with an ax, causing his wife to run away, fearful and grief stricken, into the dark forest. She soon bumps into Odis Pickett, a frightful man with a frightful accent, and after some pleading for help, accepts to return with him to his house to use his phone. Back at his home, she meets his wife, Emmy, his daughter, Sarah, and his son, Bo. It soon becomes obvious that Odis has no phone. In fact, the family appear to be living in poverty. Helen doesn't trust him, but its dark outside now, and the killer is still on the loose. She has no choice but to stay with them for the night. And it's going to be a long night.Scum of the Earth is directed by S.F. Brownrigg, the man who did Don't Look in the Basement. Only, Scum of the Earth is a very different type of movie. A simpler kind. Scum of the earth sets out to show just how disgusting some people in this world can be. It's covered with grit and sleaziness, a real uncomfortable sitting. I was equally repulsed and fascinated all throughout. The award for the most despicable person in the movie goes to Odis, played by Gene Ross whose whole manner just makes you want to cringe. Even on our first meeting of the guy, he comes across as so sleazy, it's unfortunate that our heroine was in such a dire situation she had no choice but to trust him. I think it paints a picture what type of person Odis is, when he introduces his pregnant wife as "the skinny one with the big belly". He is offensive in more ways than one, especially in his treatment to his children and his wife. People like Odis make me sad for humanity. As memorable as Odis is, there is a female performance that really stood out for me. Surprisingly, it wasn't from our protagonist, Helen, but from Emmy, played by Ann Stafford. I have never wanted to hug a character so badly. Emmy is the type of person that reminds us that there are good people in the world. In a movie filled with scum, Emmy stands out as the bright sunflower. She brings hope that there is good in the world. What a wonderful performance. This movie does drag in some scenes, and some of the acting was a little over the top (looking at you, Helen). I even remember a scene when a character goes out into the woods when it's meant to be the heart of night, only it's as bright as daylight. But I think my biggest complaint was the score. Wow, was that a misplaced soundtrack. But nonetheless, despite its flaws, this was a good movie. For a low budget B movie, it just oozes with atmosphere. And of course, being a backwoods exploitation flick, you can expect lots of violent scenes, including rape and incest. It's one hell of an underrated gem and one that I highly recommend those who like grind house flicks and backwoods horror. Thanks for reading.

A couple years ago, I caught this late one night on the Halmark Channel, and boy oh boy, this one just made me feel grimy all over, and by the end, I wasn't quite sure how to feel. Scum Of The Earth AKA Poor White Trash part 2 was directed by a fellow named S. F. Brownrigg. A year of two before this one, S. F. directed what I consider to be one of the all-time Horror greats, Don't look in the basement. I would also like to add that I absolutely do not consider Scum Of The Earth to be in the "great" category, although, if you fancy depressing Hixploitation, then yeah, I guess it's pretty fantastic. I'll give good ol' S.F. one thing, he went for filthy, sleazy, and sickening, and that's exactly what he, and we got. Scum Of The Earth begins with a couple, Paul and Helen honeymooning in the woods (yeah, you're right, that's pretty weird). Out of nowhere, Paul is murdered by an unseen killer. The horrified new widow runs off into the woods, right into the backwards drama of a backwoods family, in the deepest, darkest depths of the Texas sticks. After spending just a few minutes with the Pickett Family, and with the stench of incest in the air, Helen wonders whether of not she's safer out there...Meet Odis Pickett: Abusive, borderline-sadistic old drunk, and family patriarch. Just lookin' for somethin' to rape. Odis considers his "house" a suitable place for Helen to hide from the killer.Meet Sarah Pickett: Sassy, vindictive little VD farm, and Odis's daughter. Sarah hates her family, especially her brother, she hates Helen, too. Sarah will do anything for a dollar.Meet Bo Pickett: Inbred man-child, and Sarah's brother, would believe anything he's told, not much going' on with Bo. Everyone hates him, except Emmy.Meet Emmy Pickett: Odis's pregnant, abused, second wife. The only decent human in the Pickett house hold. Sold to Odis by her father, to cover a debt Emmy's a pretty good sport, if you ask me. Possibly, Helen's only hope for survival.Scum of the earth fails in some areas, like with suspense, and a well thought-out plot-line. On the other hand, this film has a distinct atmosphere, probably found nowhere else, not even in Poor White Trash part 1, whatever the hell that is. If you want to really go for raw, crude, politically incorrect Horror, with no sugar-coating, you might not hate this as much as some. Just a big pile of negative. I can only imagine how humid, and flat-out uncomfortable the shooting location was for this. Brownrigg really must have wanted to make movies. Not the best thing the man ever did, but come to think of it, it probably is second best. Hixploitation for those of us with a dark sense of humor. just think of it as Moonshine Mountain's evil twin. 7/10

Helen Fraser (Norma Moore), a pretty (or should that be 'purdy') city girl on vacation with her hubby Paul, flees into the Texas backwoods after finding her spouse dead (having lost an argument with the business end of an axe!). Panic-stricken, she runs into redneck Odis Pickett, who takes her back to his cabin to meet the family: pregnant wife Emmy, daughter Sarah (pronounced Say-rah), and idiot son Bo. But rather than call for help, Odis proceeds to subject Helen to a night of drunken abuse, culminating in rape.And all the while, a murderer lurks in the woods outside, waiting to kill again.Scum Of The Earth (AKA Poor White Trash 2), by director S. F. Brownrigg, may not feature the highest of production values, and might be a mite talky for many people, but with a script that delivers some of the funniest hillbilly dialogue in the history of cinema (this one packs in every clichéd redneck saying in the book), great characters (think the Clampetts, only not so clever), and a smidgen of incest, rape and murder, it's difficult to resist the film's sleazy exploitation charms.Norma Moore does a decent enough job as the woman in peril, looking suitably scared (and rather tasty) throughout, but it is those playing the dungaree wearing, possum eating hicks that really make this piece of 70s trash cinema unmissable. Gene Ross is delightfully odious as Odis, slurping moonshine from a jar whilst slapping his slutty daughter to the floor and threatening his pregnant wife; Charlie Dell, as Bo, makes an extremely convincing moron; Camilla Carr is equally as credible as Bo's loose-knickered sister (I'd buy that for a dollar—NOT!); whilst Ann Stafford, as Odis's downtrodden woman, provides some much needed pathos.Added to this potpourri of Southern stereotypes are several brief-but-nasty scenes of gore (the opening axe-ing, an impalement, a barbed wire garrote, and a shotgun blast to the face) and a truly silly ending in which the identity of the killer is finally revealed; the result is a mighty enjoyable movie that'll have you smilin' like a mule eating' briars.And if anyone tells you diff'rent, don't pay him no never mind!7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

what? nobody yet commented on this incredible, well-known masterpiece of filmwork? just kidding, this is an all around s***ty, obscure little piece of crap, so i'm not surprised mine is the sole review for the movie. i don't know under what circumstances you might come across this movie and actually consider watching it (people, the title should be enough of a tip off for you), but just in case it happens avoid watching it! this movie did for me what no other has ever had- actually made me feel physically sick. the basic plotline: the heroine's fiance or whatever is murdered in the first thirty seconds, she flees and takes refuge in the home of a bunch of southern redneck type stereotypes ("we got possom for dinner", "he may beat me and sleep with other women but he still loves me", "i seen how you get your extra money sis, you give it to guys for a buck", etc) stuff happens that you won't care about in the least, the characters recite their laughable dialoge and the killer finally and thankfully! kills every last one of them, except i think, our brain dead herione, and I cheered each time one of them bit the dust. even for films of bad movies, the occasional unitentionally hilarious moment doesn't make up for the whole horrible thing, and i still have visions of that old, unwashed, ugly disgusting man parading around shirtless in his overalls for half the movie!