Why Would Young People Be So Violent?

Just for the Hell of It (1968)

Director-Herschell Gordon Lewis

Starring- Ray Sager, Rodney Bedell, Agi Gyenes

Teen gangs run amok in a small town, causing all kinds of havoc and terrorizing civilians. When a former gang member named Doug (Bedell) challenges them, he becomes a target for their mayhem. At first, he gets into a fight one-on-one with them, then he tries to intervene when they are picking on children and is blamed for it. Afterward, the gang rapes and kills his girlfriend, Jeanne (Gyenes).

The acting is terrible--just plain silly most times. The dialogue is little, and the "hooligan" scenes last a little long--we get that their delinquents, we don't need to see the extra ten minutes of footage per scene! The violence is mostly uncensored and at times a little disturbing, like when a couple kids take a toddler and put him in a garbage can (never did find out where the mom and/or dad had been).

Interesting ending here: the good guy gets totally screwed.

Rating: 3/5 Bonedaddies.

Offensive? Not As Much As I Thought...

Duck! The Carbine High Massacre (1999)

Director- William Hellfire, Joey Smack

Starring- William Hellfire, Joey Smack, Misty Mundae

This movie is a spoof of the Columbine High Massacre that occured just a year before--actually, it's more a spoof of high school massacres in general, with a slight focus on Columbine. We are introduced to shallow stereotypes in an average high school--the over-masculine jocks who make fun of the meek, the popular (possibly slutty) girl who looks down her nose at unpopulars, the over-religious girl pushing her beliefs down your throat, the muscle car greasemonkey that doesn't want you to touch his piece of shit car, the white-hating black guy, the overly-sympathetic-to-those-who-are-"different" goths, and the two neo-nazi main characters, cloaked in trench coats and interested in things like guns and Hitler.

I didn't care for the portrayal of the goths as "understanding". Frankly, I myself got into goth culture when I was younger, and I took some things into adulthood with me--thinking I was unique or different becuase I wore a black trenchcoat was NOT one of them.

Acting was bad, but not horrendous. Special effects were low-budget, but actually pretty creatively maneuvered--especially when the gun violence begins.

I did like how the movie spoofs the influence of music, also how it plays with the concepts that the parents do have something to do with how the kids turn out--though by teenage years, that parental influence has obviously become limited.

All in all it wasn't quite as offensive as I thought it would be--then again, I viewed it a full ten years after the massacre, so maybe that factors in significantly. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see Misty Mundae in an earlier role. I've seen her in quite a few low-budget indies--she's a great actress who's never afraid of a nude scene--her role in Sinful was disturbing and awesome.

Rating: I give this one a generous 3/5 Bonedaddies.