Charles B. Griffith (1930–2007)

Seymour is a young man who works in a flower store. He manages to create a carnivorous plant that feeds on human flesh. Nobody knows about it, so Seymour and the plant become good “friends”. The plant needs food to grow up, so it convinces him to start killing people.
Here’s a movie that’s gone from cult classic to just plain classic. For me, it’s one of the few “cult classics” I saw when it was released and then first shown on television. I loved it then, and I love it now.
Forget the musical re-make made in the 1980s. It couldn’t hold a candle to the original.
“Original” is what this is, too. and nowadays, it’s great to have it on DVD in which the audio is clear and the picture pretty sharp.
I have always particularly enjoyed the many humorous lines delivered by Mel Welles, who plays the flower shop owner. He is the real comedian of the cast, although the plant does quite well as do the two leads played by Jonathan Haze and Jackie Joseph. The latter two are a little more subtle in their comedy.
All the characters in here are totally whacked, from Haze’s hypochondriac mother to Dick Miller’s flower-eating character to the Jewish mother who always has a dead relative to moan about and to the dentist and his patient. The latter, of course, is Jack Nicholson, making his movie debut and looking about 16 years old. (fonte: imdb)… (plus d'informations)

Psycho killer Tom (Bruce Watson) is killing the busty barmaids who work at sleazy LA bar, "The Swing-A-Ling Club". Tough guy detective Harry White (William Smith) is soon on his murderous trail, with the campy assistance of the surviving barmaids. This is a cheap slice of sleaze cinema that’s slickly directed by Gus Trikonis with plenty of breathless pace and an eye to exploitative murders. The murders are brutal, with the women losing their clothes and the killer subsequently posing his nude victims to take photos. Trikonis’ approach is aided by Irv Goodnoff's rough-and-ready cinematography with plenty of hand-held camera work during the murders and fight sequences. The script, by Corman regular Charles B. Griffith, is gritty, especially when compared to his earlier work. It’s also pretty silly; particularly the killer’s ability to ingratiate himself with the barmaids simply by having a shave and colouring his hair. The female cast are all attractive, with Dyanne Thorne, in particular, giving a bitter, sarcastic and all too short performance as the first murder victim, Boo-Boo. “The Swinging Barmaids” is a bit of a misnomer of a title, the plot is stupid and some of the violence edges into unnecessary brutality, but overall it is a decent sleazy slice of trashy exploitation cinema.… (plus d'informations)