HOLLYWOOD MEAT CLEAVER MASSACRE (1977)
aka MEATCLEAVER MASSACRE
Article 2128 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-12-2007
Posting Date: 6-10-2007
Directed by Evan Lee
Featuring Christopher Lee(!), Larry Justin, J. Arthur Craig

Four students on a drunken binge break into the home of a professor of the occult, kill his family and leave him paralyzed for life. However, the professor is able to conjure up a demon to seek revenge.

If there’s any one thing I can say about this movie, it’s that it surprised me – instead of the psycho killer movie I was expecting, it turns out to have more of an occult bent then I expected. It also wasn’t near as bad as I expected it would be, but that’s no recommendation; it’s still fairly awful. The story itself is straightforward enough, but the movie engages in arty dream sequences, one gratuitous nude scene, lots of dull stretches where nothing is happening, and the occasional surprising touch of intentional and unexpected humor that may be the best thing about the film; if I have a favorite moment here, it’s when one of the students is distracted from committing suicide by something very mundane.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this movie is the presence of Christopher Lee, whose presence provided two things that the movie needed; it padded out the running time and added some star power to the movie. Actually, he only appears in beginning and ending bumpers, and, if the reports are true, he made these scenes for another producer, who then sold the footage to the makers of this movie. The other surprising presence is of Ed Wood as a photographer in the movie; it looks like he was associated with stinkers right to the end. As a result, this is the only time Ed Wood and Christopher Lee ever worked together, albeit inadvertently. And please take note that one cast member here is named Robert Clark, not Robert Clarke.