The Undertaker and His Pals
Directed by T.L.P. Swicegood
A struggling undertaker and two deranged cooks drum up business by going out at night and murdering innocent people. The undertaker then offers his pricey services to the recently departed’s family, while the cannibal chefs serve their latest kill as the catch of the day at their diner. T.L.P. Swicegood’s campy take on the “Sweeney Todd” story is a gristle-filled mix of gore, questionable acting, and groan-inducing jokes (“I’ll have a B.M.”). But the combination of those elements produced a cult classic every bit as fun and freaky as H.G. Lewis’ iconic BLOOD FEAST.
An undertaker and two deranged cooks drum up business by murdering innocent people.
Cast: Warrene Ott, James Westmoreland, Ray Dannis
Member Reviews
Okay, those of you who look at the user reviews before watching the movie, you're probably wondering why am I giving a crappy movie like this four skulls instead of lower. The print is terrible (somebody didn't take care of their prints), the filmmaking is poor, the editing is even worse, the music out of place and ridiculous, the acting subpar, and the story is simply flat-out stupid. Well, all of that contributes to a film that's so terrible that you can't just help but laugh at it. And at 63 minutes long, it's over before you know it. Get some friends together and have some fun with this one. (On a side-note, I'd love to see the recently returned Joe Bob Briggs work his humorous drive-in magic on this movie.)
An entertaining as heck obscure feature. Long rumored that "T.L.P Swicegood" is actually H.G. Lewis . Pair this with "Blood Feast" and see for yourself. I agree with Paul Curtis, this movie definitely needs restoration and some supplements that will fill in it's elusive backstory
I'd have rated this at one skull, for the low-quality Public Domain 16mm-to-videotape transfer, and for the low-energy performances and amateurish direction...Bumped-up from one skull, just because it's such an affectionate homage to Herschell Gordon Lewis. Most amusing aspect (for me) was that they guy playing the short-order cook appeared to be doing an impression of Shemp Howard. Otherwise, the jokes didn't make me smile, and the violence wasn't extravagant enough to be memorable. I have a suspicion that this started out as an action-suspense film, but the first sequences that were filmed and cut together, were the "motorcycle guys stalking their victims" scenes...which failed to be impressive, so the production ws redirected into a comedy. Until somebody does a careful restoration of the film, and some expert provides a definitive commentary track, this will have to remain a hypothesis.
Some fiLms are just so bad they're good.
Typical 60s flick, with all of its quirks and oddities.