Public Domain Hell: The Corpse Grinders and Mesa of Lost Women

Welcome Back to Public Domain Hell

There’s just something deeply sad about movies that get straddled into the realm of “public domain.”  Why?  That’s a tough question to answer in concrete terms without giving it too much thought.  

I can’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for the filmmakers who slaved over the “making of” process for theses movies.  Filmmaking is always a trial, and can take years out of a person’s life.  Didn’t the guys (and women) behind these movies deserve a bit of profit?  Did they go without having a day in the sun?  Who were these people to begin with?  

These are the questions I pondered while struggling to finish the two selections for this entry.  Please note the word “struggle,” as it very appropriate for Mesa of Lost Women (1953) and The Corpse Grinders (1971).  

These are not good movies...they are not even good old fashioned sleazy fun.  The reality is (despite modest cult followings) that they have been “forgotten,” and can watched for free on youtube.  I suppose if there was more of a demand, someone would have renewed the copy rights and put them out on DVD with all the required bells and whistles.  

Let’s now move on (somewhat logically) to my next section of thought.  

The Pitfalls of Expectation (Or Why Exploitative Trash is Never as Fun as It Should be)

I had heard of both of these movies before.  Why?  That’s just sort of the dark and scummy side of the cinematic swimming pool I that I live in.  They are reasonably well known B-movies (and legendary for their titles alone). 

They both promise incredible voyages into the bizarre...assuming you are brave enough to take that first step.   

The Corpse Grinders alone has an incredible (and presumably fault proof) premise: A corrupt cat food company owner decides to make his chow out of human bodies.  The side effect is that cats in the small town start attacking their owners because they love the taste of human flesh.  Imagine the possibilities...they’re endless.   

There’s room for buckets of truly dark humor (think Roger Corman’s A Bucket of Blood).  I would also allow for a twisted satire of Corporate America (think American Psycho).  Do I even need to tell you that the capacity for camp should be through the damned roof?

The same could be said of Mesa of Lost Women.  I was promised endless musical sequences, dwarfs, and “lost women.”  I think I was expecting something similar to the second half of From Dusk ‘til Dawn.  

There is something of a story to Mesa: mostly nonsense about a scientist (Jackie Coogan...yes, Uncle Fester himself) creating his own race of mutant women.  I believe (although I’m not sure) that he is mixing something into their DNA...and also creating his own species of giant tarantulas as well.  I’ll be honest and admit that I stopped caring and lost track.  

These movies were both sold to the drive-in crowd (despite being two decades apart).  I’ve read about how B-movie makers came up with the idea first, and then made the movie.  There’s two or three fascinating documentaries about this era of film swindling.  The best of which is American Grindhouse (2010).  

Here’s a quick “for instance”: Someone would toss out the title I Was a Teenage Werewolf.  The idea would be hatched for a poster, and then a film crew would get a few thousand dollars and two weeks to make the movie.  The result (more often than not) would never live up to audience expectations.  There would, however, be “just enough” to keep their interest.  

(Would you like an unrelated tangent?  I’m deeply saddened by the fact that I missed the golden era of drive-ins...but that’s neither here nor there.  I have very early childhood memories of the Albuquerque Drive In...which was relatively clean and family friendly.  I was a child of the ’80’s so I dimly remember seeing the Joe Dante opus Innerspace back to back with the Little Shop of Horrors musical remake.  You know what?  This is a boring digression...never mind.  The point is that I’ll never get to see something like Coffy or Vanishing Point in its natural habitat.  I might be able to plant my TV out in the yard and make some popcorn...it’s just not the same.  I can also tell you my favorite drive-in joke:  Did you hear about the two guys that froze to death at the drive-in?  They went to go see Closed for Season.)    

Here’s the problem for me: I’m just as gullible as that drive-in audience.  Killer cats?  Lost women on their own private mesa?  How could that go wrong?  

The Reality 

I found both of these movies extremely dull.  

The Corpse Grinders and Mesa of Lost Women are insanely short, clocking in at a little over an hour.   Why do they feel so very long?  

Here are a few things to look for if you ever see Mesa of Lost Women:

• The only music used is the same scale played endlessly on a Flamenco Guitar.  I’m not sure if it’s there to build suspense, or if they just couldn’t hire musicians.  The melody becomes engrained in your brain and won’t leave.
• There’s an epic dance by one of the lost women that never seems to end.  This is the exact opposite of the Selma Hayek dance in From Dusk ‘til Dawn.  Imagine that dance stripped out every last ounce of sex appeal.  
• The story runs out of gas about half way through.  There’s a contrived excuse to send a search party into the desert.  Will somebody please explain to me who these people were?  I stopped paying attention.   

As you can see, it’s just not enough to make a guilty pleasure.  

Here’s a few points about The Corpse Grinders:

• The whole affair feels amateurish to me.  The same two or three locations are used repetitiously.  Couldn’t they at least dress the sets differently?  The scenes drag on with no clear start or stop.  The actors are not engaged enough to be interesting.  Would it be too much to ask for some committed over acting or modest mugging?  
• There are a few bizarre trappings.  There is a minor character who has an unhealthy relationship with dolls (not as dirty as it sounds).  The first time we see a cat jump at someone’s jugular, it’s sort of comical.  (The novelty wears out after about the fifth or sixth attack.)  The “meat grinder” itself, which is used to create the cat food, is at least modestly gruesome.  I can’t help but wonder if it was an inspiration for the students being ground up in The Wall.  
• The film is so rushed that it has no sense of an ending.  (That might be to leave room for the two sequels.  Yes, there are really two sequels to this directed by the same filmmaker Ted V. Mikels.  He is a one man b-movie emporium and an interesting dude to read about if you have some time.  Here’s my favorite tidbit: he lived in an honest to God castles with a gaggle of strippers at one point). 

Do these movies deserve their fate?  

In other words, have they earned their place in obscurity?  Do they deserved to be so unloved that no one will bother to renew the copy right?  

I would have to say yes.  I wanted so much more from these films.  

All I got was this lousy blog entry.