So much average

A Major Disappointment

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Just for the Hell of it was recently brought back to Hollywood to open the 2011 Grindhouse Film Festival in Tarantino's beautifully renovated New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles(thanks for saving history Q).Just for the Hell of It was an Herschell Gordon Lewis 'indie', 'low budget', 'Grind House' movie (before all those terms became vogue and before people acted like they made them up). It is a 'godfather of Grind House' production of non-stop miscreant havoc initiated by a very dull and inept 'leader' Dexter (Sager/Smash Cut w/Sasha Grey and Lewis himself), carried out after being twisted into truly demented evil by Denny (White/Capitol Records,Fantasy films)and his minions, on everyone in south Florida and specifically Doug (Bedell/??) and Jeanne (Gynes/??), with the assistance of pretty and perky bad girl Bitsy (Nobel/ She Devils on Wheels). White, the 'most vicious of the gang' and Bitsy die like real bad boys and girls should, in a motorcycle accident after a chase scene that needed more than $32.50 on production and editing, however, it was going directly to Drive-ins and quality never was or ever will be a Lewis quality.His genre repertoire includes exploitation, hicksploitation, sexploitation, destuctploition, etc. so you can't judge him by his early Dahmer, Gacy and Gein training films. It was one of the HGL 'Summer of Love' films and it must be that "only love stopped the Demon"(Micky Knox) as it's a one of a kind HGL genre where someone, generally a defenseless, sobbing and franticly screaming adolescent girl, is NOT raped, hacked up alive, eaten and then laughed at... probably because he did not write it (a girl did) and probably why NETFLIX rents it. FF: In Hollywood, Lou Ferrigno had started a fight with White about who was Denny Fortune in Just For the Hell of it, him or White. In his inimitable fashion and in the middle of Sunset Blvd, the REAL one and ONLY Johnny Legend and Something Weird Video try to get to the truth and calm the two psychos down in Sleazemania on Parade w/Gene Autry, Steve Allen, Angie Dickenson, Doug McClure and Mr T. White wins so watch out Trejo.Considering the ill effects caused by other genres Lewis has tried, the story lines and poor performances of today's films in general, I think this is worth whatever Netflix or Something Weird Video charges.Just For the Hell of It has been teamed up on a SWV DVD with Blast-off Girls. I never saw it as the 'duncemeister' Sager, who's still with Lewis, and 'Satan' White, whose tunes were FITTINGLY recently released with Charlie Manson tunes sung by the Beach Boys on EMI, are in this movie also. I did not want to see Sager say "duh" again and although I read White only wrote and performed the opening tune Bad Day (he should of wrote Bad Film), I don't even want the chance of seeing him throwing another baby in a garbage can, so beware..

Not being a fan of exploitation films, but for years after violent, extreme, provocative films in general, I stumbled upon this little flick from the 1968. I hadn't yet seen any other film from Herschell Gordon Lewis {shame!), so I thought I should give it try.It's quite strange this is not more popular, because, if this is what Herschell Gordon Lewis films feel like, then I would like to see more. It is probably one of the earliest samples of mindless politically incorrect cinema done pretty sloppy but effectively, a classic exploitation, if you ask me, and even if you regularly don't take it too seriously, it's quite daring for 1968. Some scenes might raise a smile to some, intentionally or not.So, this quite unknown film is recommended for those after a nice old party film for a night with friends, pizza and beers {the music just feels great with this one), exploitation fans {this is a must) and in general, those who are looking for mindless fun, not shocked by somewhat explicit material.

I loved this movie. Aside from the raping women, attacking guys on crutches and tormenting blind people, the pranks in this movie were harmless and hilarious. Don't tell me you didn't think it was funny when those guys interrupted a little boys' game of softball and pretended to beat them up. All they did was hold the kids upside down and tickle them. Everyone does that with kids. And hosing somebody down isn't what I would call "horrific" violence. And don't tell me you haven't fantasized about taking a paint can or a bucket of soapy water and dumping it over some innocent bystander's head! I think if I could commit crimes for one solid day and never ever have to face the consequences, I would do all the things the kids did in this movie (aside from what I mentioned in the second sentence). Wouldn't you like to just go into some well-furnished room and rip everything apart wildly, painting on the walls and yourself, pulling apart tables and chairs and bashing things with dull axes? Wouldn't you like to destroy a bicycle and not have to worry about replacing it? What about a crappy old boat? I know I would!This movie lets you live vicariously through a middle class teen gang. All the rules society places on you about safety, obedience, respect, vandalism, etc etc, get broken! And it feels good! It makes you laugh. You wish you could be in this film. There is a plot, but the film's shining moments are these pointless acts of low violence. You can sometimes see the actor's smiling while acting these out. It just looked so FUN. And, from my perspective, those 60's boys are the best lookin'. Enjoy this film. I did!

Shot back-to-back with SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS, JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT is almost as good. Filled with amazing scenes of mass destruction and devilish deeds, HELL may be the ultimate j.d. film. Too bad it came a few (10) years too late!Destruction Inc. is a leather-jacket, bike-riding teenage gang who, for the duration of the film, cause trouble for law-abiding citizens and the law. That's it. There really is no plot here, just scene after scene of crimes committed by boys AND girls.HELL is obviously the sister of SHE-DEVILS. The cast, almost all having appeared in SHE-DEVILS, includes Rodney Bedell, Nancy Lee Noble, Ruby Tuesday, Pat Poston, a number of the men from the stud line, two of the biker chicks, and the heroine's mother! Ray Sager, who plays one of the gang leaders, later played Montag in WIZARD OF GORE! Nancy Lee Noble really deserved more roles in these types of movies. She's great in SHE-DEVILS and is good here, too. I have yet to see her in THE GIRL, THE BODY & THE PILL, but she has already become one of my psychotronic favorites. On another note: the music is all from THE GRUESOME TWOSOME, with the exception of the two songs performed by the Florida garage band. I wish a CD would come out of music that Larry Wellington supervised for H.G. Lewis' films. He really aided the 60s feel of movies like this one, GRUESOME TWOSOME and SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS.JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT is, like I said, scene after scene after scene of mass destruction. This gets a little repetitive, but never gets dull. The main gang leader (I'm hazy on the name of the actor) seems more apt to play the good-looking hero and I would love to have seen him try that role. Not H.G. Lewis' best, but JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT is full of scenes that only Lewis would film and that 60s Florida feel that makes it indescribably fun to endure.