Movie Ad of the Week: HOUSE OF HOOKERS w/ HILLBILLY HOOKER (1975)

The British crime film A TOUCH OF THE OTHER (1970), directed by Arnold L. Miller and starring Kenneth Cope and Shirley Anne Field, was first released stateside by Film Ventures International as THE HAPPY HOOKERS in 1973 with an ad campaign created by Donn Davison. By 1975 it had been re-titled HOUSE OF HOOKERS and was being used as a co-feature with MASSAGE PARLOR HOOKERS, a re-titling of the NY-shot psycho-thriller THE MASSAGE PARLOR MURDERS! When HOUSE OF HOOKERS opened in Panama City, Florida on May 11, 1975, the second feature was HILLBILLY HOOKER, an FVI re-titling of Davison’s HONEY BRITCHES (1971). Also released as SHANTYTOWN HONEYMOON and THE LITTLE WHOREHOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, Davison’s film was sold to Troma in the late 1980s as DEMENTED DEATH FARM MASSACRE after Fred Olen Ray shot new wraparound scenes for it with John Carradine.

Updating the IMDb: The Alternate Title Roundup

A handful of new alternate titles have recently come to our attention, but before we get to those, there's apparently still some confusion over whether or not Norman J. Warren's ALIEN-inspired birth-of-a-baby bloodbath INSEMINOID actually received stateside release under that handle. The answer is a very loud YES, and here's the proof: a May 1982 newspaper ad from Madison, Wisconsin. By the time the movie reached the New York City area six months later (on November 26th, 1982), the title had been changed to HORROR PLANET.

It's been almost a year and a half since we did a "Mystery Movies" entry on the Crown International obscurity KISS THE TEACHER GOODBYE, which was revealed by dedicated TOS reader and researcher John Black to be a re-release of HORROR HIGH. Lead actor Pat Cardi's name on the newspaper ad below should finally convince the IMDb to include this in their HORROR HIGH entry as a legitimate alternate title.

The sexy Tigon production ZETA ONE, produced in 1969 and co-starring Anna Gaël (THERESE AND ISABELLE) and Yutte Stensgaard (LUST FOR A VAMPIRE), was released stateside by Film Ventures International in 1974 under the title THE LOVE FACTOR. However, the newspaper ad below - from 1973 - indicates that Donn Davison, FVI's head of promotion, originally had another title and ad campaign in mind for the film.

Next we have another Donn Davison/Film Ventures campaign from 1973, for a British film titled A TOUCH OF THE OTHER (1970) but given its widest exposure in the U.S. as HOUSE OF HOOKERS. I love how Davison implies that it's based on a book, hoping viewers will confuse it with Xavier Hollander's memoir The Happy Hooker (which was still on the New York Times bestseller list at this point and had sold 4 million copies).

Back in March we did a "Movie Ads of the Week" post containing 5 ads for S.F. Brownrigg's DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT under 5 different titles (See them all here). Below is a recently found sixth alternate title, DON'T GO IN THE ASYLUM.

And just when you thought it was safe to close the file on Al Adamson's HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS, yet another alternate title has been discovered. Big thanks to our pal John Charles of Video Watchdog and the ByJohnCharles blog for sending along this ad for its October '71 run in San Antonio as PLANET OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS.

Mystery Movie: ANIMAL HIGH

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE was such a big box-office hit during the second half of 1978 that for the next year it seemed like you couldn't throw a rock in any direction without hitting somebody's half-assed attempt to leech off its success. By early '79 there were cash-in sitcoms on all three networks; Delta House (on ABC) was the official entry, with a pilot episode penned by the film's writers and several cast members on board for at least 13 easy paychecks, but how many people remember NBC's Brothers and Sisters (with Chris Lemmon) or CBS' one-episode-wonder Co-Ed Fever, featuring Heather Locklear and Jillian Kesner? All of them were cancelled by the time KING FRAT and H.O.T.S. were playing at a drive-in near you and NATURAL LAMPORN'S FRAT HOUSE was unspooling at your local XXX theater.

Today's mystery movie, ANIMAL HIGH, also carries a 1979 copyright date, but the tag line on the ad above (from January 1980) was tweaked to include a reference to "wild and crazy guy" Steve Martin, whose hit comedy THE JERK had been released a few weeks earlier and was still playing to packed theaters. The artwork is a cut-and-paste job from other campaigns -- the young lady in the denim cut-offs is from the DELINQUENT SCHOOL GIRLS ad -- but the fact that Cannon Group's CHEERLEADERS BEACH PARTY was the co-feature at all five screens originally led me to suspect that this was also a Cannon product, possibly CHERRY HILL HIGH or the second LEMON POPSICLE movie, which was playing drive-ins at the time as either GOING STEADY or GREASY KID STUFF.

However, after listening to the original radio spot for ANIMAL HIGH (which was included on the second Something Weird "Trash-O-Rama Radio Come-Ons" audiocassette), I've come to the conclusion that this campaign - like the one for SUGARPIE - is a Donn Davison creation. Both radio spots feature the same male-female voice interplay, and in the case of ANIMAL HIGH, I'm pretty sure the male voice is Davison himself. Also, note the old Davison trick of crediting fake actors with famous soundalike names: the stars of ANIMAL HIGH are supposedly Robert (did he say Robin?) Williams, Keith (not Steve) Martin, and Suzette (sounds like Suzanne) Somers.

RADIO SPOT

MALE VOICE: The graduating class of Animal High, with disco daffies, love-starved jocks, and swinging cheerleaders in the driver’s seat! ANIMAL HIGH!

FEMALE VOICE: [Sing-song] Where all the playing’s not on the football field!

MALE VOICE: It’s a wild and crazy movie, where nobody wears a toga!

FEMALE VOICE: ANIMAL...HIGH!

MALE VOICE: Starring zany Robert Williams, wacky Keith Martin, and sexy Suzette Somers!

FEMALE VOICE: Rated R! [rolls the R sexily]

MALE VOICE: ANIMAL HIGH, from Tantamount Pictures!

FEMALE VOICE: [Giggles] It’ll tickle your jeans off!



Anyone know what this thing is?

One-Sheet of the Week: THE FORCE BEYOND (1978)

THE FORCE BEYOND (1978)