Well, if you wanted something weird, director Herschell Gordon Lewis delivers in spades. Adopting the "kitchen sink theory"(..that's where if you have no plot, just toss everything at the viewer including the kitchen sink), HGL stuffs an odd variety of ideas(..topics)into his film and the result is simply bizarre. An electrical worker's face is hit by a downed wire which hideously burns him(..so deep into his flesh, no amount of surgery could save his face). But, included in this awful incident, Mitchell(Tony McCabe)receives extra sensory powers which make him an extraordinary psychic. A ghastly cackling witch(..obviously inspired by The Wicked Witch of the West)is enamored with Mitch and offers him a chance to get rid of the facial scar that has caused such agony..belong to her unconditionally. The witch disguises her horrifying ugliness as the lovely Ellen Parker(Elizabeth Lee), accompanying Mitch as he is commissioned to help a police force find a serial killer who is preying on women. Meanwhile, a psychologist, Alex Jordan(William Brooker), with the FBI in Washington, is also called in to prove one way or another whether Mitch is a phony or not..and in doing so falls head-over-heels with Ellen.
You get a little bit of everything from the use of LSD(..inducing a really oddball nightmare sequence, tinted in orange with some unusual off-focus camera work to heighten the surreal nature of Mitch's discovery of who the killer is and his future fate as well), karate(..an opening scene shows Jordan learning martial arts techniques from his master, later using such maneuvers to defeat a pair of disgruntled locals who blame him and Mitch for the trouble plaguing their city), the ghostly apparition of an undead bride haunting a church(..Mitch's encounter with it "heals" the place of worship), levitation(..Mitch provides a performance for a group of political types and their wives at a party held by Police Chief Vinton, played by Lawrence J Aberwood), and a supernatural attack on Jordan by his bed blanket(..this has to be seen to be believed!). I thought to myself that HGL must've been experimenting with LSD when he made this movie! I agree with the majority of others who mention his lack of skill as a filmmaker, such as the rather mediocre camera set ups, odd pacing(..some scenes are tight while others stretch to tedious lengths), jarring editing( particularly how HGL incorporates the image of the witch within certain scenes as Ellen is sitting amongst others with only Mitch able to see her as she truly is), and the inability to achieve a good performance from anyone in his cast..but, these problems, in some really deranged way, add a certain appeal to SOMETHING WEIRD. I'm not sure if all this isn't intentional; I have often wondered if HGL is actually winking at us through all the lunacy. I will freely admit that I rented this movie because I was in the mood for something off-the-wall and loony, and that's exactly what I received. I have to admit that the direction the film takes in regards to Jordan's obsession with Ellen threw me for a loop and the fate of this relationship brought a grin to my face. HGL, you ole devil you.
You get a little bit of everything from the use of LSD(..inducing a really oddball nightmare sequence, tinted in orange with some unusual off-focus camera work to heighten the surreal nature of Mitch's discovery of who the killer is and his future fate as well), karate(..an opening scene shows Jordan learning martial arts techniques from his master, later using such maneuvers to defeat a pair of disgruntled locals who blame him and Mitch for the trouble plaguing their city), the ghostly apparition of an undead bride haunting a church(..Mitch's encounter with it "heals" the place of worship), levitation(..Mitch provides a performance for a group of political types and their wives at a party held by Police Chief Vinton, played by Lawrence J Aberwood), and a supernatural attack on Jordan by his bed blanket(..this has to be seen to be believed!). I thought to myself that HGL must've been experimenting with LSD when he made this movie! I agree with the majority of others who mention his lack of skill as a filmmaker, such as the rather mediocre camera set ups, odd pacing(..some scenes are tight while others stretch to tedious lengths), jarring editing( particularly how HGL incorporates the image of the witch within certain scenes as Ellen is sitting amongst others with only Mitch able to see her as she truly is), and the inability to achieve a good performance from anyone in his cast..but, these problems, in some really deranged way, add a certain appeal to SOMETHING WEIRD. I'm not sure if all this isn't intentional; I have often wondered if HGL is actually winking at us through all the lunacy. I will freely admit that I rented this movie because I was in the mood for something off-the-wall and loony, and that's exactly what I received. I have to admit that the direction the film takes in regards to Jordan's obsession with Ellen threw me for a loop and the fate of this relationship brought a grin to my face. HGL, you ole devil you.