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Gore movies fall somewhere between horror, slapstick, and art on the 3D genre graph. Afficionados say gore movies got their start on the grindhouse circuit in the 1960s, when auteurs like Herschell Gordon Lewis shocked the bejeezus out of thrill-seekers who went to see his demented masterpieces Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), Wizard of Gore (1970) and Blood Feast (1963). Lewis' main innovation was to realize that it was cheaper to use dead animal parts than it was to cook up special effects. He also figured out that people watched gore the same way they watched nudie cuties: they wanted to get to the skin parts, and screw the whole plot thing.
After Lewis paved the way, a whole slurry of gore directors began making movies both memorable and nauseating. One of my favorites is an early flick by Peter "LOTR" Jackson called Bad Taste (1987), about aliens who drink barf. You think you've seen it all? I dare you to make it through the looooong puke-lapping scene in this zany, bloody movie without getting just a little green around the gills.
Any gore movie with special effects by Screaming Mad George is going to be a treat, but I submit that his best work is on Brian Yuzna's neglected classic Society (1989). It's the tale of polymorphous, incestuous aliens in Beverly Hills who secretly control the world. There are several flesh-dripping orgies, and one memorable scene where the main character walks in on his morphing dad and discovers the true meaning of "butthead." The recent flick Slither (2006), written by master of witty repartee James Gunn, matches Society for sheer originality of gloopy effects. Plus, the plot is great. The people in a small town are being turned into gigantically pregnant zombies by mind-controlling, super-sized sperm. You think I'm kidding, but I am so NOT kidding.
Other see-it-if-you-want-to-gag movies include David Cronenberg's version of The Fly ([1986] disintegrating bodies, graphic barfing), Clive Barker's first Hellraiser movie ([1987] skinless undead people, close-ups of fish hooks in flesh), Coffin Joe: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul ([1963] tarantula torture, disgusting fingernails), and Tetsuo the Iron Man ([1989] sex with a giant drill).
If you need a guide to gore, check out Something Weird Video, purveyors of fine exploitation fare. The folks who run SWV are true movie geeks who really care about archiving obscure gems. One of their curators is the fantastic Frank Henenlotter, who has earned a place in every gore fan's heart for making the Basket Case trilogy (1982-92), as well as Frankenhooker (1990).
Just remember, there's nothing like gore movies to get your weekend started right.
