Blood, Boobs & Beast (2007)

Don Dohler made movies for many years. I haven't seen any of them yet but they looked, from the many clips shown in this affectionate documentary, like very bad movies. So why do I now want to see them all? It's true that I have a constant yearning to seek out the bizarre and unloved movies many others go out of their way to avoid but there's something more going on here. Blood, Boobs & Beast shows some people who are making movies that try to include those three Bs in an attempt to make some money back and to keep making movies but it also shows some people who love trying to make great entertainment. They might fail spectacularly but they deserve your time and goodwill just for trying. This isn't low-budget film-making on display here, this is the NO-budget kind.

Don Dohler passed away in 2006 and this documentary, directed by John Paul Kinhart, stands as a wonderful testament to the influence that the man had. His films may not have a huge fanbase but they do have their fans. And as for his contribution to the underground comic scene and the homemade special effects fans, and also his sheer determination to finish projects, the results are quite impressive. But I'll let you find out more by seeing the documentary.

Art (though some may not wish to call it that) meets commercialism as Dohler and his long-time collaborators end up accidentally doing well enough to move beyond being "one hit wonders". The results are almost like Troma movies. With less money available. Yes, you can only begin to imagine the final product.

I've made a point of emphasising how much fun, and how bad, the movies are but I don't want to leave you with the wrong impression. Watching this documentary won me over almost from the very beginning and I'm now a fan of Don Dohler and desperate to pay money for his movies. If you want to dismiss him as some untalented hack then you can feel free to do so, but just listen to the high regard he is held in by the likes of friend and colleague Joe Ripple and, more surprisingly, people as diverse as Lloyd Kaufman, Tom Savini and J. J. Abrams. All of those people are BIG names in their respective fields so maybe you should take the time to investigate someone they think so highly of.

You might just end up becoming won over as quickly and easily as I was.

8/10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Boobs-Beast-Nightbeast-Region/dp/B001IVFGZO