Doris Wishman week (July 21 – 27) Doris made the loopiest of movies. A self-proclaimed prude who made nudist camp movies, her filmography is filled with contradictions. When she tried to be mean spirited with something like Bad Girls Go To Hell there was always an undercurrent of silliness and fun, but when she tried to be silly and fun in things like Keyholes Are For Peeping there was an underlying seediness and grime that couldn’t be wiped off. It’s hard not to love her!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: J.H. Rood made the documentary Don’t, which you can find on the Internet Archive. He became interested in making films in high school, and in 1991 founded Ghoul Inc. Productions. His first films, shot between 1991 and 1994, were mostly horror, and were shot on his dad’s camcorder and edited by hooking two VCRs together. In 2013, he and best pal and film collaborator Alex Lopez started making movies seriously and have created The Abode of Mad Tales, Honky Thunder and The Bitter End. His influences include Roger Corman, Larry Buchanan, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Ted V. Mikels, S.F. Brownrigg, Frank Henenlotter, Ed Wood and Dario Argento.
Anyone even remotely familiar with the “roughie” subgenre is likely familiar with Doris Wishman,The grand dame of the Grindhouse. In a field dominated by men, she out sleazed them all. With movies like My Brother’s Wife, The Sex Perils of Paulette and Bad Girls Go to Hell, Doris went toe to toe with the likes of Joe Sarno, Barry Mahon and others, bringing an interesting female-helmed flare to the seedier theaters back in the day. Not afraid to tackle the sex and violence, she carved her niche in cinema history, one film at a time. Indecent Desires is by far my favorite of her films. It’s not the most extreme in any way, though it does touch a nerve or two. What I love about it is that it is absolutely bonkers. I suppose if I were so inclined I could really find all sorts of subtext and nuance in it and see it as artistic, and there is certainly that side of it, but mostly it’s just bizarre, surreal and kinda creepy.
A lanky, odd looking fellow is walking through a city park in New York. In real life, the weirdos always look “normal”, but in this film, we’ve got this guy figured out from the get go. He peeks into a trash can and finds a discarded doll. He pulls the doll from the bin and takes it home with him. This is where the unease really sets in. What could this guy possibly want with this child’s toy? Wait for it.
While our buddy is at home with his new plastic friend, we’re introduced to Ann, a pretty young woman who lives and works not far away. Ann has a boyfriend and a job, and what looks to be a fairly normal life. But…for reasons that are never quite explained, she has some sort of supernatural connection to the doll. Our sleazy doll finder discovers that when he caresses the doll, he can feel a woman’s warm, soft body, and it’s Ann that he’s groping! Poor Ann suddenly begins to feel invisible hands working her over, and is convinced she’s losing her mind. Doll dude eventually figures out who’s flesh he’s fondling and begins to stalk Ann. Frustrated and angry with the real woman he knows he’ll never have, he starts venting his rage on the poor doll with head-twisting, belt-whipping and even cigarette burns. Ann’s Man and her friends know something isn’t quite right with her, but no one really has any idea what to do for her. It’s a pickle,I tell ya!
Sharon Kent stars as Ann. She was in quite a few roughies in the late 1960s, such as Mr. Mari’s Girls and The Hookers (two other favorites of mine) and went on to some mainstream work as well. Zeb, AKA the creepy doll guy was played by actor Michael Alaimo, who has popped up in many films over the years, but I always think of him as the exterminator in Mr. Mom.
It’s a wacky movie that doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, but if nothing else it’s quite entertaining.
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