Scum of the Earth Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		2.5

Scum of the Earth Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 24, 2016

Note: This film is available as part of The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast.

Mention the initials “H.G.” to most people, and my hunch is virtually everyone will default to thinking about H.G. Wells, the legendary author whose science fiction masterpieces resulted in such memorable films as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau and War of the Worlds. Certain fans who have a slightly different definition of what constitutes a memorable film might have a variant reaction to those same initials, however, positing one Herschell Gordon Lewis instead of Mr. Wells. Lewis has long been known by the sobriquet “Godfather of Gore,” and his early exploitation pictures were, for their day, amazingly overt in their depiction of what ultimately came to be called “splatter”. Lewis, who only just fairly recently died at the age of 90, had an interesting if not especially distinguished career, though it’s notable that Lewis maintained a more than abundant sense of humor about his films and his contributions to the supposed art of cinema. Lewis’ filmography (it’s a bit of a stretch to actually call it an oeuvre) hasn’t been especially well served in the Blu-ray era, though there have been at least a few releases of his work, including The Blood Trilogy, The Wizard of Gore / The Gore Gore Girls and The Lost Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Now, in what amounts to an elegy of sorts for Lewis, Arrow Video has assembled what will certainly go down in the annals of the Blu-ray era as one of the most lavish deluxe sets produced, at least within the confines of what can only be accurately described as “cult cinema”. Along with a collection of fourteen films (nine making their Blu-ray debut), Arrow also includes a glut of bonus content (some with Lewis’ involvement), as well as impressive packaging and non disc supplements.

There’s something just a little bit quaint about some of the plot mechanics of Scum of the Earth, Herschell Gordon Lewis’ 1963 paean to a simpler time when porn wasn’t quite as available and amorously inclined males had to ogle pictures of naked women rather than sitting at their computers and drooling over video clips. Scum of the Earth is presented second in The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast, but was evidently shot before Blood Feast, though evidently was released a few months after that film. Interestingly, Scum of the Earth’s hapless heroine Kim Sherwood is played by one Vickie Miles, whom several online sources identify as Blood Feast’s screenwriter Allison Louise Downe working under a pseudonym. Scum of the Earth is an exploitation flick in a subgenre that was dubbed “roughies”, films that tipped over from “mere” sexual titillation into, well, rougher treatment of females that in a way presaged later developments like torture porn or at least the sort of BDSM elements that would inform other kinds of porn and even mainstream successes like Fifty Shades of Grey.

Kim seems like a sweet girl, and she’s interested in attaining a college degree, but there’s a problem—paying for it. When her duplicitous friend Sandy (Sandy Sinclair) suggests she poses for some ostensibly innocent photos to make a little scratch, Kim is excited, even if the photographer, Harmon Johnson (Thomas Sweetwood, a pseudonym for Lewis regular William Kerwin), seems a bit on the lascivious side, offering more money if Kim simply removes more clothing. Kim’s innocence is too long lasting, especially when her early shoots end up making her a victim of blackmailing, which leads to even more sleazy photo sessions (mostly described, not seen).

What’s interesting about Scum of the Earth is that how, despite being in black and white (evidently the last Lewis film shot this way) and offering a relative lack of death and destruction, it actually ends up being at least relatively more disturbing than many other Lewis films. There’s something unsettling about the whole damsel in distress element, despite the patently ridiculous way it’s handled in the film, that gives Scum of the Earth a surprisingly emotional impact that is largely absent in many of Lewis’ other offerings.

Scum of the Earth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arrow has included some general verbiage about the transfers in this set:

All film materials sourced for restoration were scanned in 2K resolution on a pin registered 4K Lasergraphics Director Scanner at Deluxe Media, Burbank. Film grading and restoration was completed at Deluxe Restoration, London. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and light scratches were removed through a combination of digital restoration tools. Overall image stability and density fluctuation was also improved when possible.

The original mono soundtracks were transferred from 35mm prints by Deluxe Audio Services, Los Angeles, and were conformed and restored at Deluxe Restoration, London.

Additional audio conform for How to Make a Doll and Just for the Hell of It by David Mackenzie.

Although the best existing elements were sourced for this project and every attempt was made to present the films in this collection in the highest quality possible, some of the films still exhibit varying degrees of damage that could not be digitally repaired to our satisfaction. The condition of the existing materials for Moonshine Mountain, The Gruesome Twosome, How to Make a Doll and This Stuff'll Kill Ya all contained extreme levels of dirt, scratches and debris as well as many instances of torn or missing frames. They all exhibited heavy degrees of colour fading as well. Likewise, the print sections sourced to complete A Taste of Blood were both faded and heavily scratched. Throughout the restoration workflow process, our priority was to retain the original photochemical look of the films rather than create unwanted digital artefacts by heavy handed picture cleanup. Therefore, many of the films in this collection exhibit "warts and all" appearance, in keeping with their distribution history and physical condition.

Restoration supervised by James White, Arrow Films.

Scum of the Earth is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This sole black and white feature in the Lewis set has pretty problematic elements, one that are rife with scratches, print through and other issues including missing frames and splotching. Despite these anomalies, contrast is generally very good if occasionally inconsistent. Grain isn't quite as coarse looking on this transfer as on some of the color films also included in the Lewis set.

Scum of the Earth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scum of the Earth features an LPCM mono track which, like the video element, has its fair share of issues. As with several other audio presentations in the Lewis set, some of the worst damage comes up front during the opening credits sequence, where there's some pretty heavy distortion during the music. Overall, the sound is very boxy and thin sounding, with regular pops, cracks and hiss.

Scum of the Earth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged this set a little unusually, with two films per disc and one set of supplements for both movies available from a main menu. While some of the supplements are obviously geared toward one individual film, others are a bit more general in nature, and so I'm listing the complete supplemental package for each particular disc rather than for each individual film. The supplements for Blood Feast and Scum of the Earth are:

• Blood Perspectives (1080p; 10:54) features Nicholas McCarthy and Rodney Ascher discussing Blood Feast


• Herschel's History (1080p; 5:18) is an archival interview with Lewis from 2007 and features comments about Scum of the Earth.


• Archive Interview with Lewis and Friedman (1080i; 18:28) is a vintage 1987 piece and according to a text card at the beginning the first time they had sat down together in ten years.


• Carving Magic (1080p; 20:31) is an unbelievable short from 1959 directed by Lewis starring (get ready) Harvey Korman and Lewis regular Bill Kerwin.


• Blood Feast Outtakes (1080p; 45:55) are silent but are underscored here with music and dialogue snippets.


• Scum "Clean" Scenes (1080i; 4:36) were sourced from SD video.


• Promo Gallery

  Blood Feast Trailer (1080p; 2:23)

  Blood Feast Radio Spot (1:02)

  Blood Feast Theater Announcement (00:59)

  The Adventures of Lucky Pierre Trailer (1080p; 1:46) markets one of Lewis' "nudie cuties".

  Three Bares Trailer (1080p; 2:15) markets one of Lewis' "nudie cuties".

  Bell, Bare and Beautiful Trailer (1080p; 1:32) markets one of Lewis' "nudie cuties".

• Blood Feast Commentary features Mike Vraney from Something Weird Video hosting Herschell Gordon Lewis and David Friedman.


• Herschell Gordon Lewis Introduction to Blood Feast (1080p; 1:32) is available under the play menu for that film.


• Herschell Gordon Lewis Introduction to Scum of the Earth (1080p; 1:11) is available under the play menu for that film.

Scum of the Earth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Scum of the Earth is undeniably (and probably intentionally) smarmy at times, but it has a weird emotional impact that many of Lewis' more gory or rural entries never quite attain. Technical merits are problematic, but the supplemental package is very inviting.