THE VIOLENT YEARS: FOR ED WOOD FANS

Ed Wood's name is synonymous for bad movies. It's not that he didn't try or even that all of them were intentionally bad. But most of them ended up that way with his film PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE being hailed as one of the worst movies ever made. But Wood had a passion for film (and for cross dressing in angora sweaters) that pushed him to make movies in whatever way possible.

And so it is that AGFA (American Genre Film Archive) is now releasing THE VIOLENT YEARS to blu-ray. AGFA is making a name for themselves releasing movies that are not on the most watched list, not on the most wanted list and not on the best movie ever made list. What they've done is saved movies that have a historic value to film lovers, restoring them and offering them in the best format possible. It doesn't matter if the movie is a stinker, all movies deserve to be preserved for history's sake if nothing else. And in the end there is a certain fan base out there who will clamor to pick up a film like this, reveling in just how bad it is.

The story here, as in most Wood films, is fairly flimsy. Paula Parkins is the once bright and shining teen who, due to neglect and no attention from her parents, turns down the wrong path. She leads a pack of degenerate girls into a gang doing things like robbing a gas station, pajama party orgies (if you can call them that) and eventually murder. If it weren't for the bad writing and terrible dialogue you might think this was one of those government films from the 50s warning of the dangers of girl gangs. Instead it's just a low budget movie that was probably a filler at some point.

Just to be clear Woods didn't direct this film. Instead he was the writer on the film and that dialogue I spoke of becomes clear with each second of film that runs on screen. With such memorable lines as "I shot a cop. So what!" be read by actors in need of acting lessons it's easy to see why this film garners laughs today.

If that weren't enough there's a second feature on this disc as well. Count them, two for the price of one! What a bargain! Well it would be if it were a good movie. Instead it's another movie along the same lines as the first. This time though we have a young man whose brother is a condemned killer sent to the electric chair causing him to seek vengeance on those who sent him there. More bad acting, bad dialogue and weak production values makes this a perfect companion piece to the main feature.

To show the dedication AGFA has for movies like this consider the extras and work put into this release starting with the fact this is a 4k scan from the original 35mm camera negative. You'll also get a commentary track with filmmaker Frank Henenlotter and Ed Wood biographer Rudolph Grey, a collection of trailers from Something Weird, a memorabilia scrapbook and more.

The honest truth is that most will not want to add this to their collection let alone watch the movie. But from a historical aspect it does make for a somewhat interesting viewing. Fans of all things Ed Wood will not want to pass this one by. Lovers of bad movies will want to have it on hand as well. All others be warned in advance.


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