Alan Smithee Just for the Hell of it was recently brought back to Hollywood to open the 2011 Grindhouse Film Festival in Tarantino's beautifully renovated New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles(thanks for saving history Q).Just for the Hell of It was an Herschell Gordon Lewis 'indie', 'low budget', 'Grind House' movie (before all those terms became vogue and before people acted like they made them up). It is a 'godfather of Grind House' production of non-stop miscreant havoc initiated by a very dull and inept 'leader' Dexter (Sager/Smash Cut w/Sasha Grey and Lewis himself), carried out after being twisted into truly demented evil by Denny (White/Capitol Records,Fantasy films)and his minions, on everyone in south Florida and specifically Doug (Bedell/??) and Jeanne (Gynes/??), with the assistance of pretty and perky bad girl Bitsy (Nobel/ She Devils on Wheels). White, the 'most vicious of the gang' and Bitsy die like real bad boys and girls should, in a motorcycle accident after a chase scene that needed more than $32.50 on production and editing, however, it was going directly to Drive-ins and quality never was or ever will be a Lewis quality.His genre repertoire includes exploitation, hicksploitation, sexploitation, destuctploition, etc. so you can't judge him by his early Dahmer, Gacy and Gein training films. It was one of the HGL 'Summer of Love' films and it must be that "only love stopped the Demon"(Micky Knox) as it's a one of a kind HGL genre where someone, generally a defenseless, sobbing and franticly screaming adolescent girl, is NOT raped, hacked up alive, eaten and then laughed at... probably because he did not write it (a girl did) and probably why NETFLIX rents it. FF: In Hollywood, Lou Ferrigno had started a fight with White about who was Denny Fortune in Just For the Hell of it, him or White. In his inimitable fashion and in the middle of Sunset Blvd, the REAL one and ONLY Johnny Legend and Something Weird Video try to get to the truth and calm the two psychos down in Sleazemania on Parade w/Gene Autry, Steve Allen, Angie Dickenson, Doug McClure and Mr T. White wins so watch out Trejo.Considering the ill effects caused by other genres Lewis has tried, the story lines and poor performances of today's films in general, I think this is worth whatever Netflix or Something Weird Video charges.Just For the Hell of It has been teamed up on a SWV DVD with Blast-off Girls. I never saw it as the 'duncemeister' Sager, who's still with Lewis, and 'Satan' White, whose tunes were FITTINGLY recently released with Charlie Manson tunes sung by the Beach Boys on EMI, are in this movie also. I did not want to see Sager say "duh" again and although I read White only wrote and performed the opening tune Bad Day (he should of wrote Bad Film), I don't even want the chance of seeing him throwing another baby in a garbage can, so beware..

Coventry "Just for the Hell of It" isn't exactly the cinematic masterpiece Herschell Gordon Lewis will be remembered for. Lewis made himself immortal among horror/cult cinema fanatics as "The Godfather of Gore"; a nickname he earned because he was the first one to direct horror movies where blood, guts and gore literally burst from the screen. Movies like "Blood Feast", "Two-Thousand Maniacs", "The Gore Gore Girls" and "The Gruesome Twosome" truly represent HG Lewis' repertoire and lifework, whereas "Just for the Hell of it" is merely just a rapidly produced and nonchalantly elaborated story to cash in on the contemporary popular trend of juvenile delinquency thrillers. There's no actual story and particularly the first full hour of the film feels like a compilation episode of "America's Funniest Home Videos: The Bad Kids Edition". It's basically just a series of amateurishly edited together clips showing a gang of youthful thugs pulling pranks and committing petty crimes in their area. At first their pranks are quite pitiable and laughable (wetting people with a garden hose, smearing pies in a salesgirl's face…) but they gradually turn into harsh crimes and near the end of the film they even turned to gang-rape and murder. The gang members refer to themselves as "Destruction Inc" which is quite the apt name since they surely like to break all kinds of stuff, varying from people's mailboxes, living rooms, snack bars, boats and even baby-carriages. The "plot" only just starts to unfold itself after an hour into the film, when a courageous boy stands up against the vicious gang but then gets falsely accused, threatened and targeted for vengeance. Moral of the story: look the other way when violence is being committed near you! "Just for the Hell of it" is an okay film if you're into cheap and extremely low-budgeted 60's exploitation, but it definitely contains too many overlong sequences of padding and repetitiveness. It's just plain boring to watch a bunch of people demolish all the furniture in one and the same room for five whole minutes. The acting performances are below par, as to be expected from this type of poverty row film production, but it's nevertheless quite funny how these "juvenile" delinquents are depicted by actors and actresses who're all at least in their late twenties. The gangs' last crime on the beach and particularly the denouement form the undeniable highlights of "Just for the Hell of it" because these sequences are shocking and vile, and the use of make-up effects in these scenes finally state clear that you're watching a H.G Lewis' flick! The theme song is also very exhilarating and catchy, so I'll give an extra point for that as well.

Matthew Jaworski H.G. Lewis was on quite a roll in the late 60's... In fact, he directed 11 films (!) in '67 and '68. I realize that Lewis has his share of detractors. Many consider him a no talent hack who relentlessly regurgitated disposable entertainment at a disturbingly prodigious rate during the mid-to-late 60's. They often bemoan the nailed-down camera work, wooden acting, and ridiculous situations depicted on screen. Interestingly, these are the exact elements that make Mr. Lewis's films so endearing to me...When I watch movies, I do so for two main reasons. Either I want to be entertained and amused; or I want be pulled out of my comfort zone, and placed in a mental area in which I am forced to think about and ponder various facets of life. This film entertains in a big way. In fact, most H.G. Lewis films never fail to entertain me and bring a big smile to my face...Mr. Lewis is best know as being the Godfather of Gore. Not many film-goers realize that Mr. Lewis was an incredibly versatile movie making machine; dipping into children's films, morality tales, hillbilly musical comedies, juvenile delinquent tales, nudies, roughies, and other assorted ephemera...'Just For The Hell Of It' is H.G. Lewis's juvenile delinquent masterpiece. These are some bad kids...The film starts out with a bang, and within 45 seconds a reckless groups of youths can be found laying waste to and completely trashing a house. These bad boys (and girl) are led by Ray Sager(as Dexter). The entire film is dedicated to the exploits of Dexter and company, as they terrorize a town and it's inhabitants. The pranks and mischief start out relatively harmlessly (setting newspapers on fire, dousing citizens with water, destroying laundry, trashing a restaurant), become more bizarre and off-color (putting a baby in a trash can, beating a blind man with his own cane), and of course become very malicious (gang rape and murder)...I really enjoyed this film quite a bit. With subsequent viewings, it has never ceased to put a smile on my face. I also liked that Mr. Lewis didn't try to justify or explain the actions of the rowdy youth- they did it all 'Just For The Hell Of It'.... they did it for the kicks... In fact, You should watch this highly entertaining piece of nostalgia for the same reason...

Horror Fan This film has about the naughtiest juvenile delinquents ever shown in a motion picture. They do horrific things to their poor neighborhood. They destroy property and their school, dumb paint on people, torment a blind man, attack elementary kids playing soccer, put a baby in a trash barrel and roll it away, and axe and splatter paint all over newspapers about these things. What's their excuse? "We did this just for the hell of it." This is incredibly violent, and it sure served as a lesson to me when I saw it, I totally stopped carving my name on benches, writing messages on mirrors with marker, and drag racing.