rdoyle29 A young couple go to a remote cabin and the husband is immediately killed by a mysterious figure with an axe. The wife runs into the woods and encounters Odis Pickett, the patriarch of a white trash clan living deep in the woods. He takes her in, but it becomes clear that he has no intention of letting her leave. Meanwhile, the axe wielding stranger starts picking off members of his family. This regional curiosity is from Texas exploitation exploitation maven S.F. Brownrigg, best known for "Don't Look in the Basement". Like that film, this is a grungy, downbeat little film that, while not as good, is a great example of low budget regional horror of the period. Pickett is played by Gene Ross, who's also in "Basement". He is a decent, creepy actor, who I quite like.

capkronos In 1956, Peter Graves starred in a swampland drama called BAYOU, which ended up tanking in theaters... that is until 1961 when M.A. Ripps got his hands on it and then re-released it under the new title POOR WHITE TRASH in 1961. What's in a title? A lot it seems, as the new moniker turned what was a bomb into a moneymaking workhorse that played Southern drive-ins for years as a second feature. Nearly two decades later the same marketing technique was applied to S.F. Brownrigg's SCUM OF THE EARTH. While "Scum" is a great title on its own, it was already used for a 1963 Herschell Gordon Lewis flick about a nudie photography racket and didn't quite pack 'em in on that name alone. To boost ticket sales for the reissue (and perhaps trick people into either watching it a second time or assuming it was a follow-up to the first), it was given the new title "Poor White Trash Part II." The film also retained that same title when it finally appeared on VHS and is pretty much solely known under the "Trash" title these days.Soon after arriving at her vacation cabin, newlywed Helen Fraser (Norma Moore) finds her husband Paul (Joel Colodner) dead with an axe buried in his chest. Someone has also stolen their car keys so she's forced to flee into the woods. The first person she comes across is slovenly drunk Odis Pickett (Gene Ross), who claims he doesn't know anything about the murder and puts her mind at ease by informing her "I ain't killed nobody... lately." Having no other choice, Helen follows Odis back to his shack to call the police. When she gets there, she meets the rest of the Pickett clan: Odis' very pregnant wife Emmy (Ann Stafford), his hateful / slutty daughter Sarah (Camilla Carr) and his incredibly dumb son Bo (Charlie Dell), who talks kind of like Forrest Gump. Tensions are already high in the family for a variety of reasons and things get even worse when they discover the same psycho who killed Paul is lurking around outside.This has all of the necessary ingredients for a good hillbilly horror flick: grubby rednecks in overalls spouting terrible grammar ("Looky here what I done brung home for supper!"), filthy living conditions, incest, moonshine drunk directly from mason jars, rape, possum for din din and a series of bloody murders including a neck pierced on an iron fence, a strangulation with barbed wire and a gunshot to the eyeball. If the director has one notable strength compared to his contemporaries, it's the ability to get good performances from his actors. He did it with his previous film DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT (1973) and he's done it again here with a solid group of performers all well-cast in their roles. But what really puts this a notch above similar efforts is the low key and somewhat eerie backwoods atmosphere (achieved in part to the no budget minimalism and lack of location change) and the attention paid to characters. Quite a tasteless and tactless group we have here!The Odis character is an immensely unlikable brute who guzzles 'shine the entire time and constantly berates his kids and poor knocked-up wife; justifying his eventual rape of Helen by telling his old lady that he "don't want to poke an old blowed-up balloon like you." I would call the daughter character a 5 dollar whore, but instead she's more of a 1 dollar whore who spreads her legs for all the local guys for pocket change so she can buy things like lipstick and glamour magazines. However, she's tight enough with her pa to give it to him for free! The son is a slow-speaking half-wit who talks like Forrest Gump and mostly elicits feelings of annoyance from the entire family. The big surprise is the unknown Stafford as Emmy the wife; a dumb but good-hearted door mat who was traded off to Odis by her own father to relieve a debt and who eventually becomes a bit motherly toward Norma. Stafford provides a perfect counter-balance to the over-the-top antics of the rest of the family and creates a surprisingly warm character.On the down side, there's next to no plot, the music score is a little inappropriate and annoying at times and the surprise twist at the end is pretty ludicrous, but it's all entertaining enough and has a great cheap regional feel to it that Hollywood films frequently try and normally fail to capture.

Shaza123 Scum of the Earth. What a title! I love it when movies are so blunt in their names, so eye catching. You almost want to rent them based on the title alone. Movies like I Spit on Your Grave and Cannibal Holocaust share a similar feeling of disgust when you first hear them. It's enough to blindly rent them, hoping the titles are an indicator on how good the movie is, and simply not false advertisement (cough, Zebub, cough).Scum of the Earth is not misleading. The title actually sets the tone nicely. Of course there is an alternative title to this flick; Poor White Trash 2. I personally prefer Scum of the Earth, I feel Poor White Trash really doesn't do this movie justice as a title. It's not your average backwoods hillbilly horror movie, this is something far more gritty and disturbing. This is some slimy and uncomfortable cinema. Something that might make you feel the need for a shower afterwards. This is Scum of the Earth.The plot is fairly basic. Helen and Paul have just gotten married, and are celebrating their honeymoon in a secluded cabin in the peaceful tranquility of a forest somewhere in the south. An unknown assailant brutally murders Paul with an ax, causing his wife to run away, fearful and grief stricken, into the dark forest. She soon bumps into Odis Pickett, a frightful man with a frightful accent, and after some pleading for help, accepts to return with him to his house to use his phone. Back at his home, she meets his wife, Emmy, his daughter, Sarah, and his son, Bo. It soon becomes obvious that Odis has no phone. In fact, the family appear to be living in poverty. Helen doesn't trust him, but its dark outside now, and the killer is still on the loose. She has no choice but to stay with them for the night. And it's going to be a long night.Scum of the Earth is directed by S.F. Brownrigg, the man who did Don't Look in the Basement. Only, Scum of the Earth is a very different type of movie. A simpler kind. Scum of the earth sets out to show just how disgusting some people in this world can be. It's covered with grit and sleaziness, a real uncomfortable sitting. I was equally repulsed and fascinated all throughout. The award for the most despicable person in the movie goes to Odis, played by Gene Ross whose whole manner just makes you want to cringe. Even on our first meeting of the guy, he comes across as so sleazy, it's unfortunate that our heroine was in such a dire situation she had no choice but to trust him. I think it paints a picture what type of person Odis is, when he introduces his pregnant wife as "the skinny one with the big belly". He is offensive in more ways than one, especially in his treatment to his children and his wife. People like Odis make me sad for humanity. As memorable as Odis is, there is a female performance that really stood out for me. Surprisingly, it wasn't from our protagonist, Helen, but from Emmy, played by Ann Stafford. I have never wanted to hug a character so badly. Emmy is the type of person that reminds us that there are good people in the world. In a movie filled with scum, Emmy stands out as the bright sunflower. She brings hope that there is good in the world. What a wonderful performance. This movie does drag in some scenes, and some of the acting was a little over the top (looking at you, Helen). I even remember a scene when a character goes out into the woods when it's meant to be the heart of night, only it's as bright as daylight. But I think my biggest complaint was the score. Wow, was that a misplaced soundtrack. But nonetheless, despite its flaws, this was a good movie. For a low budget B movie, it just oozes with atmosphere. And of course, being a backwoods exploitation flick, you can expect lots of violent scenes, including rape and incest. It's one hell of an underrated gem and one that I highly recommend those who like grind house flicks and backwoods horror. Thanks for reading.

Casey-52 If anyone knows me, they know that I am a huge fan of the low-budget chiller "Don't Look in the Basement!", a highly underrated early 70s classic. My review for that film is one of the few positive reviews for it, read it and you'll see why. I researched extensively the works of director S.F. Brownrigg and especially the work of his amazingly talented cast. I discovered that Brownrigg used many of the same cast members in his other movies, so I jumped at the chance to find this film and several others.While "Scum of the Earth" does not in any way challenge "Basement!" scare-wise, it does feature excellent acting, sleazy atmosphere, and a grat storyline with many surprises. It was originally released in 1974, then re-titled in 1976 as "Poor White Trash II" and made more money than when it was originally released! Such a shame it has been neglected for such a long time because of its title.Camilla Carr, Gene Ross, and Hugh Feagin return from "Basement!" and all are excellent; Feagin is a lot better than his Sgt. Jaffee in the previous film. Carr easily steals the show; she was great as Harryette, the baby-obsessed murderess in "Basement!" and is better here as the white trash daughter of Gene Ross' drunk farmer. Ross was superb as Judge Cameron in "Basement!" and is just as good here. Brownrigg certainly knows how to build atmosphere with his low-budget potboilers. "Basement!" has a claustrophobic atmosphere with an overlying aura of madness; "Scum" has an isolated atmosphere with an overlying aura of filth. The setting is inside Texas backwoods and is just filthy; every scene in the house hints at humidity, sloth, and bad smells.Added to Brownrigg's familiar cast are Norma Moore as the heroine in peril, Ann Stafford as Emmy, Ross' abused wife, and Charlie Dell as Bo, the idiot son of the family. Well, Moore isn't any Rosie Holotik, but does well in her earlier scenes, only to slide into overacting heaven by the end of the film. Stafford is superb, the ultimate burdened Southern wife! Dell does well, too, bringing much sympathy from the audience for his sorry state, hated by his father and sister and pitied by his mother. Another note: Brownrigg uses some music from "Basement!" and the theme song, "Death is a Final Affair", is excellent! Ultimately, "Scum of the Earth" is a movie that must be seen to be appreciated. No review can do it justice, just as no review can do "Don't Look in the Basement!" justice. You can only find it under the false title of "Poor White Trash Part II", but I hope that someone re-releases this on video in a clean print with the original title.