Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Lost Greg Javer/Keith Crocker Commentaries [PART TWO]

Yes, it's already time for a sequel.

I can still remember a few years back when Greg Javer aka Greg Dizawer excitedly emailed me about an Ed Wood project he was working on for Severin Films. To be honest, I didn't quite understand what the project was. I knew that it had something to do with a company restoring and rereleasing some of Ed's adult movies from the 1960s and 1970s, but beyond that, I was in the dark. Eventually, what resulted from all this was a three-disc collection called Hard Wood: The Adult Features of Ed Wood (2024).

It gives me some consolation to know that Greg was still alive when Hard Wood was released on Blu-ray. It's also nice to know that Greg lived to see Ed Wood receive an official New York State historical marker in his hometown of Poughkeepsie, NY. Greg's time on this planet was far too brief, but he managed to have a lasting impact on the field of Woodology.

And we still haven't heard the last of Greg, a year and change after his death! Recently, reader Brendon Sibley sent me some commentary tracks that Greg recorded with film archivist Keith Crocker that were intended for Hard Wood but did not make it into the released version of that set. Drawing on their vast knowledge of vintage erotica, Greg and Keith recorded their reactions to six of the Swedish Erotica loops that Eddie allegedly made in the early 1970s. What was the full extent of Ed's involvement in these silent movies? That's been a subject of debate for decades, and these commentary tracks hopefully provide some insight.

Last week, we presented Greg and Keith's thoughts on The Virgin Next Door (parts 1 and 2) and Western Lust. This week, let's enjoy their commentary tracks for Girl on a Bike, 15" Commercial, and Devil Cult. Again, I had to distort the visuals just a bit to appease the YouTube and Blogger censors, neither of whom would have allowed me to post these films as they originally appeared. You'll just have to imagine actor Keith Erickson's skin tag, among other things.

Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Lost Greg Javer/Keith Crocker Commentaries [PART ONE]

Keith and Greg talk Ed. (Header image by Brendon Sibley.)

Not long before he died, Greg Javer (aka Greg Dziawer) contributed some commentary tracks to the deluxe three-disc collection Hard Wood: The Adult Features of Ed Wood (2024) from Severin Films. Looking back, this was one of the last major Wood-related projects of Greg's too-brief life. If you purchase that set, you can hear him give his thoughts on Necromania (1971), The Only House in Town (1971), and The Young Marrieds (1972). If you're missing Greg, and I know many of you are, these tracks allow you to spend some time with him.

But these were not the only recordings Greg made for Hard Wood. He and I, for example, recorded a jovial and hopefully informative commentary for the rowdy, rural comedy Shotgun Wedding (1963), which Eddie scripted for director Boris Petroff. Unfortunately, that track got lost in the shuffle and never made it into the finished set. If you're interested in hearing it, I have made it available in a previous blog entry.

Meanwhile, teaming up with film historian Keith Crocker, Greg recorded commentary tracks for six (!) of the adult loops that Ed Wood made as part of the Swedish Erotica series in the early 1970s. These, too, were unfortunately lost in the shuffle and did not make it into Hard Wood. But fear not! Recently, reader Brendon Sibley forwarded these tracks to me and asked for me to present them on my blog. How could I resist an offer like that? 

In fact, I will devote this week and next to the lost Javer/Crocker commentaries. Three this week, three next week. Does that sound like a plan? For obvious reasons, I cannot present the loops without some visual distortion. YouTube has very little sense of humor about these things.

Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Inaugural Wood Summit by Greg Dziawer

Here's the story... of a guy named Eddie...

Late last year, I had the idea to gather some of my friends and colleagues in the world of Woodology for a discussion about Ed Wood's life and work. On Sunday, January 3, 2021, we made that idea a reality, talking for an hour and a half by Zoom. Besides myself, the panelists that afternoon included: film archivist Keith Crocker, humorist and performer Mike H, author James Pontolillo, and the founder of this blog, Joe Blevins.

Our conversation was far-ranging and touched on myriad aspects of Ed Wood's life and career, from his 1950s films to his extensive work in pornography in the 1970s. We also shared items from our personal Wood collections, including some astonishing artifacts from the past. And we discussed our own histories with Ed Wood -- what drew us to his work and why we continue to be fascinated with him today.

The entire conversation has now been uploaded to YouTube. Be sure to check out the description box beneath the video; it contains links to the panelists' numerous other projects.

I am grateful to all the panelists, who literally spanned from coast to coast. 

• Joe Blevins - coauthor of Dad Made Dirty Movies

• Keith Crocker - director of The Bloody Ape

• Greg Dziawer - co-producer and co-writer of Dames & Dreams

• Mike H - whose latest album is available on transparent blue vinyl

• James Pontolillo - author of The Unknown War of Edward D. Wood, Jr. 

Ed Wood Extra: Keith Crocker on the Ed Wood loops

At 13, Keith Crocker saw a John Holmes loop that changed his life.

NOTE: Recently, film archivist and lecturer Keith Crocker contacted me and asked if he could write a few articles for this site about the career of Edward D. Wood, Jr. Naturally, I said yes. This is the first of those articles. In it, he reflects on Ed's pornographic loops from the 1970s and how those films have affected him personally. Hope you enjoy. - J.B. 

Guest author Keith Crocker

This series is all about archaeology. As fans of Edward D. Wood, Jr., we're looking to fill in information about Eddie's so-called "missing years." Those of us in the know realize that there actually were no missing years in the man's life, just years when he was working under pseudonyms and on the fly. In fact, when Wood was in the worst stages of alcoholism in the 1970s, he was still remarkably one of the most consistently employed men working in adult publications. He brought that skill with him into the world of 8mm porn loops.

In previous articles, Joe Blevins and Greg Dziawer have gone to great lengths to prove that Ed Wood may be the man to have laid down the foundation of the pornographic loop. These loops were short adult films you could watch in the privacy of your own home or even see at an arcade featuring peep shows that you'd watch in a booth for the price of a quarter. And that means lots and lots of people over the long years have seen these films. 

After reading Joe's article about Ed Wood's involvement with the first 19 entries in the long-running Swedish Erotica series, and this claim having some validation by Conrad Brooks in Rudolph Grey's book Nightmare of Ecstasy (1992), I set about compiling as many as possible 8mm loops in which Ed may have been involved in some way or another. I released those films via Cinefear Video, a "buy demand" DVD business I've been involved with for 30 years. I was very lucky to find that the bulk of the said loops were in a collection of films I'd had in my possession since the late 2000s.

You already know where Joe, Greg, and I stand in relation to those Ed Wood loops, the consensus being that Ed not only wrote the subtitles and box cover summaries but also directed them. I've based my argument on the staging of these films. I could go so far as to say choreography, since Ed claimed to have studied under Martha Graham. Believe it or not, this odd choreography would remain a signature of these films long after Ed's involvement.

But the big question really is: what importance did these 8mm films really have? In other words, what impact did they have on the viewing public? A while back, Greg asked if I would share my experience of having seen a silent Swedish Erotica film back in 1978. I was only 13 years old then, and it was the first pornographic film I had ever seen. I will share this experience in the hopes that it will highlight just how difficult it actually was to obtain pornography back then. Furthermore, this story illustrates the long-term impact Ed Wood had on this series, even when he was no longer involved at all.

Keith Crocker's epic first film!

I've loved films all my life. In the late 1970s, a family friend gave me the long-term loan of a Super 8mm camera. This would fulfill my obsession of wanting to be a filmmaker, which I pursued vigorously. In fact, in 1978, I made my first 20-minute Super 8mm spectacle, a film called Dracula is Alive and Well and Living in Hewlett. (Hewlett was the Long Island, NY town where I grew up.) By 1978, I also had my first Super8/8mm dual projector. It was an Argus 866Z and it was a cheap, all plastic projector, affordable to just about everyone. Because I had this projector, it was not unusual that folks would find film reels in their house often belonging to grandparents and would bring them to me for screenings.

One early spring afternoon, my older brother and his friend showed up with a Super 8mm film in a bold and audaciously colored box that boasted the Swedish Erotica logo. The silent film on the inside of this box was called "Shower Beauty." The stars were John C. Holmes and Kitty Shayne. The copyright on the box claimed 1978. It was fresh product. I was 13 years old. I had seen nudie magazines, but I had never seen hardcore pornography. My eyes were about to be opened like never before. And Lord say a prayer for my future girlfriends. Life was never going to be the same.

Kitty Shayne, goddess. 

The plot synopsis on the box boasted: "John Holmes does his girlfriend a favor by mending her plumbing. And he is repaid when his cock finds heaven in her voluptuous body." Short and sweet. Far less evocative than when Ed was writing out the descriptions of the earlier Swedish Erotica shorts. Also, the action in the film tells a different story. For one thing, even though Holmes isn't in a plumber's uniform, it's evident he's there to repair something. When water from the pipe he is fixing gets him wet, he seems annoyed and looks to see what the problem is. He enters through a floor door, which takes him right into the bathroom. Miss Shayne is showering up. He watches her like he's never seen her before. Once Holmes enters the bathroom, Shayne tries to conceal herself. She is clearly not his girlfriend. As usual, Holmes charms her right into the bedroom. This, naturally, leads to the expected fucking and sucking, culminating with one of Holmes' trademark load-on-the-face shots.

Bear in mind that, throughout the whole loop, there's an odd choreography in the way the actors are staged. Not only does the film maximize the limited space in which the scene is shot, but it also adds an odd grace and greater presence to two performers who more than likely lacked grace and presence in any sort of manner. To me, at 13 years old, Kitty Shayne seemed like a Greek goddess. Her body seemed beyond attainable. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest as the film unfolded.

And what can I say about Holmes that hasn’t already been said? He was larger than life, both in endowment and in size. His hair was in a 'fro, a style he had been wearing regularly during the later half of the '70s. There was something suave about him, yet he was an everyday male. Hence, the reasons for his broad appeal. The five-inch film reel played itself out in less than 15 minutes. My innocence (phase one) was gone.

Okay, let's take a look at the landscape here. Videotape was just beginning to emerge. It was beyond affordability. I wouldn’t have my first Betamax until the summer of 1983. Though we lived on Long Island, for some odd reason my brother had picked the film up in an adult bookstore on Staten Island. What he and his friend were doing in Staten Island, I haven't a clue. Don't ask, don't tell. But here's the real interesting thing: my brother had the option of returning this film, paying only an additional $20 and getting another. And he could continue to do this. And he did, for a while anyhow. It was a form of rental. Yes, that’s right, they were renting Super 8mm porn, long before the video boom of the 1980s!

This little Swedish Erotica flick got a lot of play. I had to run it for friends continually, and it even sneaked into some late night projection for my brother's girlfriends. (I came from a big family of six children, three brothers and two sisters.) I remember the girlfriends laughing and covering their eyes during specific scenes, all while the underage projectionist continued to run the film. Yes, this would go over like a lead balloon in today's environment. I'm thankful I grew up in the '70s, dysfunction be damned.

The chicks were a lot cooler back then, too. Some of the old hippie nonsense was still kicking around. In 1979, I got my first tongue kiss from a topless dancer, and my whole body tingled. By 1981, I had my first girlfriend and I could play out what I learned from that Super 8mm film in real time. My apologies for being so open. I'm older and nostalgic, but I also really believe in painting a vivid portrait so you can see and feel what I went through at the time. If I gave you anything less, I'd be cheating you.

The legendary John Holmes

So what does all of this have to do with Ed Wood? Without Wood’s involvement with Swedish Erotica, we would never have had the style that we associate with California-shot porn. New York porn in 1973 was nothing like this. It was just grimy and cheap—shot in one room and usually from one camera angle. Wood was given the opportunity to up the artfulness, and in the first 19 Swedish Erotica loops, he did just that. His impact on the loop series was so strong that the franchise was unable to turn away from the template he had laid down. In those early films, Wood experimented with different genres, including a Western scenario and a supernatural scenario. He also opened up the scope of the common loop, doing outdoor shooting, utilizing gorgeous houses and locations, and trying even to give you narrative in the short time that the loop allowed. This film, "Shower Beauty," was one of Ed’s cinematic grandchildren. And it starred his cinematic son John Holmes. Holmes' career was in many ways founded by Wood. Six degrees of separation but all roads do indeed lead back to Rome.

Within about eight months of my first seeing this loop, Ed Wood, Jr. would die on December 10, 1978. I remember hearing of his passing. I knew who he was. Anyone who owned Heroes of the Horrors, a 1975 book by Calvin Thomas Beck, knew who Wood was because the Bela Lugosi chapter ended with a reference to Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) being Bela Lugosi's final film. I had yet to see a Wood film, though. I wouldn’t have that opportunity until I had a video machine and I could rent Plan 9, Bride of the Monster (1955), and Glen or Glenda (1953).

In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t imagine that Ed Wood had any type of involvement in that dirty little movie that ran through my projector. Of interest, I wouldn't even attempt to suggest Wood had a hand in the loop I had seen. I know of no 8mm version, and I know of no subtitles being available for this film. (Greg Dziawer, please correct me if I'm wrong.) Yet Eddie's influence is so clearly there, and for this to have been my first viewing of a pornographic film, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Some things are just meant to happen, I guess.

Anyhow, I do hope this painted a portrait of what it was like accessing pornography long before the internet. Next time I contribute, I'll be discussing my VHS print of Glen or Glenda under the title of I Led Two Lives. I'll be comparing it to the existing DVD of Glen or Glenda and looking for any differences print-wise. Archaeologists never give up!

Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Woodologist Odyssey, Part 2 by Greg Dziawer

Buried under that film is Keith Crocker, presumably.

There are casual Ed Wood fans, and then there are Woodologists, the true obsessives for whom an annual Halloween screening of Plan 9 from Outer Space simply will not suffice. But who are these strange people? Well, to reiterate what I said when I last visited this topic, a true Woodologist must possess the following traits:

• An abiding interest in Ed Wood, both the man and his work
• A strong desire to uncover previously unknown information about Ed
• (most critically) The willingness to act on that desire

Rare birds, these Woodologists, and few are more deserving of the title than cult cinema auteur, film professor and 'zine publisher Keith Crocker. A veritable Ed-vangelist, Keith takes Ed directly to the people, as a prolific community arts lecturer and presenter. And through his boutique label Cinefear, Keith has released two DVDs of Ed Wood's (alleged) 1970s pornographic loops, transferring these rare films from his own 8mm originals.

Recently, I sent Keith a modest questionnaire about his experiences as a Woodologist, and his answers were entertaining, enlightening, and occasionally startling. 

10 Questions With Keith Crocker

1. Have you ever worn an angora sweater? 

Keith Crocker

No, I have never worn an angora sweater. Not that per se I wouldn't wear an angora sweater, but my wife is allergic to angora. No joke, she breaks out just being near to it. And I doubt she's going to start allergy shots all over again if suddenly I decide to start sporting Ed Wood fashion. I'll leave well enough alone. 

2. You found loops likely involving Ed Wood in your basement, and ultimately committed to releasing two pioneering discs of these short pornographic films on your Cinefear disc label—now operating in its 29th year, one of the few surviving cult video boutique labels. How did you become so sure of Ed's involvement? 

Interesting story regarding how I ended up with so-called Ed Wood loops. The cameraman I used when I shot my film Blitzkrieg: Escape From Stalag 69 (2008) had a box of old porn loops in his crawlspace. He knew I was transferring old 8mm loops and selling them via Cinefear Video. So he offered me this collection and I took it, but other than transferring the titles that featured porn star John Holmes, I put the rest away and never really bothered to watch them.  

Flash forward at least ten years. I read Joe Blevins' article at Dead 2 Rights regarding Wood's involvement in the first 19 Swedish Erotica loops. When he listed the titles, it was like a lightning bolt had struck me. I had seen those titles; I even remembered the box art, but where and when?! Boom, I ran downstairs into the basement and there they were. The titles were in the collection I received from my cameraman. And a few of them had already been transferred for a John Holmes compilation I was offering at the time. 

Regarding how I was confident of Ed's involvement, it's actually very simple. The way those loops were staged is just about identical to the staging of the Ed Wood directed TV spots of 1949. At the point that I realized I had these loops, I had also recently seen his TV commercials. With the addition of hardcore sex, these loops were his commercials only with nude people. So it was the staging that really clued me in. Otherwise, everything Joe said in that blog was dead on, from props to wardrobe and of course the use of the "Owl Eyes" wall decor from Necromania (1971).  

Honestly, it was all laid out to see in one neat package consisting of the first 19 Swedish Erotica's, but certainly Ed didn't stop there. I believe he carried on with them a tad longer before launching off into other series such as John's Girls and Garter Girls.  

3. And what do you infer was his level of involvement? 

There is no question in my mind that he is the director/writer of these loops. How much writing actually occurred is in question. He may have made the scenes up as the loops went along, but he certainly wrote the subtitles and box summaries. Because he didn't have to worry about special effects or any of the "bells and whistles" associated with the more mainstream cinema he was associated with, a creativity came out of him and he took time to craft some fine 8mm loops.  

In fact, it's my belief that he actually shaped this particular genre of filmmaking. Prior to his involvement, there were no rules for what a loop was to show other than, of course, hardcore penetration. Wood took the time to try and bring a lyricism to these films. They featured dissolves, fades, and even split screen. In some cases they involved loving couples. In others there was rape, which quickly turned over to pleasure as so many of these sexual fantasies do in this type of film. Some deal with the supernatural.  

But they are all staged or shot in such a similar manner as to attest to the work of one man. That man being Ed Wood. In fact I'll go on record to say that the most original material Ed Wood ever offered us was those loops and, of course, Glen or Glenda (1953). Wood was the first example of a "fanboy" filmmaker. His horror films offer little in the way of originality; they are loaded with tropes from older films. While they do reflect the times they were made in, as a whole they regurgitate horror film rhetoric. However with the porn loops, no rhetoric was in place. Wood helped create a rhetoric that laid down an industry standard that many tried to imitate.  

4. Why Ed Wood? 

One of Ed's novels.

Wood, all his life, was grappling with sexual identity issues. Hence, so much of his imagery was steeped in fetish. In some way shape or form Wood was screaming out his confusion and obsession. Certainly his alcoholism did not help his career, but it isn't the sole reason Ed ended up working in pornography. The porn novels he wrote, and later the loops he worked on also provided an outlet for his obsessive sexual compulsions.  

I have no doubt that he felt he should have been in a better place as far as filmmaking is concerned, and if he could have managed his alcoholism, he might very well have achieved a better stardom. But his sexual compulsions are just as much of an example of addiction as was alcoholism. As we very well know, most folks in the porn business are addicted, to something: sex, booze, drugs, money. You already had Ed as a centerpiece of addiction, so the business he was in certainly suited his current situation.  

Yet, because Ed thrived in this type of environment, he had a far easier time working it rather than running around trying to find investors for his own films. That was fine when he was younger; as he got older it was easier to just be employed instead of creating your own employment. [Porn publisher] Bernie Bloom more than likely realized he had one of the best workers he ever had in Wood. Wood was a willing conscript. He wasn't a victim per se. 

5. If there is one mystery about Ed or his work that you would love to solve, what is it? 

Like all of us following the later career of Ed Wood, I want one of the people involved in the production of these loops to step forward and confirm 100% their memories of having worked with him on these films. A nice still photo of Wood on set directing would be fantastic! I'm confident that those working on these loops at that time had no clue just who the hell he was. Other writers working for Bloom didn't know who he was, and if they did, they felt he was delusional in his tales of having worked with Bela Lugosi. Certainly, if the late John Holmes was still alive, he'd be able to flat confirm what we all think we know. Certainly some of the actresses from those loops are still with us. The talent behind the camera, not so much. 

We really need closure on this. Some people love a mystery. These are the same type of people who never really want to know who Jack the Ripper was. Not me, I don't like open ends. 

6. You provided me the privilege of presenting what is likely Ed's last feature as writer/director, The Young Marrieds, from an original 16mm print, for a private audience in the late summer of 2017. You present and as a film professor teach Ed yourself. How do audiences generally react?

The group you presented to was a private film class that I teach out of my house. It's an advanced course on the history of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. I gave the class the option of seeing an Ed Wood adult motion picture and those who wished to see that side of Ed Wood's work came to attend. Historically, it fascinated them. In other ways, the film was far more prehistoric than his so-called "so bad they are good" films from the '50s. It was certainly less sophisticated than the loop work that was to follow.  

I offer a seminar on Ed Wood that questions the concept that he was "one of the world's worst filmmakers." He certainly wasn't. When I present that seminar at, say, a library or community center, I explain about his later career, but other than a clip from Orgy of the Dead (1965) I can't really illustrate more than that. I gave the presentation at a prestigious art cinema a few years back and I was able to show more salacious clips without going into hardcore. I also have a wealth of memorabilia that I use for examples.  

Audience attendance and reaction to these Wood seminars have been very good. I honestly believe more people leave respecting the man far more than when they first arrive. His story is fascinating, and it makes you wonder about so many other filmmakers whose career took a similar path but yet they fell between the cracks and we never really get a chance to appreciate their work. I look at all of this as archaeology. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archaeologist. Now I am one. 

7. Sexploitation and vintage hardcore intersect with cheap gore films and low-to-no-budget sleaze. Why? 

Sexploitation, gory horror films, and ultimately hardcore porn were the last taboos to be broken. They were the last holdouts of the old Hayes Code, which at one time forced filmmakers to be more creative and actually make good films. That said, the later era filmmakers that broke these taboos in the early '60s tended to be the same filmmakers who got into hardcore porn in the later era of the '60s and '70s. Again Wood being one such example. Others being Dave Friedman and the Findlays and Joe Sarno.  

When the fanboys discovered their favorite trash film directors also did porn under pseudonyms, they ran out and tried to acquire the porn flicks because they wanted to see how their gore and sleaze heroes handled the XXX material. This was mostly during the early days of video when porn was king and tons of it was released to fill video store shelves.  

The first ever hardcore 8mm loop I had seen was a Swedish Erotica with John Holmes and Nanette Peters called "Lustful Shower" (SE #28). This had to be around 1978 or '79. I was the only kid on the block to have a 8mm projector, so people brought these types of films to me to see them projected. I was most likely 13 or 14 at the time, and that little loop had a profound effect on me. 

Cover for a Swedish Erotica loop.

At around the same time I was seeing films like Count Dracula and His Vampire Brides (aka The Satanic Rites of Dracula, 1973) in the theater, and that film also had nudity and eroticism. So somehow the two genres started to crossbreed. Porn and horror with the new gods of that decade. HBO and video brought it all into our homes in the early '80s. Both horror and sex films were thought of as easy genres to make and actually draw an income from. Folks from the horror and sexploitation world went hardcore when that was the new trend, and then later it was visa versa when horror went hot on video. 

8. Being your friend, I am admittedly biased, considering you Long Island's premier schlock-teur. But The Bloody Ape and the sadly little-known Valley Stream Slut were released a while back. Beyond Wood, what's next? 

DVD of The Bloody Ape.

Haaa! Greg, you make it sound so bleak. LOL. Actually I've been quite busy. For the past six plus years, I've been working on a documentary regarding Long Island grind houses. I've been interviewing projectionists who worked them, plus I have celebrity interviews with personalities such as Carter Stevens, Joel M. Reed, Jamie Gillis, and Gino Colbert.  

Bloody Ape was shot in 1993 but released on video in 1997. In 2009 it came out on a deluxe DVD. In between those years I made Blitzkrieg: Escape From Stalag 69, a WWII-based exploitation title that had theatrical play in 2008. It also had a deluxe DVD release in 2009. In fact both Ape and Blitz are slated for DVD re-release this spring. They are currently available from Wildeye Releasing, a company I help found.  

Now, of interest to Ed Wood fans, Conrad Brooks almost had a small part in Blitzkrieg. My co-creator Keith Marurro wanted to have a scene involving Winston Churchill working on a painting while thinking over military strategy. We were going to use Brooks as Churchill and have someone else dub over the thought narrative. I ended up nixing the idea because I didn't want to pay Brooks, who I thought was a lousy actor. In fact, I knew Brooks because my cameraman was also the coordinator of the Stoneybrook Icon festival held yearly on Long Island. Brooks and I were both guests there. Brooks was loud and obnoxious. He did have some great funny stories, but his whole gig was based on his threadbare connection to Ed Wood. On top of that he had done some lousy shot-on-video garbage, and in all honesty his name on a video insured that it was going to be crap. Hence why I didn't want his name on Blitzkrieg.  

In 2010 I shot promotional trailers for two upcoming films I hope to make: Three Slices of Delirium and Rasputin on Campus. In 2014, I did a mock trailer with my wife for a festival held in Boston. It's called The Librarian and it was actually very much inspired by Ed Wood's Night of the Ghouls (1959), which is actually my favorite Ed Wood horror film. The trailer advertises a fictitious film that's a lot like Night of the Ghouls only if it had starred The Marx Brothers.  

Now, regarding The Valley Stream Slut (1992). When the then-functioning Cinefear crew got out of college, we were all desperate for work. At the time, porn films were dying because the fear of AIDS had taken all the fun out of the films. The only porn that had fire was the amateur material. Made by couples and swingers, the sex in those videos was far more inventive than the sterile porn being perpetrated by the industry. So we decided to make an adult flick using amateur stars.  

Of interest, this video was supposed to have been videotaped by the legendary Joe Marzano, director of Venus in Furs and Cool It Baby (both 1967). Marzano wanted to be paid upfront instead of waiting for us to sell the project. This pissed me off and I kicked him off the film. In the long run, he was right. Also in the long run, his being involved in this would have made no difference for us, so we were right as well for kicking him out. Hence we broke even.  

Anyhow, this video, which was supposed to be the story of an oversexed widow and her husband who is now a ghost, had strong influence from Wood as well. By the time I got the project shot, some cast members got cold feet and pulled out. I drastically had to cut the video down. We sold the finished result to a company that specialized in amateur porn. In the short run, we made shit money. I was so pissed I tried selling it under a different title to another distribution company but I got caught in the process. If it looks like I have no respect for adult film distributors you're right, I don't. People in that industry are thieves, so I have no regrets about trying to hoodwink them. I just wish I had done it better and pulled it off. In the long run I made much more on that video selling it off my website. So good for me. LOL. 

9. The Wood loops were transferred from 8mm originals from your personal collection. Tell us about the process. 

I basically use what was once described as a "cinechain" process. Early on, my former cameraman used to do the transfers for me, and those were done through projecting the image and recording it with a video camera. For the past six plus years, I've been doing all the transfers with a similar process except that I record the image with my digital camera, the same camera I used to shoot Blitzkrieg, and I take the image directly into my computer, where I can do some editing and color correction if needed. I'm not looking to do too much clean up. I want the purchaser to feel like they are watching the loop like it was being projected in their own house. It may sound odd, but the most intimate experience is seeing it like it was meant to be seen, projected! 

Two discs from Cinefear.

  

10. Tell us about the 8mm Wood homage you are shooting this summer. 

Haaa! If my memory serves me right, a devious gentleman by the name of Greg Javer actually came up with the idea upon seeing my hot tub. Since many of the Wood loops involve pools or baths it was suggested I should shoot a tribute to Wood's loop work utilizing my hot tub. LOL. The fact that I have four rolls of sound super 8mm cartridges chillin' in my refrigerator made this all seem like a must do!  

Bear in mind that loops were shot on 16mm film, and while I do have a 16mm camera, truth be told shooting on 16 would be a waste. Now of course one would ask at this point, "What will you do with a super 8mm adult film made in the Ed Wood style?" Well, both Greg Javer and myself are hoping to make a documentary on the later adult film world of Ed Wood, and if we do make this documentary, this loop would be a fun little supplement to go with it. Yes, the concept is tacky but who cares? When it all goes down, the reader of this interview will wish he or she was myself and Greg. LOL.  

You know, of course, what the biggest headache will be in making this loop? Finding a dude like John Holmes and a gal like Barbara Barton. If any of the readers here feel they can fill these requirements certainly touch base with Greg or myself! LOL! 

The infamous hot tub.

Bonus Question: Glen or Glenda? I know you have an early VHS copy with the title I Led Two Lives on the cover. 

Ahhh, the old Video Dimensions tape I have of Glen or Glenda actually does bear the credit of I Led Two Lives. Now, I haven't studied this version yet, so I can't say if it contains any different footage, but it does contain the alternate title. In answer to my thoughts on this film itself, all I can say is it was perhaps his most personal film. It's not per se his best film, but it is so personal and about as up close to Ed Wood as anyone was ever going to get. It's an essential watch if you want to ascertain the man and not just know him for his horror/sci-fi output. Glen or Glenda is the real deal. 

***

POSTSCRIPT: I recollect discussing the loop homage differently. Keith mentioned shooting a vintage Wood-style loop on actual film in his hot tub, and I offered that it could include subtitles all actually penned by Ed, culled from the vast family of loops. Moot points, in the end. Some of our other favorite set decorations will be on hand! 

Screening The Young Marrieds with Keith's film class was one of the highlights of my Wood obsession. And we'll await Keith's dissection of that old VHS tape, a surviving print under that title a true rarity. Finally, it's worth noting that the Swedish Erotica loop "Lustful Shower" recollected by Keith featured a box cover summary that may have been written by Ed and subtitles that undoubtedly were. 

Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Wood Dziawer Odyssey, Part Seven by Greg Dziawer

Greg Dziawer's personal copy of The Young Marrieds.

Where's Ed Wood in this thing?

Time flies. Not the most original sentiment, perhaps, but undoubtedly a truism if one lives long enough. I'll be turning 50 in less than three weeks. If I survive just half a decade more, I'll have outlived Edward D. Wood, Jr., the subject of this series. My AARP card even came in the mail last week. I've arrived!

Truthfully, the realization that I'm now over the hump, moving down the other side of the proverbial hill, has increasingly occupied my thoughts in recent years. For a long time, I've found Maslow's hierarchy of needs a viable framework. And although I've long understood—or at least had my own interpretation of—self-actualization, it's only recently that I've come to feel legacy needs. For me, that has taken the shape of writing these articles about Ed Wood over the past two and a half years. Through them, I've endeavored to amplify and extend Ed's legacy. I even crafted my own three-tiered mission statement a few years back. 

• Recognize Ed as an outsider artist.

• Index Ed fully. And, no, that's not impossible.

• Access Ed's work. Clamor for it. It won't rediscover itself.

Last May, thanks to the immense generosity of Vinegar Syndrome co-founder Joe Rubin, I was lucky enough to get my hands on an actual 16mm print of Ed's last-known feature, The Young Marrieds. (The details of obtaining this rare print are another story.) A copy of this 1972 porno film had been discovered more than a decade earlier and identified, perhaps for the first time, as Ed Wood's work by my good friend, self-styled porn archaeologist Dimitrios Otis. Since that watershed moment in Woodology, more prints have emerged—I know of at least six in existence—and The Young Marrieds has been released multiple times on DVD. It can even be streamed over the internet.

Keith Crocker at home.

Soon after getting my print of The Young Marrieds, I e-mailed another good friend, Long Island cult film schlock-teur Keith Crocker, the demented genius behind The Bloody Ape and Blitzkrieg: Escape from Stalag 69, to tell him of my good fortune. Keith graciously offered to host a private screening of the print and invite a small audience. He also proposed that we introduce the film and follow it with a Q&A. I was, naturally, tickled pink. 

We both had a busy summer, but finally the day came. On the last Saturday in August, I hopped in my car and put the big plastic canister containing The Young Marrieds on the back seat and hit the road for Long Island. The guests would be arriving around 7pm, Keith told me, and we planned to eat first and have a few drinks before retiring to the screening room. I live in Northeast Pennsylvania, and the drive took considerably longer than I expected, especially once I crossed the George Washington Bridge. There was a lot more traffic than one would expect for a Saturday afternoon. To make matters worse, the GPS kept recalculating my route owing to accidents. 

But I finally arrived at Keith's place, where my wonderful host and his wife Christina cooked a too-late lunch on the grill. Keith and I then went to work cleaning the print. In one of those "duh!" moments that seem to become more frequent as I get older, I had previously neglected to mention that my copy of film was on a core, not on reels that could be threaded into a projector.

Time now started proving tight as Keith cleaned the film, spliced it, and wound it onto two reels. The hand-lettered leader was curiously dated 1981, the same year The Young Marrieds was first released on videotape in the UK, sans any attribution to Ed Wood. Amid a bit of confusion and some related profanity, we ended up winding the film back and forth a few times, the clock ticking, until we got it right. With no time to spare, we finished just as the first guest arrived at Keith's place.

A copy of The Young Marrieds.

In all, we had a crowd of eight people, including a few students from Keith's film class, a fun and smart bunch who knew their exploitation films well. None, though, had ever seen The Young Marrieds. We ate, talked, and drank before we finally retired to the screening room, where Keith had placed several exhibits, including some 8mm Swedish Erotica films now attributed to Ed Wood and some books and magazines related to Ed.

Among the paperbacks was the 1971 sex education manual The Young Marrieds by Benjamin Blatkin. Billed as "a photographic study of the marital habits of the younger generation," this book was published by Pendulum and carried the company's Atlanta address inside. Although this volume was not actually written by Ed Wood, its orbital proximity to Ed's career and the fact that it shares a title with one of his movies make it an interesting related artifact nevertheless. I'd brought along one of my two copies to give Keith as a gift. But since he already owned it, Keith suggested we give the extra copy away as a prize. Together, he and I agreed on a suitable trivia question to determine who would win the book: What does the sign outside the strip club say? 

As Keith began his introduction to the screening, I was feeling very relaxed and comfortable. I was a few drinks in by that point, and there was a congenial atmosphere with good company as we all prepared to watch an early '70s pornographic film. This wasn't my first rodeo, so to speak. In my high school days, my friends and I would occasionally cut class to visit a small local porno theater. We got a kick out of watching the old guys jerking off in there.

That said, it had been 30 years since I'd watched a porn film with a group this large. More importantly, I was about to screen The Young Marrieds theatrically with an audience, an extremely rare occurrence these days. Keith and I introduced the film, then fielded questions. The audience proved to be a highly engaged bunch with plenty of insights, opinions, and inquiries. As the movie began and I settled down in the back of the screening room, I was a bit surprised to realize that our intro had taken a full half hour.

See no evil? A small crowd, including Greg Dziawer (center), in the screening room of Keith Crocker.

The audience laughed raucously and commented out loud throughout The Young Marrieds. Afterward, Keith led a follow-up discussion lasting well over an hour, far longer than the film itself. We laughed again, noting that the movie's protagonist Ben always gets the primo parking spot right outside the strip club he frequents. It was observed—and not for the first time—that Ben's climactic moment of decision in the film evokes a Twilight Zone-like turnabout.

We also talked about the numerous set decorations shared by The Young Marrieds with 8mm porn loops from the same era. While discussing the loops, I made a straight-faced reference to their dreamlike quality, again comparing these short pornographic films to the works of experimental directors like Stan Brakhage and Maya Deren.

And, yes, one lucky winner went home with a paperback copy of The Young Marrieds. The closest answer was: "Something about a computer." Fairly astute, considering how quickly that sign flashes by.

Looking back on this wonderful evening, it was one of the most memorable experiences I've had in the last year. Or any year. Enjoying Ed's work with a like-minded crowd will validate your obsession, believe me. And if you know a like-minded crowd who would like an Ed-perience of this sort, let me know. This host comes free and works best with complimentary drinks.

BONUS: Some images from this event have been posted to the Ed Wood Wednesdays Tumblr. Enjoy.