Sweet Kill

Last updated
Sweet Kill
Sweet Kill.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Curtis Hanson
Written byCurtis Hanson
Produced byTamara Asseyev
Starring Tab Hunter
Cinematography Daniel Lacambre
Edited byGretel Ehrlich
Music by Charles Bernstein
Production
companies
Curtis Lee Hanson
Tamaroc Productions [1]
Distributed by New World Pictures
Release date
  • January 1973 (1973-01)(US)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$110,000 [2] or $130,000 [3]

Sweet Kill (also known as A Kiss from Eddie and The Arousers) is a 1973 B-movie written and directed by future Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson. The film was Hanson's directorial debut and was executive-produced by Roger Corman. It stars 1950s heartthrob Tab Hunter and was the last film of actress Isabel Jewell. [4] [5]

Contents

Sweet Kill poster when re-released as The Arousers Arousers.jpg
Sweet Kill poster when re-released as The Arousers

Plot

Eddie Collins finds that he is unable to perform sexually with women because of repressed memories of his mother. After accidentally killing a woman while trying to sleep with her, he finds that he is able to get aroused by the dead body. This leads him into a chain of luring women into bed in order to kill them for sexual gratification.

Main cast

ActorRole
Tab Hunter Eddie Collins
Cherie LatimerLauren
Nadyne TurneyBarbara
Isabel Jewell Mrs. Cole
Linda LeiderVickie
Roberta Collins Call Girl
John Aprea Richard
Rory Guy Henry
John Pearce Mr. Howard

Production

Development

Curtis Hanson got to know Roger Corman while doing re-writes on The Dunwich Horror (1970), which Corman had helped finance. Corman had a track record of giving opportunities to first time directors and was setting up his own distribution company, New World Pictures. When Dunwhich Horror was finished, Hanson told Corman he wanted to direct a film he had written; Corman said he would be interested in financing a motorcycle movie, a women in prison movie or a nurses movie. Hanson was unenthusiastic, so Corman then said he might also be interested in a modern horror film along the lines of Psycho (1960). [2] [3]

Hanson wrote the script originally with the killer as a female. Corman liked it but felt it was "a little too different" for the killer to be female so asked she be turned male. [6] [7]

The producer, Tamara Asseyev, was Corman's former assistant. [8]

According to Hanson, the film cost $130,000 and Corman was supposed to put up two-thirds of the money. A couple of weeks before filming started Hanson says Corman "reneged on the deal and said he would only put up one-third of the money. My producing partner and I had to raise the other two-thirds. To show how foolhardy I was, I went to my parents and persuaded them to put a mortgage on their home in order to finance this film." [3]

In November 1970, Tab Hunter signed to make the film. Isabelle Jewel, Cherie Latimer and Rita Murrie were also cast. At this stage the film was called A Kiss for Eddie. [9] [10]

Shooting

Filming took place in 1971. The apartment where Tab Hunter's character lived in Venice was owned by Hanson's grandmother. [2]

Reshoots

Hanson says when he showed the film to Corman "he said it needed more tits in it... It was my first nightmare post-production experience." [3]

Hanson says "It was recut to some degree and more bare breasts were put into it. It was the first time I learned the lesson that I had the opportunity to learn multiple times after that which is: If you're going to risk being wrong, it's better to be wrong with your own mistakes than with somebody else's. " [7]

"It was very low-budget and it was a really interesting script", said Hunter. "But, of course, Roger Corman had to put his own little tweaks into it (laughter). He had his own way of making motion pictures... and selling them." [11]

Releases

The film was originally released as Sweet Kill. [12]

Box office performance was disappointing. The film was re-released as The Arousers. It arrived in Los Angeles cinemas in 1976. The Los Angeles Times said it was "made with a sensitivity and intelligence unusual for the normally lurid psycho genre." [13]

Hanson later described the experience as a "very unhappy" one. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Corman</span> American film director, producer, and actor (born 1926)

Roger William Corman is an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are low-budget cult films including some which are adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Perkins</span> American actor (1932–1992)

Anthony 'Tony' Perkins was an American actor, director, and singer. He is most notable for the role of Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller Psycho, which made him an influential figure in pop culture and the realm of horror films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Fonda</span> American actor (1940–2019)

Peter Henry Fonda was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fonda was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Easy Rider (1969), and the Academy Award for Best Actor for Ulee's Gold (1997). For the latter, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. Fonda also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtis Hanson</span> American filmmaker (1945–2016)

Curtis Lee Hanson was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Reno, Nevada, Hanson grew up in Los Angeles. After dropping out of high school, Hanson worked as photographer and editor for Cinema magazine. In the 1970s, Hanson got involved in filmmaking starting with participating in the writing of the horror film The Dunwich Horror (1970) and his directorial debut Sweet Kill (1973), where he lacked creative control to fulfill his vision. While Hanson continued directing, he rose to prominence by being involved in the writing of several critically-acclaimed films. This included Daryl Duke's The Silent Partner (1978), Samuel Fuller's White Dog (1982), and Carroll Ballard's Never Cry Wolf (1983).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tab Hunter</span> American actor (1931–2018)

Tab Hunter was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond hair and clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. During the 1950s and 1960s, in his twenties and thirties, Hunter was a Hollywood heart-throb, acting in numerous roles and appearing on the covers of hundreds of magazines. His notable screen credits include Battle Cry (1955), The Girl He Left Behind (1956), Gunman's Walk (1958), and Damn Yankees (1958). Hunter also had a music career in the late 1950s; in 1957, he released a no. 1 hit single "Young Love". Hunter's 2005 autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, was a New York Times bestseller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabel Jewell</span> American actress (1907-1972)

Isabel Jewell was an American actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more famous films were Ceiling Zero, Marked Woman, A Tale of Two Cities, and Gone with the Wind.

<i>Swamp Women</i> 1955 film by Roger Corman

Swamp Women is a 1956 American adventure film noir crime film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Carole Mathews, Beverly Garland, and Marie Windsor, with Mike Connors and Ed Nelson in small roles.

<i>The Undead</i> (film) 1957 film by Roger Corman

The Undead is a 1957 horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Pamela Duncan, Allison Hayes, Richard Garland and Val Dufour. It also featured Corman regulars Richard Devon, Dick Miller, Mel Welles and Bruno VeSota. The authors' original working title was The Trance of Diana Love. The film follows the story of a prostitute, Diana Love (Duncan), who is put into a hypnotic trance by psychic Quintus (Dufour), thus causing her to regress to a previous life. Hayes later starred in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958). The film was released on March 15, 1957 by American International Pictures as a double feature with Voodoo Woman.

<i>Beast from Haunted Cave</i> 1959 film

Beast from Haunted Cave is a 1959 horror/heist film directed by Monte Hellman and starring Michael Forest, Frank Wolff and Richard Sinatra. It was produced by Gene Corman, Roger Corman's brother. Filmed in South Dakota at the same time as Ski Troop Attack, it tells the story of bank robbers fleeing in the snow who run afoul of a giant spider-like monster that feeds on humans. The film was released as a double feature with The Wasp Woman (1959).

<i>Tower of London</i> (1962 film) 1962 film by Roger Corman

Tower of London is a 1962 historical drama and gothic horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price and Michael Pate. The film was produced by Edward Small Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lori Nelson</span> American actress and model (1933–2020)

Dixie Kay Nelson, known professionally as Lori Nelson, was an American actress and model mostly active in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had roles in the TV series How to Marry a Millionaire and the films Revenge of the Creature, All I Desire, and I Died a Thousand Times.

<i>Beast of the Yellow Night</i> 1971 Filipino-American horror film

Beast of the Yellow Night is a 1971 Filipino/American horror film, directed by Eddie Romero and starring John Ashley, who co-produced the film with Romero. It was the fourth release for Roger Corman's distribution company New World Pictures. It was released as a double feature with the West German horror film, Creature with the Blue Hand.

<i>Machine-Gun Kelly</i> (film) 1958 film by Roger Corman

Machine-Gun Kelly is a 1958 film noir directed by Roger Corman that chronicles the criminal activities of the real-life gangster George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Despite its small budget, the film received positive critical reviews.

<i>The Unborn</i> (1991 film) 1991 horror film

The Unborn is a 1991 American science fiction horror film directed by Rodman Flender and starring Brooke Adams, Jeff Hayenga, James Karen, K Callan, and Jane Cameron. The film's plot concerns a couple who cannot have children; they attempt in-vitro fertilization, but strange things start happening to the mother while she is pregnant.

<i>Night Call Nurses</i> 1972 film by Jonathan Kaplan

Night Call Nurses is a 1972 American sex comedy film directed by Jonathan Kaplan. It is the third in Roger Corman's "nurses" cycle of films, starting with The Student Nurses (1970).

<i>A Time for Killing</i> 1967 film by Roger Corman, Phil Karlson

A Time for Killing is a 1967 Western film directed originally by Roger Corman but finished by Phil Karlson. Filmed in Panavision and Pathécolor, it stars Glenn Ford, George Hamilton, Inger Stevens, and Harrison Ford in his first credited film role.

<i>The Woman Hunt</i> 1972 film directed by Eddie Romero

The Woman Hunt is a 1972 film directed by Eddie Romero and starring John Ashley, Pat Woodell, and Sid Haig.

<i>Fly Me</i> 1973 exploitation film

Fly Me is a 1973 exploitation film directed by Cirio H. Santiago and produced by Roger Corman. The story concerns flight attendants, international drug smuggling, kung fu, and nudity. It was poorly received by critics.

<i>Love Letters</i> (1984 film) 1983 film by Amy Holden Jones

Love Letters is a 1984 American romantic drama film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and James Keach. The film is written and directed by Amy Holden Jones, whom Roger Corman agreed to finance following her success with The Slumber Party Massacre (1982).

Kathleen Ann Shea is an American actress, film director, and acting teacher. She is best known for directing the erotic thriller Poison Ivy, which was nominated for the 1992 Sundance Grand Jury Prize.

References

  1. "SWEET KILL". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 43, no. 504. London. Jan 1, 1976. p. 64.
  2. 1 2 3 Chris Nashawaty, Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses – Roger Corman: King of the B Movie, Abrams, 2013 p 102
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Curtis Hanson at the NFT". The Guardian. 16 November 2002.
  4. Isabel Jewell at IMDb
  5. "Isabel Jewell; Film Actress of 1930–40s". Los Angeles Times. Apr 7, 1972. p. c10.
  6. 1 2 Christopher T Koetting, Mind Warp!: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman's New World Pictures, Hemlock Books. 2009 p 36
  7. 1 2 "Seaman Quint Interviews CURTIS HANSON about, well all things Curtis Hanson... + Tonight's GOLDEN GLOBES!!! PART 1!!!". Aint It Cool News. January 21, 2001.
  8. Ed. J. Philip di Franco, The Movie World of Roger Corman, Chelsea House Publishers, 1979 p 172
  9. Martin, Betty (Nov 14, 1970). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'Square Root' Next for Dustin". Los Angeles Times. p. b8.
  10. Martin, Betty (Dec 21, 1970). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: Culp, Raquel 'Caulder' Stars". Los Angeles Times. p. i19.
  11. Biss, Bill (May 27, 2015). "Living Two Lives :: Tab Hunter Talks Hollywood, the Closet & His 'Confidential' Doc". Edge Media Network.
  12. Thomas, Kevin (Jan 9, 1972). "Movies: Roger Corman--Director Who Changed the Face of Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. p. v18.
  13. Thomas, Kevin (Feb 6, 1976). "MOVIE REVIEW: When a Teacher Learns to Kill 'AROUSERS'". Los Angeles Times. p. e10.