The Body Shop

The Body Shop is, as its AKA Doctor Gore suggests, a splatter movie. As such, I didn't necessarily expect a great plot, but I had hoped for more than a tired mashup of Frankenstein and Les Yeux Sans Visage. Whenever mad doctor Don Brandon (played by the film's director J. G. Patterson Jr.) is busily hacking up young women for spare parts so he can build his ideal mate, the film is reasonably fun, but everything in between is really dull.

Dr. Brandon decides to build his perfect woman after his beautiful young wife dies in a car crash. Using hypnotic powers, he seduces his pretty victims and takes them to his lab where, with the help of his loyal hunchback assistant Greg (Roy Mehaffey), he removes the best body parts, disposing of the rest in an acid bath (standard kit for any mad doctor). The removal of limbs and organs is good old-fashioned messy fun in the same vein as H. G. Lewis (Patterson Jr. Previously helped on some of the Godfather of Gore's movies and provided effects for drive-in favourite Three On A Meathook), but the rest of the film feels like an excuse for the director to cosy up to some sexy cuties who are way out of his league.

The script is terrible and makes little sense: if the doctor has such incredible mind control over hot women, why does he go to such great lengths to build a mate? Admittedly, she's a babe, but the women who provide the body parts aren't exactly munters. Why not go to Hollywood and hypnotise some A-list actresses?

The acting is diabolical: according to IMDb's trivia, the only trained actor in the whole shebang was Roy Mehaffey and he doesn't say a word. The worst performance comes from the guy who plays an inquisitive cop, who stumbles awkwardly through his lines, and then disappears for the rest of the movie, no doubt hiding in shame.

As for the direction and editing, it's par for the course: so sloppy that we are treated to an entire song by the most lifeless band in the world, a really boring montage of romantic moments between the doc and his mate, and the most obvious accidental inclusion of a clapperboard in the history of film.

In the hilarious final act, the doctor's woman, having been trained to be a subservient sex slave, throws herself at any man she encounters, including Greg, which results in the jealous doctor attacking the hunchback with acid and a machete and then dumping his body in the acid bath. Then, while the doctor is out, Brandon's babe runs off with a truck driver; as a result, the doctor loses what marbles he still had and is locked up in an asylum.

3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

One of the commenter's is wrong. This is not the only Pat Patterson film and he didn't die two years after this was made. He shot a film called the "Electric Chair" in Pineville, NC. He shot this a few years after Doctor Gore. Patterson died in the late 70's. I know this because he used my house and he left a cat there!! It sucked also. This was a big deal when the movie came out. No independent horror films were being made in NC. This movie didn't help matters. Patterson used to do gore effects for H. G. Lewis. He was also good at magic. His gore scenes in Body shop were actually well done. The film was shot in a building that also housed a 7/11. You can actually see the tops of the walls in some scenes. The budget was less that $20,000 and the script looked like a child wrote it. Only Patterson could understand it. Still...it's entertainment and it's a classic.

I believe that if you are a fan of films such as the A.I.P. classic "How To Make A Monster", Hammer Films' various Frankenstein pictures, and the gore films of the immortal Herschell Gordon Lewis then "The Body Shop" (A.K.A. "Dr. Gore") should be right up your alley.

This is not a movie that will not be enjoyed by film snobs, and deserves the respect of those of us who truly enjoy underground gems beyond thinking that they're "so bad, they're good". But rather, their beauty and enjoyment lie in the fact that they are less than perfect. You can feel the passion he had for for films and film making in J.G. "Pat" Patterson's single directorial effort "The Body Shop". Many people will groan and I'm sure laugh a few times while watching this film, but those of you who truly sit down to watch it, not to "try and watch it" (if you're entering with that attitude it's best to avoid these type of films altogether and stick to the latest big budget Hollywood star vehicles) and laugh ALONG with it will have quite a memorable and fun ride ahead of you.

SIDE NOTE: If you have ever wondered what Funny-man Louie Anderson would look like with a beard just check out the character of "Bill Hicks" of the films band "Bill Hicks and the Rainbow" who preforms "A Heart Dies Every Minute".

The Body Shop (1972)

** (out of 4)

Dr. Brandon (J.G. Patterson, Jr.) loses his beautiful wife so he decides to build another one with the help of his hunchback. Soon the two are kidnapping women and chopping them up for their parts.

Also known as DOCTOR GORE, this film is pretty much a mixture of FRANKENSTEIN, EYES WITHOUT A FACE and THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF. This film is best remembered for features some gore but it's doubtful there's enough to keep most people entertained. I think it's best that you don't take this film too serious and just enjoy it's low-budget charm and sometimes gore.

Director Patterson, Jr., also cast himself in the lead and for the most part his performance is bad yet it's good enough for this type of movie. I thought the best thing that can be said about the film is that whenever it goes for some humor it usually works. I will gladly admit that I found myself laughing several times including the scene where the hunchback needs help getting his lab coat on.

Again, the film is mainly known for some of its gore but in all honesty there's really not too much here. There's more bloody in those early Herschell Gordon Lewis pictures but there are still some memorable moments here. The film goes on a tad bit too long and there's a long "romance" sequence that really goes on too long. Throw in a weird sequence with a country singer and another weird one with a sheriff and THE BODY SHOP is just campy enough to be slightly entertaining.

This film breaks no new ground, it's pretty much an updated version of 'Frankenstein'. It concerns a doctor who's wife has died, and he is now determned to create the perfect woman. He goes out to find females he deems to have the perfect parts he needs, hypnotises them, and takes them back to his lab where he proceeds to cut off the desired parts for his jigsaw puzzle with the aid of his hunchbacked assistant.

I've always loved gore, and films like this are my cup of tea! I don't know about any of you, but gore films with dismemberment are my favorites, and this is one of the best! I'm surprised to hear alot of people say that the gore effects in this film are phony looking, I disagree, they are quite realistic, and I love them for it. I especially love the secretary victim scene, the good doctor, or in this case not so good doctor, proceeds to cut off her arms with a scalpel as she watches, and then good ol Herscall cuts to a close up of her mutilated shoulder.

I love the technique for showing the severed limbs in the film, most of the time it's just an actress with her hand, or arm, sticking out of a hole cut into the table. Not a new technique to be sure, but it's very effective here.

I would love to pick this one up, but alas it's all but impossible to track down. Oh well, here's hoping for a dvd release.