VIDEO NASTIES – Snuff

Published on: 14th October, 2009

VIDEO NASTIES - Snuff  | read this item

Related News

• NEWS – Anna Friel to Enter The Dark Fields
• TRAILER TRASH – Ghoulies
• COMICS – Transformers: City of Fear
• NEWS – Miramax Find New Owners

The truth behind Snuff, one of the most notorious exploitation flicks of the 1970s, is uneven at best. The various stories, rumours and so-called facts that surround the production of this low budget movie constantly contradict each other and none of the principals involved in its creation have ever been willing to discuss it in great detail. Two of the main figures, director Michael Findlay and distributor Allan Shackleton, are now deceased and Roberta Findlay, who acted as cinematographer on the movie, has since distanced herself from her involvement. Thus, the truth behind the making of this ‘Video Nasty’ may never be known. Compiling together the various stories and claims that critics and researches have made over the years, the following is based on information gathered from multiple sources, but even these should not be considered a hundred percent reliable. Until the guilty are finally ready to confess their sins, the rumours are the closest we will have to the truth.

Little is known of Michael Findlay, an elusive-yet-notorious filmmaker who produced several low budget sexploitation flicks during the 1960s. He had first come to shoot cheap smut at the suggestion of George Weiss, who had first shot to fame in 1953 as the producer of Glen or Glenda, an amateur tale of a transvestite, both directed by and starring the infamous Edward D. Wood Jr., dubbed ‘the worst director ever.’ Having produced various nudie cuties during the early 1960s, Weiss convinced Findlay to direct a cheap erotic feature as a sure fire way to make a quick profit. Taking his advice, Findlay set out to make his first feature, with the aim of producing it for the late night grindhouse scene. His first effort, Body of a Female, was shot under the alias Julian Marsh (which would become his regular pseudonym) and co-directed by John Amero, who would also pursue a career in the sofcore industry.

His next picture, The Sin Syndicate, was shot the same year, in which a group of young women, known as the ‘zero girls,’ are brought into a Senate hearing to testify. Whilst the film generated very little interest outside of the underground scene, it allowed Findlay to continue producing low budget sleaze. His first success eventually came with The Touch of Her Flesh in 1967, in which he also starred (under his other alias, Robert West) as a killer stalking the ladies of the night. This minor hit paved the way for two sequels – The Curse of Her Flesh and The Kiss of Her Flesh – which would complete what would come to be known as the ‘Flesh trilogy.’ Although the films failed to break out of their restrictive marketplace, Findlay had made a modest profit for his efforts and had become a recognisable attraction in the New York underground scene.

He continued to mix elements of graphic violence and sex in his movies, gaining a reputation for his shameless exploitation. After producing three successful ‘Flesh‘ movies, Findlay continued with A Thousand Pleasures in 1968, shortly followed soon afterwards by The Ultimate Degenerate, which reworked various themes from Body of a Female. Around this time, he had married a young woman called Roberta, although even less is known of her background. Whilst she had very little involvement in his earlier work, she would become Findlay’s cinematographer and the two would collaborate extensively on their next feature together: a low budget horror called Slaughter.

On August 8 1969, members of the Manson Family had broken into a house at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, where filmmaker Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate, had been staying. Although Polanski had not returned from London, Tate was home with a few friends when several of Manson’s followers broke in and brutally slaughtered them. Tate was eight months pregnant and was due to give birth two weeks later. The crime shocked the nation and various rumours began to circulate, one being that they had documented their actions on camera, leading to the notion of snuff films. Although the tragedy would be felt throughout the film industry, Findlay saw it as an interesting concept with which to base a low budget horror movie on, and began to fashion a story using the incident as inspiration.

Allegedly produced for approximately $30,000, the filming of Slaughter took place in El Tigre, Buenos Aires in Argentina. There has been some speculation over the years as to whether or not the movie was finished, although some sources cite a low-key theatrical release during the mid-1970s. Proving to be even less profitable than their previous output, Slaughter faced obscurity and would have remained undiscovered if it were not for a certain distributor who obtained the film in 1972. Former research engineer Allan Shackleton was the president of Monarch Releasing Corporation and had first entered the industry as a producer of the 1969 flick Acid Girls. For the next few years, he worked on various unsuccessful productions such as While the Cat’s Away, Blue Summer and Teenage Milkmaid.

Whilst he lacked any kind of artistic talent, Shackleton was a shrewd businessman who had a talent for marketing and understood the public’s lust for exploitation. Upon discovering Slaughter (which, at that time, had not been screened anywhere), he saw the potential to produce a truly shocking picture and opted to purchase the worldwide distribution rights for his company. Although he knew that the film would attract controversy for its dubious content, the movie itself was disappointing and lacked any kind of ‘money shot’ or climax. Low budget cinema in the 1970s relied on shock tactics and Shackleton knew that if the film were to be any kind of success there would need to be one specific moment that would stir up a reaction from the audience.

Shackleton had no choice; he would have to shoot an additional sequence. It was decided that, as the movie came to its conclusion, the camera would pull back to reveal that this was simply a film production and that what the viewers had been watching were simply actors. But then, in a shocking twist, the director pounces onto the bed where his leading lady is lying and, along with the help of his crew, begins to cut her to pieces and disembowel her. With a budget of $10,000, the filming of the sequence took place in one day in a loft in Manhattan, shot by adult filmmaker Simon Nocturn with new actors and set that were dressed up to resemble those from the original picture.

As well as the actually graphic sex and violence, another aspect that 1970s cinema was renowned for was the ingenious marketing of these movies. One famous example is The Last House on the Left’s tagline, ‘To avoid fainting, keep repeating… It’s only a movie.’ Shackleton was aware that Slaughter was not an exceptional work of art and so if he were to receive any kind of profit from his investment then he would have to make the public want to see it. Amongst his various gimmicks to attract crowds was a protest from the Women Against Pornography, which Shackleton had allegedly arranged himself to drum up some much-needed publicity. As Go Video would find out a decade later after anonymously writing a letter of complaint to moral watchdog Mary Whitehouse about their latest release Cannibal Holocaust (which would in part be responsible for the ‘video nasty’ scandal during the 1980s), sometimes a little controversy over a movie can become something much bigger.

Re-titled Snuff (which would begin the urban legend of the existence of ’snuff films’, the film was released on January 16 1976 and became a surprise success, initially out-grossing the much hyped One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for three weeks of its theatrical run and eventually earning a modest $66,000 during its first week. Although not initially marketed as authentic, rumours began to circulate that the actress murdered at the end (despite the makeup effects being extremely unconvincing) was killed for real. Allegedly, both the New York Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department began investigating the claims and soon the rumour was considered fact. The controversy that Snuff caused in the United States meant that its inclusion of the DPP’s ‘video nasty’ list was inevitable, further fuelling its sordid reputation.

Purchase Snuff here:

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post

Readers Comments