As the legend is told, Arch Hall, Sr. was a low-level Hollywood guy who had real American cowboy roots. He appeared in numerous westerns, mostly cheap ones, after starting his career as a stuntman. He started his own studio in the 1960's, with the express purpose of making his son, Arch Hall, Jr., a star. The idea was to make the boy a success in music and film. Just like Elvis.
Despite the evidence that Little Arch appeared to have little talent in either music or thespianism. Young Hall did possess an impressive head of exaggerated curly locks and a contemplative unibrow.
Their first feature, written and produced by the elderly Hall was The Choppers. It barely made ripple in the movie business, but their second collaboration inexplicably did well. Though regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, Eegah did big business. Well, at least in the drive-in circuit. It was lampooned by Mystery Science Theater 3000, in the halcyon Joel Hodgson years, and is one of the best episodes. Eegah is about a primitvive caveman, played by Later Bond nemesis Richard Kiel, who crashes a teenage rock and roll party. Eegah was directed by Arch Hall, Sr, under the name Nicholas Merriwether. I guess they didn't want their budding star to be accused of nepotism.
Emboldened by the modest success of Eegah, their next venture was to be the biggest rock and roll spectacle ever unleashed. This time they hired a film director on the rise. None other than Ray Dennis Steckler, who went on to bring us unforgettable trashterpieces like The Thrill Killers, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (which was supposed to be Ray Phink AND Boo Boo, but there was a typo in the title card), and, on the heels of Halloween, The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher. This is legendary stuff, folks.
Thus Wild Guitar was born. Forget Almost Famous and This is Spinal Tap. Wild Guitar is the greatest rock and roll extravaganza ever made. It's a howlingly good time and in the Steckler tradition, the humor seems to be both intentional and unintentional.
Hall Jr. is Bud Eagle, a bumbling hick who arrives in Hollywood to become a star. He somehow makes it, and along the way exposes corruption and greed in the movie and music industries.
Still with me? Now, despite the obvious entertainment factors of Wild Guitar, poor Arch Hall, Jr. was widely ridiculed for his work. His hair in particular, was the target of a lot of insults. This had to hurt.
No one expected what came next.
Arch Hall, Jr. made a thriller called The Sadist, otherwise known as Sweet Baby Charlie. Based on the exploits of thrill killer Charles Starkweather, The Sadist is tense, dark, and genuinely scary. Arch Hall, Jr. is extraordinarily effective in the title role.
This is pure speculation, but I imagine he was angered by the reception he got from the press. I like to think he put that resentment to work in The Sadist. Hall is phenomenal. His speech, his body language, his mannerisms are all surprisingly on point. His character is obviously dumb as a rock, but also has the cunning of a rat.
A trip of schoolteachers on a trip to a ball game break down in a remote area. It's their unlucky day. They meet Charlie and Judy, a pair of sadistic psychopaths who not only want a car, but to have some bloody kicks.
The Sadist was the first film from cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, who went on to shoot exploitation classics like Blood of Ghastly Horror, Satan's Sadists, and Psycho-a-Go-Go. That's impressive, but Zsigmond later became a cameraman for Robert Altman, Brian DePalma, Woody Allen, John Boorman, and many other venerated directors. He was even Director of Photography on Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
You can see the talent at work in The Sadist. This movie, made in 1963, looks like something from the French New Wave.
I first watched The Sadist over twenty years ago on a Sinister Cinema VHS tape. The quality was fairly bad. Now the great people at AGFA (American Genre Film Archive) have restored The Sadist. It's part of their True Crime Triple Ripper Blu-ray package. Most of the movies AGFA releases are for niche audiences like me who actually like terrible old movies . The Sadist is a genuine classic. I honestly think it's in the same league as Psycho. The low budget and lack of seasoned professional crew members is evident, but that only enhances the effect of The Sadist. I give it my highest recommendation.
I said Arch Hall, Jr. wasn't talented, but The Sadist belies that statement. Alas, Hall made a couple more pictures after The Sadist, but stardom eluded him. His band, Arch Hall and the Archers, failed to make it in the music business. Hall did all right for himself, though. In 1967, two years after his final film, Arch Hall, Jr., rock and roller, biker, sadist, quasi-superstar, went to work for an airline. In 1989 he became a Captain who flew a Boeing 747.
That's a hell of an accomplishment, but some of us are more impressed by Arch Hall, Jr.'s bizarre chapter in the history of outsider movies.
Written by Mark Sieber
Despite the evidence that Little Arch appeared to have little talent in either music or thespianism. Young Hall did possess an impressive head of exaggerated curly locks and a contemplative unibrow.
Their first feature, written and produced by the elderly Hall was The Choppers. It barely made ripple in the movie business, but their second collaboration inexplicably did well. Though regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, Eegah did big business. Well, at least in the drive-in circuit. It was lampooned by Mystery Science Theater 3000, in the halcyon Joel Hodgson years, and is one of the best episodes. Eegah is about a primitvive caveman, played by Later Bond nemesis Richard Kiel, who crashes a teenage rock and roll party. Eegah was directed by Arch Hall, Sr, under the name Nicholas Merriwether. I guess they didn't want their budding star to be accused of nepotism.
Emboldened by the modest success of Eegah, their next venture was to be the biggest rock and roll spectacle ever unleashed. This time they hired a film director on the rise. None other than Ray Dennis Steckler, who went on to bring us unforgettable trashterpieces like The Thrill Killers, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (which was supposed to be Ray Phink AND Boo Boo, but there was a typo in the title card), and, on the heels of Halloween, The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher. This is legendary stuff, folks.
Thus Wild Guitar was born. Forget Almost Famous and This is Spinal Tap. Wild Guitar is the greatest rock and roll extravaganza ever made. It's a howlingly good time and in the Steckler tradition, the humor seems to be both intentional and unintentional. Hall Jr. is Bud Eagle, a bumbling hick who arrives in Hollywood to become a star. He somehow makes it, and along the way exposes corruption and greed in the movie and music industries.
Still with me? Now, despite the obvious entertainment factors of Wild Guitar, poor Arch Hall, Jr. was widely ridiculed for his work. His hair in particular, was the target of a lot of insults. This had to hurt.
No one expected what came next.
Arch Hall, Jr. made a thriller called The Sadist, otherwise known as Sweet Baby Charlie. Based on the exploits of thrill killer Charles Starkweather, The Sadist is tense, dark, and genuinely scary. Arch Hall, Jr. is extraordinarily effective in the title role.
This is pure speculation, but I imagine he was angered by the reception he got from the press. I like to think he put that resentment to work in The Sadist. Hall is phenomenal. His speech, his body language, his mannerisms are all surprisingly on point. His character is obviously dumb as a rock, but also has the cunning of a rat.
A trip of schoolteachers on a trip to a ball game break down in a remote area. It's their unlucky day. They meet Charlie and Judy, a pair of sadistic psychopaths who not only want a car, but to have some bloody kicks.
The Sadist was the first film from cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, who went on to shoot exploitation classics like Blood of Ghastly Horror, Satan's Sadists, and Psycho-a-Go-Go. That's impressive, but Zsigmond later became a cameraman for Robert Altman, Brian DePalma, Woody Allen, John Boorman, and many other venerated directors. He was even Director of Photography on Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
You can see the talent at work in The Sadist. This movie, made in 1963, looks like something from the French New Wave.
I first watched The Sadist over twenty years ago on a Sinister Cinema VHS tape. The quality was fairly bad. Now the great people at AGFA (American Genre Film Archive) have restored The Sadist. It's part of their True Crime Triple Ripper Blu-ray package. Most of the movies AGFA releases are for niche audiences like me who actually like terrible old movies . The Sadist is a genuine classic. I honestly think it's in the same league as Psycho. The low budget and lack of seasoned professional crew members is evident, but that only enhances the effect of The Sadist. I give it my highest recommendation.
I said Arch Hall, Jr. wasn't talented, but The Sadist belies that statement. Alas, Hall made a couple more pictures after The Sadist, but stardom eluded him. His band, Arch Hall and the Archers, failed to make it in the music business. Hall did all right for himself, though. In 1967, two years after his final film, Arch Hall, Jr., rock and roller, biker, sadist, quasi-superstar, went to work for an airline. In 1989 he became a Captain who flew a Boeing 747.
That's a hell of an accomplishment, but some of us are more impressed by Arch Hall, Jr.'s bizarre chapter in the history of outsider movies.
Written by Mark Sieber
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