Ron Sullivan: The Early Years

Before becoming known as one of the masters of big budget theatrical hardcore under the name Henri Pachard, Ron Sullivan cut his teeth making dark, brooding, and often outrageous sexploitation thrillers which reveled in the macabre as much as they did eroticism. Presented here are a trio of Sullivan's finest early efforts, all newly scanned and restored from 35mm negative materials and on Blu-ray for the first time, from Distribpix. In LUST WEEKEND (1967), Sullivan's directing debut, a naive couple are lured by a group of sadistic perverts to a large country manor where they are subjected to increasingly depraved and violent acts of torture. An unflinchingly grotesque and sublimely weird roughie, Sullivan expertly merges sex and horror through an underground filmmaking aesthetic, which decades later still packs plenty of squirm-inducing jolts. In THE BIZARRE ONES (1968), Sullivan continues his fascination with sexual perversions, focusing on man-hating Deirdre who picks up a young male hitchhiker and lures him to her country dungeon wherein he is subjected to the torments of Dierdre and her equally vicious friends. Featuring appearances from Warhol superstars Taylor Mead and Louis Waldon, this trippy and unusual roughie more than lives up to its title. In SCORPIO 70 (1970), Sullivan tries his hand at a more transitional narrive in this flashback structured story of smuggling, sexual indiscretions, and ultimately murder, all aboard a boat. Featuring an early starring role for Jennifer Welles (Career Bed) in addition to a catchy original soundtrack by James Taylor, this softcore thriller produced by Sam Lake (The Nesting) is at last making its home video debut.