If you’ve ever seen an Al Adamson movie, you probably haven’t forgotten it. Where exploitation schlock directors like Herschell Gordon Lewis and Ted V. Mikels made Roger Corman and Russ Meyer look like Stanley Kubrick, Adamson happily waded in the cesspool of cinema trash, content to make films on the fly with pickup crews and a screenplay written in one night. That’s not to say his films are unwatchable–quite the opposite. In fact, you can’t take your eyes off them because you can’t believe that what you’re seeing is an actual movie. If the ultimate goal of filmmaking is to entertain, he was more successful than 9/10ths of major Hollywood studio releases. Director and Severin Films co-founder David Gregory now tells Adamson’s story, from his “humble” origins to his tragic, untimely demise in the absolutely engrossing documentary Blood & Flesh.
“David Gregory now tells Adamson’s story, from his ‘humble’ origins to his tragic, untimely demise…”
The son of an actress and director, both known for B-grade silent Westerns, Al Adamson grew up in the Hollywood system. After working for his father and owning a San Fernando Valley nightclub, he caught the bug and teamed up with Sam Sherman to form Independent-International Pictures. Together, they ran the gamut of exploitation: horror, bikers, Westerns, blaxploitation, sex comedies–there was truly no genre they wouldn’t touch if it made a buck.
"…they ran the gamut of exploitation: horror, bikers, Westerns, blaxploitation, sex comedies..."
