Your best bet when viewing this film is not to take it too seriously or you will have a bad taste in your mouth for a week. It is a raw, sadistic, unbelievable story containing every possible type of aberrant behavior that could be translated to film at the time. Pre-code at its best, it puts all others in the shade. Where else can you have drug addiction, incest, murder, torture, human sacrifice and rape wrapped up in an over the top story with some pretty good actors? Walter Houston plays "Dead Legs" Flint, a paraplegic holding court in an African village and vowing revenge on the man (C. Henry Gordon) who kicked him in the spine thus paralyzing him. Keeping Houston close company is Lupe Velez as his Portugese(?) mistress, Conrad Nagel as a drug ravaged physician and Virginia Bruce as the daughter (or not) of his sworn enemy. Houston's aforementioned revenge on Gordon for his paralysis is taken out vicariously on Bruce in unremitting style, off-screen as well as on, ......and it is nasty!!! Bruce, plays without make-up which adds to her interpretation as she is transformed into an abused, drug addicted whore and she is in a word....fantastic.
I have only touched on the essential plot of this film. There are other aspects that amplify the scenario, such as the attempted tongue removal scene..........yikes!!!
This film was a shocker at the time and frankly, still is.....it is downright unpleasant. One of the rawest of the pre-code films, it is a must-see for fans of that film era and you will either despise it or love it. The word "unclean" comes to mind and you might feel like taking a shower after viewing.
I have only touched on the essential plot of this film. There are other aspects that amplify the scenario, such as the attempted tongue removal scene..........yikes!!!
This film was a shocker at the time and frankly, still is.....it is downright unpleasant. One of the rawest of the pre-code films, it is a must-see for fans of that film era and you will either despise it or love it. The word "unclean" comes to mind and you might feel like taking a shower after viewing.