SATAN IN HIGH HEELS

One of the great things about exploitation movies is that being made 'on the hoof', so to speak, using non-professional actors or at least actors without much talent, and often filmed in real locations and in black-and-white, there is often an almost documentary-like naturalism to proceedings. Of course, that doesn't mean they are necessarily any good; the scripts are often terrible and that lack of acting talent can be laughable but once in a while, one hits pay-dirt. If it's "Carnival of Souls" it can build up a critical and cult reputation that far exceeds its merits while others, like "Satan in High Heels", can slip through the cracks.

This is no masterpiece and the acting from its mostly Z-Grade cast is no better than we have any right to expect but hey, what's this, an Oscar nominee billed second from the top? Yes, this is the same Grayson Hall who only two years later would be nominated for her role in "Night of the Iguana". Here she's running the club that our heroine, (Meg Myles), ends up in and yes, once again Grayson is playing a somewhat butch lesbian. (Oh, and that really is the same Sabrina who was in "Blue Murder at St. Trinians" cast as 'herself').

This may be a cheapie but the direction values are surprisingly good and there's even a sprinkling of good lines and a few decent songs on the soundtrack. The director was someone with the unlikely name of Jerald Intrator but I often think movies like this direct themselves. It's not the gem I had hoped it might be but neither is it as big a dog as its lurid title and Poverty Row production values would suggest.