A crazed magician tortures and brutalizes naked women in front of astonished audiences. Is it real or faked? Do you care?
This infamous low budget rip off of H.G. Lewis's THE WIZARD OF GORE purports to be a black comedy, but is really the lowest form of sleazy, misogynistic exploitation. Had the filmmakers had the guts to stay true to their own sadistic fantasies, as opposed to excusing themselves by claiming it's all just a joke, this might have been some really strong stuff, a la GUINEA PIG. As it is, it's far more boring and stupid than offensive, with lousy photography, editing and performances only adding to the banality.
One little known fact is that the title was originally THE INCREDIBLE TORTURE SHOW, and theater owners were instructed to use larger or different colored letters for the first letter of each word, thus creating the abbreviation T.I.T.S. Get it? There's that sophisticated humor.
If you do bother to watch underground film company Troma's special edition DVD, be sure to check out the unintentionally hilarious commentary (by some effects guy who had nothing to do with the movie), in which all sorts of social and political satire are read into the movie. Did you know the caning/guillotine scene is a comment on fascism? Right.
This infamous low budget rip off of H.G. Lewis's THE WIZARD OF GORE purports to be a black comedy, but is really the lowest form of sleazy, misogynistic exploitation. Had the filmmakers had the guts to stay true to their own sadistic fantasies, as opposed to excusing themselves by claiming it's all just a joke, this might have been some really strong stuff, a la GUINEA PIG. As it is, it's far more boring and stupid than offensive, with lousy photography, editing and performances only adding to the banality.
One little known fact is that the title was originally THE INCREDIBLE TORTURE SHOW, and theater owners were instructed to use larger or different colored letters for the first letter of each word, thus creating the abbreviation T.I.T.S. Get it? There's that sophisticated humor.
If you do bother to watch underground film company Troma's special edition DVD, be sure to check out the unintentionally hilarious commentary (by some effects guy who had nothing to do with the movie), in which all sorts of social and political satire are read into the movie. Did you know the caning/guillotine scene is a comment on fascism? Right.