An ultra-low rent Florida lensed horror flick, created by the veteran supporting actor Bert Williams (1922-2001), that was initially released in 1965. Believed lost for decades, it was restored in 2017 (from “the only 35mm release print known to exist”), a restoration undertaken in part by filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn. A neglected masterpiece? Hardly, but it’s not an entirely unworthy.
Johnson (Williams) is an undercover detective who ends up pursued through the everglades by gun-wielding moonshiners after his cover is blown. Johnson washes up on a secluded island, where he’s attacked by a knife-wielding blond woman and passes out. He’s discovered by an odd man (Chuck Frankle) who identifies himself as Harold, and takes Johnson to the nearby Cuckoo Bird Inn where he works.
This place, we learn, is run by Mrs. Patt (Sherry Sax), an insanely religious woman who tyrannizes Harold. She allows Johnson to stay, but sternly warns him not to set foot in the rear part of the hotel. That night Johnson hears screaming emanating from Mrs. Patt’s room. She claims the screams are from her “half-mad daughter” Lisa (Jackie Scelza), who’s locked up for “her own protection.”
Attempting to escape, Johnson wanders out to the water, where he witnesses the mysterious blond woman seen earlier stabbing a man to death. Johnson heads back to the hotel and, determined to uncover the place’s secrets, sneaks into Lisa’s room. The girl does indeed seem half-mad, and shows off scars that were inflicted, she claims, by her abusive mother—who’s upset, apparently, that her evil ex-husband was more besotted with Lisa than with her.
Exploring the hotel further, Johnson happens upon Harold removing the organs from a freshly killed corpse. A struggle follows in which Harold is killed, after which Johnson attempts to free Lisa from her captivity—a big mistake, as it turns out!
How does all this play? About like you’d expect given the non-budget and overall level of filmmaking talent (or lack thereof) on display. The film is plodding and hard to follow from a narrative standpoint, with poor sound recording and muddy black and white photography.
Some striking stylistic elements are utilized, particularly in the murder sequences, which consist of still shots cut together (in an apparent nod toward the montage editing of PSYCHO’S iconic shower sequence), although the reasons for this were likely budgetary rather than artistic. In addition, a somewhat interesting effect is achieved by the disarmingly placid score, which never loses its composure, even in the most outrageous or gruesome scenes.
I’ll also point out the hilarious attempts as philosophical dialogue (evinced by an outrageous mini-monologue by Mrs. Patt about male-female relations) that place the film in the company of the ludicrous no-budget thrillers of Duke Mitchell (see MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE and GONE WITH THE POPE). There’s also a hint of Jack Hill’s SPIDER BABY in the film’s bizarre family dynamics. This doesn’t make THE NEST OF THE CUKCKOO BIRDS “good” by any means, but it is, in the manner of many regional horror no-budgeters from past eras, arrestingly peculiar.
Vital Statistics
THE NEST OF THE CUCKOO BIRDS
BWEC Workshop
Director/Producer/Screenwriter: Bert Williams
Cinematography: Carl Warner, Bruce Boles, Church Frankel, Bert Williams
Editing: Dick Laitinen
Cast: Bert Williams, Chuck Frankel, Sherry Sax, Larry Wright, Harvey Ford, Ann Long, Bruce Bates, Jacky Scelza