Exploitation Producer David F. Friedman Dead at 87

Goodbye to the man who brought us BLOOD FEAST, 2000 MANIACS, THE EROTIC ADVENTURES OF ZORRO, TRADER HORNEE, THAR SHE BLOWS, and ILSA SHE-WOLF OF THE SS. Producer and Huckster extraordinaire David F. Friedman died Sunday in Miami of heart disease at age 87. For a full appreciation of the history of exploitation films, you should read his autobiography A Youth In Babylon for Friedman was one of the few of the exploitation giants whose roots stretched back to actual carnivals. His father ran one and much of Friedman’s youth was spent traveling the carnival circuit throughout the South. It was there that he was first bitten by the showbiz bug, giving him a taste for exploitation and spectacle that would serve him well in the future. Friedman apprenticed with fellow showman Kroger Babb (best known for the birth-of-a-baby film MOM AND DAD which played like a tent revival for years) in the 1940′s with promotional techniques similar to a traveling salesman’s. He created the ‘splatter’ film in 1963 when he teamed up with director Herschell Gordon Lewis for the seminal gore classic BLOOD FEAST. He dabbled in soft-core ‘nudie cutie’ erotic movies in the 60′s, then the first ‘roughies’, soft-core sex films with misogynist tones including rape, with titles such as SCUM OF THE EARTH and THE DEFILERS. Friedman chose not to venture into the production of hardcore films in the 70′s, saying that they were “not as fun”, but always defended the right to make them. Friedman was definitely one of the greats in his field and will be missed. Put MAU MAU SEX SEX, Ted Bonnitt’s fascinating documentary about Dave Friedman and the history of the exploitation film biz on your Netflix queue to better appreciate his influence.