''Love Me Deadly'' is a 1972 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Jacques Lacerte and starring Mary Charlotte Wilcox,

Lyle Waggoner Lyle Wesley Waggoner (; April 13, 1935 – March 17, 2020) was an American actor, sculptor, presenter, travel trailer salesman and model, known for his work on ''The Carol Burnett Show'' from 1967 to 1974 and for playing the role of Steve Trevor ...

, and Christopher Stone. The screenplay concerns a coven of devil-worshipping necrophiles that moves to Los Angeles and sets up their base of operations out of a

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...

Plot

Young, attractive

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

heiress Lindsay Finch has a habit of dressing in mourning and attending

wake Wake or The Wake may refer to: Culture *Wake (ceremony), a ritual which takes place during some funeral ceremonies *Wakes week, an English holiday tradition * Parish Wake, another name of the Welsh ', the fairs held on the local parish's patron s ...

s for men she never knew. When everyone else leaves, she kneels before the coffins and kisses the corpses passionately. However, at the many parties she holds at her house, she shows no interest in any of the (living) men. She is also fixated with her deceased father, frequently daydreaming about her childhood with him and putting her hair in pigtails to visit his grave. Her friend Wade Farrow is romantically interested in her, but she rejects his affections. Meanwhile, mortician Fred McSweeney notices Lindsay's attendance at the wakes and, although she won't admit to her secret passion, he recognizes her as a kindred spirit. Fred has a Satanic coven that meets after hours in the mortuary for necrophilic orgies with the latest cadavers. At one point, Fred picks up a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

male

hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

under the guise of wanting to engage in sex. Fred brings him to the mortuary where he straps him down and embalms him alive by pumping him full of

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...

. Fred eventually coaxes Lindsay to join his group. When Wade follows her to the funeral home, he stumbles across one of the group preparing a body for the coming orgy, and is killed before being sexually ravaged by the cult. At one of the wakes, Lindsay meets and finds herself drawn to the deceased's brother, art gallery owner Alex Martin. An intense romance begins, Lindsay's first real relationship. The two get married, but Lindsay can't bring herself to consummate the marriage, and Alex is confused and frustrated by his new wife's inability to return his affections. Alex sees Lindsay entering Fred's mortuary one afternoon and grows suspicious of her day-to-day activities. During a conversation with Miss Pritchard, the maid at Lindsay's home, Alex learns that Lindsay developed an unhealthy obsession with her dead father at a young age, and that Lindsay would have her drive her to his grave every day. Alex drives to the cemetery, and finds Lindsay in a childlike state, frolicking around her father's grave. His appearance there startles her, and Lindsay flees in her car. The following day, Alex attempts to confront her again over the incident, and they briefly become copacetic. They plan to go into the country to visit Alex's family for dinner, but Lindsay claims to feel ill, and encourages Alex to go alone. Before leaving, Alex opens a registered letter addressed to Lindsay from Fred's funeral parlor, notifying of a meeting that night. Alex attends the family dinner without Lindsay, but leaves early and drives to Fred's funeral parlor. He enters the building and stumbles upon Lindsay and the rest of the cult about to engage in sex with a male corpse. Upon seeing Alex, Fred stabs him to death. Lindsay is brought home by Fred, who gives her a sedative before telling her that he has "prepared" Alex, and that he is in the bedroom waiting for her. While Lindsay lies there, she remembers her inadvertent shooting of her father during her childhood, which resulted in his death. Lindsay stumbles into Alex's bedroom, where she finds Fred fondling Alex's corpse. Lindsay proceeds to clobber Fred to death with a statue before lying beside Alex.

Cast

* Mary Charlotte Wilcox as Lindsay Finch **Terri Anne Duvalis as Lindsay as a child * Christopher Stone as Wade Farrow * Timothy Scott as Fred McSweeney *

as Alex Martin *Dassa Cates as Miss Pritchard *Michael Pardue as Lindsay's father

Production

''Love Me Deadly'' was shot in Los Angeles, California and the surrounding area. The cemetery sequences were shot on location at

Rose Hills Memorial Park Rose Hills Memorial Park is located in Whittier, California. It is currently owned and operated by Service Corporation International (formerly, Loewen Group). It claims to be the largest cemetery in North America. Sites ; Mausoleums * Whittier ...

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...

. The film's director, Jacques Lacerte, was an inexperienced filmmaker and had previously worked as a high school

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

teacher. The film's producer, Buck Edwards, stated in a 2008

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

for the film that significant dubbing as well as extended musical scores were implemented over montages to hide what he felt was poorly-written dialogue.

Release

The film was released on 13 September 1972 in several

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

drive-in theaters, paired as a triple-feature with '' Blood Fiend'' and ''

The Blood Demon ''The Blood Demon'' (''Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel'' in West Germany), also known as ''The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism'', ''The Snake Pit and the Pendulum'', and ''Castle of the Walking Dead'', is a 1967 West German horror film directed b ...

''.

References

Sources

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0136376 1972 films 1972 horror films American horror films Necrophilia in film LGBT-related horror films Films about Satanism Films about cults Films shot in California 1972 LGBT-related films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films