Doris Wishman is a one woman dynamo. One of the most infamous sleaze merchants of all time, and who'd of thunk it. Doris holds her place in history right up there with the likes of Harry Novak, HG Lewis, David Friedman and countless others. A Night To Dismember a truly lost Wishman film, has resurfaced from Elite Entertainment, complete with commentary by Wishman herself. Let's take a look at this most unexpected release.

Vicki Kent (Samantha Fox, not the singer, the porn star) is released from a mental institution, after being treated for killing 2 young boys (in an extremely uncomfortable, homoerotic flashback scene). Once released, Vicki, appears to be reverting back to her old ways, but are things really as they seem, or is there a conspiracy on a much grander scale?

Let's give a little backround history. Apparently, when Movie Lab went bankrupt, a disgruntled employee destroyed a bunch of negatives while on a rampage. Portions of A Night To Dismember were destroyed, and Doris spent 8 months, re-cutting, and rewriting the film, in order to retain some semblance of a coherent film. If you are familiar with Wishman and her work, then you know the drill, no sync sound, narration designed for a 6 year old, close ups of feet and inanimate objects, and disjointed filmmaking, at its finest. It's Doris Wishman, jeez! This film is no exception, multiplied by 1000% because of the added troubles to the production.

Basically, Doris was trying to make her version of an HG Lewis gorefest, and she's successful, just as often as not. There is plenty of mutilation, and bloodshed, including heads and other body parts being lopped off. There are plenty of stabbings and gougings and here in lies the fun, alright take me away now. As with any low budget gore fest like this, there is your obligatory cheese factor. In this case, there is enough cheese to keep you going for quite some time, but i reiterate, it's Doris Wishman!

I could write about this gal for hours, but I must get focused. First off,the DVD quality. Die hard videophiles will sqwauk all day and night. The quality ranges from mildly acceptable, to piss poor, depending on the scene. Scratches, film and sound pops, speckles, and faded colors, appear and disappear from scene to scene. The fact is, we have this film, on DVD and no one could have predicted this would ever happen. This is not a remastered Citizen Kane, it's a lost and chopped up Wishman film. Dismember definitely holds its place in history, but in the age of DVD and remastered films, it doesn't cut the mustard.

There aren't as many problems with the sound, the mono audio is fairly clear with very little to no distortion, however, as stated before, there are sound pops, etc. A bit jumpy at parts, but nothing that you wouldn't expect from a film with a history like this.

Extras are the real winner here, aside from a 4 minute promotional piece, which looks to be for a differernt movie (Wishman says herself, she makes her trailers before her films) there is a very entertaining Audio Commentary with Wishman herself and C Davis Smith, her uh "cinematographer". The commentary track ranges from the totally absurd and truly disturbing to interesting and enlightening. The two seem to have an interesting relationship, having worked on some 17 films, and Smith is constantly making snide remarks about the films, while Wishman herself, seems utterly confused at times as to what's on the screen. For example, at one point Smith says to Wishman, "Is that stock music or did you steal it from someone?" This should give you some kind of idea. The commentary is one of the most absurd I have ever heard.

Well, what can I say. Wishman fans should grab this and hold onto it real tight. It's a keeper if you're a fan of her work, as I am. It's not one of her greatest, but it deserves a spot on your shelf next to her other achievments in cinema. First timers may be taken aback by the $25 price tag, it does seem a bit steep, but for such a rare title from such a rare sleaze merchant, it may just be worth your time. Just don't expect a well written, directed, edited film. Like I said before, it's Doris Wishman!! Definitely geared towards a specific audience, it's not for everyone, but then again, neither is the latest Julia Roberts film. I'll take Dismember any day of the week.