AMERICAN HOLOCAUST (1962)
Set in the "distant future" of 1995, roving bands of "mudskins" roam the postnuclear shell of Middle America on horseback, searching out and killing any caucasians (or "whities") they find. The "men of many colors" believe the devastation of Armageddon was entirely the fault of the white race, and while less than two percent of the world's population is left, these vicious clans are tireless in their task. Meanwhile, our blonde-haired heroine is trying to pass as a man in a tribe of wild whiteskins. Calling American Holocaust! "inflamatory" is a grotesque understatement. There were only two public showings of this powerful, controversial film, and both ended in riots. In Watts, an innercity grindhouse audience set fire to their seats and started fistfighting each other, and when it played Bakersfield, an American Indian youth was almost lynched by drunken drive-in theatre patrons. It quietly circulated on video in the early 80s, a heavily truncated version retitled OK Corrall 2000. Editing left it incoherent, and several softcore sex scenes were spliced in from earlier Pyramid productions (some in color!). A bootleg DVD release has recently surfaced, restoring the "baby in the fireplace" scene and the notorious "Gone Fishin" sequence. FRED BELDIN