In the early 1970s, as sex movies moved away from tame nudies to outright pornography, drive-in theater mogul David Friedman fashioned some R-rated programmers to compete in the mainstream movie markets. One of these attempts, BUMMER, shows why his formula didn't work. The film's themes include rebel youth, rock 'n roll and vicarious drug use -- which conceivably could "play" to the teenage movie audience of the time -- but BUMMER is really intended for the aging conservative audience that might have secretly attended a Friedman sex flick in the 60s.
The hippie members of a rock band, called The Group, labor over a decision to stop playing dance clubs in LA and hit the road. After about 40 minutes of talking, dancing and casual sex, the musicians and a small circle of female groupies journey to Bakersfield and Las Vegas to see if they can get their act together.
On the way, they are sidetracked by Butts (Dennis Buckley), The Group's bear-like bassist who can't land a woman on account of he's a short-tempered psycho. During a house party in LA, he forces two women to strip and take a shower while he masturbates (off-screen). On the road, he kills one the groupies, which gives the local constabulary a reason to capture the whole gang.
The finale is extraordinary. The dead girl is wheeled in on a stretcher. Butts grabs a shotgun from a police cruiser and starts blasting, killing Duke, the band leader (played by actor Stuart Whitman's son). One girl (Carol Speed, later in ABBY) takes the gun from Butts and blows a hole in his gut. Meanwhile, a bunch of cops stand around scratching their heads. The camera pans up to the sky and zooms out to a shot of a moon's-eye view of planet earth. Wow, man, what does it all mean?
True to form, Friedman and director Castleman don't have enough plot to sustain the whole movie, and display considerable contempt for their hippie protagonists. Early in the film, an embarrassed-looking Connie Strickland performs a gratuitous, unending striptease (a nod to the button-down crowd, this is the film's dubious highlight). Whenever the story wanes, Friedman gets the actresses to strip or dance, or both.
The hippie members of a rock band, called The Group, labor over a decision to stop playing dance clubs in LA and hit the road. After about 40 minutes of talking, dancing and casual sex, the musicians and a small circle of female groupies journey to Bakersfield and Las Vegas to see if they can get their act together.
On the way, they are sidetracked by Butts (Dennis Buckley), The Group's bear-like bassist who can't land a woman on account of he's a short-tempered psycho. During a house party in LA, he forces two women to strip and take a shower while he masturbates (off-screen). On the road, he kills one the groupies, which gives the local constabulary a reason to capture the whole gang.
The finale is extraordinary. The dead girl is wheeled in on a stretcher. Butts grabs a shotgun from a police cruiser and starts blasting, killing Duke, the band leader (played by actor Stuart Whitman's son). One girl (Carol Speed, later in ABBY) takes the gun from Butts and blows a hole in his gut. Meanwhile, a bunch of cops stand around scratching their heads. The camera pans up to the sky and zooms out to a shot of a moon's-eye view of planet earth. Wow, man, what does it all mean?
True to form, Friedman and director Castleman don't have enough plot to sustain the whole movie, and display considerable contempt for their hippie protagonists. Early in the film, an embarrassed-looking Connie Strickland performs a gratuitous, unending striptease (a nod to the button-down crowd, this is the film's dubious highlight). Whenever the story wanes, Friedman gets the actresses to strip or dance, or both.