What's HGL's hangup about Connie Mason? I'm not offering an opinion about her acting either way, but it seems that HG takes every opportunity (such as the DVD commentary for Blood Feast) to lambast her. He just seems to have a real chip on his shoulder regarding her.
shareAccording to Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman, Connie Mason was very difficult to work with. She was always late every day arriving on the sets. She couldn't memorize her lines and had to use cue cards which cost more time and money. It is not hard to see the reason why... in both Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs!, she is a horrible actress. She had absolutely no talent in acting or doing anything right. Her only talent lay with her beauty... and nothing more. During the filming of Two Thousand Maniacs!, she accidently damaged the rented red car that Lewis used for the movie, because she was not a good driver either... another cost of time and money since Lewis had to pay the car rental agency for the damages.
In the Lewis documentary, Godfather of Gore, he describes their relationship as 'Bambi meets Godzilla'.
"If you took the key out of her back, she would stop moving." H.G. Lewis.
Connie Mason was the typical 'dumb blonde' or 'brain dead blonde' as well as a 'klutz' who caused more harm than good in those two movies, even it it was unintentional. She wasn't that good looking. She wasn't intelligent. She wasn't that brave. All she could do was smile and look pretty before the camera... and what was it.
That's interesting to read about. Thanks for posting it. Connie may be a nice person in real life and have many talents, but acting just wasn't one of them. It seemed like she was probably cast just for her good looks.
share...and yet, like a battered spouse, HGL went back for more!
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