III
a
Keeter�s career, as outlined above, can be divided into two period: his country period (including all his films made in the Carolinas up to 1989) and his Hollywood period (starting 1989). The latter was usually characterized by somewhat bigger budgets, which translated themselves mainly in a higher caliber of stars and bit players and technical personnel. But this difference is not as striking as one might think. Earl Owensby was a low budget producer, but he did own a lot, a studio, equipment that was kept in good condition, photogenic country locations to shoot in, technical staff with some experience and proficiency (At least on the quite biased evidence given in American Cinematographer by 3D man Lenny Lipton, who had managed the 3D shooting of DOGS OF HELL.), and some passable actors for major supporting roles. So at least the Earl Owensby films were not a lost cause - a good director could make them into efficient entertainment, if nothing more. They weren�t. But some of his subsequent Hollywood films were. The explanation for this is twofold. First, part of the blame, at least as far as the Earl Owensby Films go, does lie in Owensby�s lap. Owensby was an anomaly. He was aware of being a schlockster with southern grindhouse audiences as his market. Which meant he needed violent acts, sexual acts, acts combining both, sensationalism, etc.. However, Owensby was one of those believer types, who wanted to give wholesome family entertainment. This resulted in leaving most of the grindhouse ingredients off screen. This might have worked 30 years earlier, but in the late 70�s and early 80�s it just left the films with no real punch, and absolutely nothing to keep people�s interest, since his plots were always run of the mill renditions of familiar formulas, not saved even when stealing from real life controversies (in the case of LIVING LEGEND, the thinly disguised revamping of Elvis Presley.). But this is only part of the deal. Keeter�s second Duncan Jacks entry, ORDER OF THE BLACK EAGLE wasn�t done for Owensby. It wasn�t better than the Owensby films. But his last country film, TRAPPER COUNTY WAR, was (at least this is what the reviewer for Variety claims. I have not seen this one.). This suggests the earlier films were an apprenticeship period, in which Keeter had to teach himself the ropes. It does show. WOLFMAN, Keeter�s first film (and the first for Owensby) is a boring film, totally devoid of anything resembling "direction". This results in some unintentional laughs that actually elevate this above Keeter�s second film, the obnoxious, all too straight faced LIVING LEGEND. LADY GREY, Keeter�s third, actually had several decent moments, Keeter kept it ok pitch, made generally good use of score, and delivered his least bad Owensby effort. DOGS OF HELL was better made, but a lesser film. It�s awkwardly uneasy about itself, with a bit more violence than standard Owensby and the schlocksterish 3D gimmick, but with typically little conviction about their use. Still, Keeter continues to show improved efficiency. After the Owensby produced quartet Keeter was supposed to continue uphill. But he went on a few years of hiatus, and when he returned, it was basically on his own. His first two independents, super spy yarns UNMASKING THE IDOL and ORDER OF THE BLACK EAGLE, pose a real problem. I saw only the latter, but according the reviewer for Variety the former had similar characteristics: inane, wacked out plot (the latter deals with Neo Nazis going for world domination who want to defrost the cryogenically preserved body of Hitler), cheep cardboard sets, stupid characters and stupidly choreographed action scenes. But the Variety reviewer found all this quite funny - and intentional, while I didn�t. the problem lies probably in me. I rather hate bad low budget action scenes, with weak pyrotechniques and no pace. Keeter does attempt to do lots of action and humor, two ingredients sorely absent from the Owensby films. Placing these films within his career, one is tempted to agree with Variety, that there was a deliberate choice to make it tacky, while gaining experience in doing action. According to Variety this seems to have stood him in good stead when he came to make TRAPPER COUNTY WAR, as they claim it is a passable film, with good use of local actors and local, involving and kept at a "going at a good clip" by Keeter.
b
TRAPPER COUNTY WAR also gave him a chance to work with a name actor (Bo Hopkins) for the first time. This gave him the shot at Hollywood, and started his second phase. His first Hollywood effort, L.A. BOUNTY, may have been a comedown. According to Variety he gave his stars too much freedom, unflatteringly photographed his female lead Sybil Danning (the first time he shot an actress who was a star, sexy, and with a major role in his film) and made lame action. The latter point is contradicted by L.A. Morse (in his second VIDEO TRASH AND TREASURES book), who claims the film was slickly made, which is not a compliment Morse gives freely. He also thinks the �unflattering� photography was actually a calculated decision by Danning, part of a change of image attempt. I have not seen the film, but I do tend to prefer Morse�s view, not only because it is consistent with Keeter�s career, but mainly because Morse, like me, comes from the trash field, and admits to a liking of Danning. It took him three years to land another directing position, but this resulted in what is possibly Keeter�s best film (certainly of those I�ve seen), ILLICIT BEHAVIOUR (aka: CRIMINAL INTENT). This thriller of sex and intrigue works as a genre entry. Keeter seems to have settled into the slot of a �professional� nicely: he does everything by the book, let�s the actors and the writer do their thing uninterrupted, makes good use of score, and is satisfied at that. He attempts little, and therefore destroys none. He does seem to be unsure of the sex stuff, possibly because it�s his first attempt at a sexually oriented film. By now, though, he is a quick learner: his unease seems to have dissipated by the time he got to his next film, SNAPDRAGON. But in SNAPDRAGON Keeter seems to have been too sure of himself. He attempted an ambitious directorial touch: he tried to manage passing Pamela Anderson Lee as an innocent looking girl. He succeeded. But he seems to have neglected almost everything else. The is too standard in plot, substandard in execution, and with supporters doing a disappointingly unexceptional job. It was better than most of his earlier efforts, but unexceptional nonetheless. Subsequently, he worked for producer Haim Saban on the generally horrendous POWER RANGERS series, and on something called MASKED RIDER. In 1997 he returned to the Carolinas with a B star name cast to do LAST LIVES, an SF flic with a rather zany plot, but I failed to find any critical info on it.
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