Brace yourself for one of the 70s’ greatest, creepiest, cult classics - Poor Pretty Eddie is a surreal psycho-thriller that broke all the rules of B-movie filmmaking when it unleashed its sordid tale of a black celebrity from the big city stranded in a backwoods redneck nightmare.

Liz Wetherly (Leslie Uggams) is a popular singer just looking for a little break from her hectic schedule. But when her car breaks down, she ends up stuck in a remote southern town that‘s been left for dead “ever since they put in the interstate.”

Forced to spend the night, she find herself having to endure “Bertha’s Oasis”, a rundown lodge that serves as the bizzaro fiefdom of faded, overweight burlesque star Bertha (Shelly Winters), her much younger boy-toy and aspiring Elvis wannabe, Eddie (Michael Christian), and a cast of suitably strange townsfolk--including Sheriff Orville (Slim Pickens), Floyd (played by the great character actor, Dub Taylor), and Keno (Ted Cassidy, aka Lurch from The Addams Family and one of the most recognizable character actors of our time).

For years, Poor Pretty Eddie existed only in the underground. It was one of those fabled “must-see (if you can find a copy)” films. But in the circles where it did make the rounds, it was increasingly lauded by film buffs as much for its attentive approach to detail and almost art-house-like qualities, as it was for the blatant seediness and dark storyline. Intriguing, when you consider its directors had never demonstrated any previous (or, indeed, subsequent) aspirations to produce anything beyond just some good old-fashioned exploitation fare, aimed squarely at the low-brow drive-in movie crowd. Of course, it succeeds quite spectacularly on that latter level, too. As a result, Poor Pretty Eddie has earned its rightful place in the pantheon of down-and-dirty grindcore notables.

Over the years, the film would also appear on the drive-in circuit under such alternate titles as Black Vengeance and Heartbreak Motel. Whatever you call it, it’s not a movie you will soon forget.