Since his individual masterpieces never took off (when he was alive, that is), Ed Wood was forced to crank out one quickie script or pulp novel after another in order to support his growing problem with alcohol.  In the mid-60s, Ed teamed up with Bulgarian-born Stephen Apostolof, and the two of them created a monster nudie flick known as Orgy Of The Dead.  No matter how bad of a movie it may really be (and it is), Orgy Of The Dead nevertheless proved to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship and Wood collaborated with Apostolof on several more films…two of which are presented in this set.

Note: I am going in the order I found them in the case…

Disc One
Fugitive Girls (1974) - Bad day-for-night shots.  Night goes to day and then back again in-between shots.  Women take advantage of men.  Cars don’t move while people are driving them in some scenes.  Yep, this has Ed Wood and A.C. Stephen written all over it.  The story here is one half The Violent Years (which Wood also wrote) and half Roger Corman’s Swamp Diamonds.  The modest existence of good girl Dee (Margie Lanier) goes sour when a boyfriend shoots a liquor store employee and pushes her out of the car at the scene of the crime.  From there, Dee finds herself in an isolated correctional facility (which looks suspiciously like a ranch) and the rest of the stereotypical WIP characters are introduced: the dyke (Tallie Cochrane), the sassy black woman (Jabie Abercrombie), the racist white trash girl (Rene Bond), and the bitch (Donna Young).  Together, they all escape to go find a stash of money that was once hidden by the racist white trash girl (former porn queen Rene Bond).  Maria Arnold, Forman Shane, Nicolle Riddell, and even Ed Wood himself show up in the film (Ed graces us by playing two roles - a cop and an old man named Pop - sadly, neither character is in drag).

Despite its low-budget faults, Fugitive Girls does a fine job of keeping you entertained.  The only problem here is that this particular released is an edited version (a longer print was released on VHS and the film itself is available under the titles Hot On The Trail and Women’s Penitentiary VIII).

Disc Two
Drop Out Wife (1972) - A rather drab and often depressing attempt at a poignant tale which only comes to life during its softcore sex scenes (a few of which are dangerously close to the real thing).  A young housewife (Angela Carnon) shows up at the house of her best friend (Terri Johnson) to relate the harrowing tale of her newfound sexual liberation following a request by he now-estranged husband to attend an orgy (who has now filed for divorce because she enjoyed sex with other people more than he did - I’ve seen this kinda shit happen…it doesn’t amuse me).  Keep an eye out for the swingin’ Michael Bolton-looking lounge pianist guy (complete with an ascot).

Aside from the aforementioned sex scenes (which get tiresome very quickly and include several hardcore and softcore regulars like Rene Bond’s former beau Ric Lutze, Rick Cassidy, Forman Shane, Candy Samples, Sandy Dempsey, etc.), Drop Out Wife has very little going for it…with the exception of a hilariously tasteless scene where Carnon loses a baby due to her hubby’s physical abuse (which was OK in the 70s…and still is in Mobile, Alabama).

Disc Three
Lady Godiva Rides (1969) - “Love and Lust on Two Continents!” the posters screamed.  The only non Wood film in the set and a masterpiece of vintage, period-piece sleaze with plenty of costumes and skin for everyone to enjoy.  Lady Godiva (busty softcore goddess Marsha Jordan) is forced to flee Merry Ole England (which looks suspiciously like a postcard) on a ship (a toy boat in the bathtub) with her lover Tom Jones (Forman Shane) when her hubby discovers them in bed.  Lots of extreme close-ups/zooms, over-modulated dialogue, horrible accents (sometimes no accents at all), looped moaning, ambiguously gay sailors, and gratuitous softcore sex scenes abound (could somebody please tell me why men always keep their pants on in these films?  It’s bad enough there is nary the sight of pubic hair, but come on: the sight of a man’s ass would not have implied you were anything but straight, Steve!).  Some of the many, many co-stars include Vincenti Barbi and the late Liz Renay.  Recommended for its sheer unintentional ludicrousness if nothing else.

Presentation
Fair warning: neither film in this set is perfect.  Every film here is transferred from a video source (whether they be masters or cassettes) so there are a lot of blemishes (tracking lines are aplenty during Drop Out Wife and everybody’s skin color changes to various shades of red, orange, and green from time to time).  Aside from the inclusion of the edited version of Fugitive Girls, the film presentations are the biggest bummer of all here.  All of the films are presented in 1.33:1 Standard mode (they were shot that way and matted in theaters).  2-Channel English Audio is available on every title and there are no Subtitles (not that anyone would need them).

Extras
Special Features for Fugitive Girls include a brief Photo Gallery (0:30) which gives us a look at some mini Lobbies and a One-Sheet, a Theatrical Trailer (4:53) and a Bio for Edward D. Wood, Jr.  Drop Out Wife brings us the original Theatrical Trailer (3:53) and another quickie Photo Gallery (0:30) that looks like they could have been taken from the pages of a Pressbook or a magazine article on the film (if somebody actually bothered to produce such a thing, that is).  Lady Godiva Rides offers up a Photo Gallery (1:57) and an A.C. Stephen Bio.

The Bottom Line
Your journey into sleaze is complete.  You have arrived.  Welcome to The Lascivious World Of A.C. Stephen & Edward D. Wood, Jr. (and it’s “A.C. Stephen”, S’More…not “A.C. Stevens”).