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Sweet Kill
Sweet Kill
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Curtis Hanson
Written by	Curtis Hanson
Produced by	Tamara Asseyev
Starring	Tab Hunter
Cinematography	Daniel Lacambre
Edited by	Gretel Ehrlich
Music by	Charles Bernstein
Production; companies	Curtis Lee Hanson; Tamaroc Productions
Distributed by	New World Pictures
Release date	January 1973 (US);
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$110,000 or $130,000

Sweet Kill (also known as A Kiss from Eddie and The Arousers) is a 1973 B-movie written and directed by future Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson. The film was Hanson's directorial debut and was executive-produced by Roger Corman. It stars 1950s heartthrob Tab Hunter and was the last film of actress Isabel Jewell.^[4]^[5]

*Sweet Kill* poster when re-released as *The Arousers*

Plot

Eddie Collins finds that he is unable to perform sexually with women because of repressed memories of his mother. After accidentally killing a woman while trying to sleep with her, he finds that he is able to get aroused by the dead body. This leads him into a chain of luring women into bed in order to kill them for sexual gratification.

Main cast

Actor	Role
Tab Hunter	Eddie Collins
Cherie Latimer	Lauren
Nadyne Turney	Barbara
Isabel Jewell	Mrs. Cole
Linda Leider	Vickie
Roberta Collins	Call Girl
John Aprea	Richard
Rory Guy	Henry
John Pearce	Mr. Howard

Production

Development

Curtis Hanson got to know Roger Corman while doing re-writes on The Dunwich Horror (1970), which Corman had helped finance. Corman had a track record of giving opportunities to first time directors and was setting up his own distribution company, New World Pictures. When Dunwhich Horror was finished, Hanson told Corman he wanted to direct a film he had written; Corman said he would be interested in financing a motorcycle movie, a women in prison movie or a nurses movie. Hanson was unenthusiastic, so Corman then said he might also be interested in a modern horror film along the lines of Psycho (1960).^[2]^[3]

Hanson wrote the script originally with the killer as a female. Corman liked it but felt it was "a little too different" for the killer to be female so asked she be turned male.^[6]^[7]

The producer, Tamara Asseyev, was Corman's former assistant.^[8]

According to Hanson, the film cost $130,000 and Corman was supposed to put up two-thirds of the money. A couple of weeks before filming started Hanson says Corman "reneged on the deal and said he would only put up one-third of the money. My producing partner and I had to raise the other two-thirds. To show how foolhardy I was, I went to my parents and persuaded them to put a mortgage on their home in order to finance this film."^[3]

In November 1970, Tab Hunter signed to make the film. Isabelle Jewel, Cherie Latimer and Rita Murrie were also cast. At this stage the film was called A Kiss for Eddie.^[9]^[10]

Shooting

Filming took place in 1971. The apartment where Tab Hunter's character lived in Venice was owned by Hanson's grandmother.^[2]

Reshoots

Hanson says when he showed the film to Corman "he said it needed more tits in it... It was my first nightmare post-production experience."^[3]

Hanson says "It was recut to some degree and more bare breasts were put into it. It was the first time I learned the lesson that I had the opportunity to learn multiple times after that which is: If you're going to risk being wrong, it's better to be wrong with your own mistakes than with somebody else's. "^[7]

"It was very low-budget and it was a really interesting script", said Hunter. "But, of course, Roger Corman had to put his own little tweaks into it (laughter). He had his own way of making motion pictures... and selling them."^[11]

Releases

The film was originally released as Sweet Kill.^[12]

Box office performance was disappointing. The film was re-released as The Arousers. It arrived in Los Angeles cinemas in 1976. The Los Angeles Times said it was "made with a sensitivity and intelligence unusual for the normally lurid psycho genre."^[13]

Hanson later described the experience as a "very unhappy" one.^[6]

References

^ "SWEET KILL". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 43, no. 504. London. Jan 1, 1976. p. 64.
^ ^a ^b ^c Chris Nashawaty, Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses – Roger Corman: King of the B Movie, Abrams, 2013 p 102
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Curtis Hanson at the NFT". The Guardian. 16 November 2002.
^ Isabel Jewell at IMDb
^ "Isabel Jewell; Film Actress of 1930–40s". Los Angeles Times. Apr 7, 1972. p. c10.
^ ^a ^b Christopher T Koetting, Mind Warp!: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman's New World Pictures, Hemlock Books. 2009 p 36
^ ^a ^b "Seaman Quint Interviews CURTIS HANSON about, well all things Curtis Hanson... + Tonight's GOLDEN GLOBES!!! PART 1!!!". Aint It Cool News. January 21, 2001.
^ Ed. J. Philip di Franco, The Movie World of Roger Corman, Chelsea House Publishers, 1979 p 172
^ Martin, Betty (Nov 14, 1970). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'Square Root' Next for Dustin". Los Angeles Times. p. b8.
^ Martin, Betty (Dec 21, 1970). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: Culp, Raquel 'Caulder' Stars". Los Angeles Times. p. i19.
^ Biss, Bill (May 27, 2015). "Living Two Lives :: Tab Hunter Talks Hollywood, the Closet & His 'Confidential' Doc". Edge Media Network.
^ Thomas, Kevin (Jan 9, 1972). "Movies: Roger Corman--Director Who Changed the Face of Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. p. v18.
^ Thomas, Kevin (Feb 6, 1976). "MOVIE REVIEW: When a Teacher Learns to Kill 'AROUSERS'". Los Angeles Times. p. e10.