1960’s The Sinister Urge opens with a shot of a blonde woman running down a highway while clad only her underwear.

As I watched this scene unfold, I was reminded of a chapter in Hollywood Rat Race, a non-fiction book about the sordidness of the film industry that was written by Edward D. Wood, Jr.  The chapter takes the form of a letter to aspiring young actresses who come to Hollywood, convinced that they’ll become stars.  In the chapter, Wood asks what the innocent young ingenue will do if a director tries to force her to film a scene in just her underwear.  Will you give in, Wood asks, or will you stick true to your values?  Wood seems to suggest that the actress should say no, no matter how much pressure the director puts on her.  Of course, Wood himself was a director, as well as a writer.  In fact, he directed The Sinister Urge.

The Sinister Urge is about the dark side of the film industry.  Police Lt. Matt Carson (Kenne Duncan) and Sgt. Randy Stone (Duke Moore) are investigating a series of murders.  The victims have all been women and they’ve all been killed in the same park.  Carson and Stone suspect that the murders might be connected.  Gee, guys, ya think so?

The murders are being committed by Dirk Williams (Dino Fantini), a knife-wielding teenager who works for the local pornographic filmmakers, Johnny (Carl Anthony) and Gloria (Jean Fontaine).  Dirk has become addicted to viewing pornography and it’s driven him crazy.  Johnny, who laments that he was once a serious filmmaker before he found himself reduced to directing and distributing “smut” to make money, is full of guilt and self-loathing.  Gloria doesn’t care about anything other than making money through selling smutty pictures and movies.  She doesn’t care that she’s helping to produce a product that is inspiring the sinister urge that drives Dirk to kill.

Can Dirk be stopped before he attacks innocent Mary Smith (Jeanne Willardson), who has fallen into the clutches of Gloria’s smut syndicate?  (That’s a great band name, by the way.)  And how will Dirk react when he learns that both Johnny and Gloria are thinking about sacrificing him for the greater good of their evil organization?

The Sinister Urge is an over-the-top melodrama that is clearly an Ed Wood production.  (Posters for Plan 9 From Outer Space and Bride of the Monster appear in Johnny’s office.)  Some of the actors deliver their lines stiffly.  Some of them delvier their lines with just a little bit too much emotion.  The hard-boiled dialogue is full of cliches.  The action sometimes comes to a complete stop so that the cops can discuss the threat of adult films.  The film may be sordid but it’s all presented with such an earnest DIY style that it becomes rather fascinating to watch.  At one point, Wood spliced in footage from a totally different film because why not?  Wood had the footage.  The Sinister Urge was running short.  Why not pad out the length with something totally unrelated?  That never surrender spirit is why Ed Wood remains a beloved figure 100 years after he was born in Poughkeepsie.

Sadly enough, this was Wood’s final “mainstream” film.  After this film, he could only find work writing adult novels and writing and directing the same type of movies that are criticized in The Sinister Urge.  (One has to wonder if The Sinister Urge was Wood’s attempt to satirize the moral panic of the time.)  Sadly, Wood sank into alcoholism and died 17 years after this film was released.  He was 54 years old.  His films, however, live on.