Private Parts (1972)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: Los Angeles

Private Parts is a 1972 American horror film directed by Paul Bartel in his feature film debut, and starring Ayn Ruymen, Lucille Benson, and John Ventantonio. Its plot follows a troubled young woman who suspects a deviant serial killer is living in her aunt's dilapidated hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The film has been noted for its stylistic mixture of horror, dark comedy, and psychological thriller elements.

Production

The film was written by Philip Kearney and Les Rendelstein, based on real-life people they had met in Los Angeles in the 1960s. Producer Chuck Hirsch showed the script to Paul Bartel, who had made the shorts The Secret Cinema and Naughty Nurses. Bartel optioned the script and rewrote it. Bartel intended to make the film in New York for $65,000. Then his agent sent the script to Gene Corman who liked it, and Bartel's films.

Bartel said "It was basically a horror film touched with comedy. I shot it as a horror film and then ten minutes before the climax I cut away and made it a pure comedy."

The role of Aunt Martha, played by Lucille Benson, was intended for Mary Astor.

Location shooting took place in the King Edward Hotel near Skid Row, Los Angeles. Bartel said "the production went very smoothly."

Private Parts began with the working title "Blood Relations"; the change came at the order of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio head James Aubrey, but Private Parts as a title was problematic because some newspapers would not print it; in Chicago, the film was advertised as Private Arts.

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