The Daily Dig: Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies (1992)

“Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies” is the “Fried Green Tomatoes” of horror and has every bit of blood, boobs, and Berryman a horror head could need.

Auntie Lee’s pretty nieces tempt travelers to her house to become filling for her famous meat pies. Let’s dig into 1992’s AUNTIE LEE’S MEAT PIES, directed by Joseph F. Robertson!

As I See It

This is it! This is the one! The movie this whole column was made for.

I did not know of this film before I ran across it about six months ago, and it’s been high up in my queue ever since because it seemed absurd, and boy, did it deliver. It has everything an eighties horror needs. (Yes, I know it was released in the nineties, but haven’t I told you before that there is about a four-year hangover that bleeds into the new decade?)

That list of deliverables includes notable stars (Karen Black, Michael Berryman, and Pat Morita), gore (a pantry with a built-in decapitator!), gratuitous nudity, and even cannibalism — albeit most of the people who are eating each other are none the wiser.

Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies is kind of Karen Black’s audition for Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses. She’s more Susie Homemaker as Auntie Lee than Mother Firefly, but the template is already there. She’s got the breathy, overtly sexual voice and the faux ditziness that acts as a veil over the control she holds over the whole operation.

The film even shares a similar plot with House as a crazy family sabotages passing cars in order to prey upon the travelers. There’s also a character they call Baby.

Interested in an extra bit of trivia?

Whereas House of 1000 Corpses uses the same house as the Dolly Parton film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (and subsequently didn’t have enough pull to have the Universal tour shut down while they were filming, forcing them to break whenever a tour came through), this film was shot in the same house as the cult horror Motel Hell.

The irony of a long-haired rocker being seduced and slaughtered on a stage set to look like Stonehenge made me want to watch Spinal Tap.

Famous Faces

The late Karen Black (Auntie Lee) is eternalized as Mother Firefly in Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses.

Pat Morita (Chief Koal) is Mister Miyagi of the original Karate Kid series.

Michael Berryman’s (Larry) horror resume is long, but you’ll recognize him immediately. Two standouts are Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects.

Of Gratuitous Nature

With four Playboy centerfolds in the cast — Pia Reyes, Petra Verkaik, Ava Fabian, and Kristen Rose — there was bound to be a ton of nudity.

Heartthrob

I loved the whole damned thing.

Ripe for a Remake

With a premise that has been successful since it was a Penny Dreadful, unsuspecting cannibalism is always sure to churn a few stomachs. Maybe you don’t have to go to the Van Bebber levels of gore, but it feels like a natural fit if you dare to dabble.

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

Vinegar Syndrome released the Blu-Ray with a new 4k scan and a beautiful new slipcover designed by The Dude Designs himself, Tom Hodge. There are tons of extras included as well. You can stream Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies on Tubi or Screambox.