Editing Ed Wood (section)

====''Necromania''====
In 1971, Wood produced, wrote and directed ''[[Necromania]]'' (subtitled ''A Tale of Weird Love'') under the pseudonym "Don Miller". The film was an early entry to the new subgenre of hardcore pornographic films. Thought lost for years, it resurfaced in edited form on Mike Vraney's [[Something Weird Video|Something Weird]] imprint in the late 1980s and was re-released later on DVD by Fleshbot Films in 2005. In the Rudolph Grey biography ''Nightmare of Ecstasy'', [[Maila Nurmi]] ("Vampira") said she declined Wood's offer to do a nude scene sitting in a coffin for ''Necromania'', claiming she was recovering from a stroke at the time.{{sfn|Grey|1994|p=135}}

From 1971 to 1972, Wood directed an unknown number of short X-rated films produced by the Swedish Erotica film company. These were short 12-minute loops that were silent films with subtitles. Wood was paid $100 for every ten loops he subtitled.

Wood's friends Kenne Duncan and Tor Johnson both passed away during this period. (Wood was named executor of Kenne Duncan's estate, and following Duncan's death, Wood held a small memorial funeral for him with his wife and some friends in his backyard around the swimming pool where they eulogized the departed Western film star.) Wood's friend Duke Moore died in 1976.<ref name="Rudolph Grey 1992 pg. 115">Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg. 115. ISBN 978-0-922915-24-8.</ref>
 
Throughout the 1970s, Wood worked with his friend Stephen C. Apostolof, usually co-writing scripts with him, but also serving as an assistant director and an associate producer. (Together they had made Wood's ''[[Orgy of the Dead]]'' back in 1965.) Wood's last known on-screen appearance (a dual role) was in Apostolof's 1974 film ''Fugitive Girls'' (a.k.a. ''Five Loose Women''), in which he played both a gas station attendant called "Pops" and a sheriff on the fugitive women's trail. In 1974, Wood was allegedly on the set of an ultra-low budget film called ''[[Meatcleaver Massacre]]'' (1977) and is said to have co-directed at least one scene in the film (uncredited), but his involvement is dubious.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQVBCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22james+bryan%22+%22meatcleaver+massacre%22+ed+wood&pg=PT99 | title=Trash Cinema: A Celebration of Overlooked Masterpieces | last1=Rausch | first1=Andrew J. | date=May 30, 2015 }}</ref><ref>Stine, Scott Aaron (2015). The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1960s and 1970s. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-49140-7.</ref>

At the time of his death, Wood was working on a biographical screenplay based on the last years of actor [[Bela Lugosi]] to be called ''Lugosi Post Mortem'', which was supposed to star actor Peter Coe as Lugosi and Karl Johnson as his father [[Tor Johnson]]. The nearly completed script was left behind the last time Wood was evicted and is presumed to have been discarded in the trash. Wood was also working on a screenplay for a film called ''Venus De Milo'', a mystery that would explain the famous statue's missing arms.<ref name="Rudolph Grey 1992 pg. 220">Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg. 220. ISBN 978-0-922915-24-8.</ref>

Technically, Wood's last acting job was in the 1978 Stephen Apostolof film ''Hot Ice''. Ed Wood played a janitor in the film, but his scene was cut out at the last minute due to his drunkenness on the set. Wood died soon after this film was made in 1978, at age 54. Apostolof himself stopped making films as well at this time.