Blood Feast
1963Dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis
A bushy-eyebrowed caterer messily murders various women in order to resurrect an ancient Egyptian goddess. Several inept detectives attempt to track him down and put a stop to his nefarious deeds.
Produced by exploitation guru David F. Friedman, and economically directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Blood Feast abounds with an impish glee and carefree abandon. With not a shred of decency or taste in sight, inconveniences such as plot and story are flung aside in favour of shoddily staged scenes of carnage and makeshift mayhem. Hurrah! This title holds the dubious honour of being the first ever ‘gore movie’ or ‘splatter film’ – films centred around gory special effects and scenes of depravity and sadism. Back in the early Sixties all this was new and subversive and naturally horror audiences thirstily lapped it up as they clambered to catch a glimpse of what would become a milestone in schlock cinema.
Anyone who has seen Blood Feast will know that it is a film designed around a number of grisly special effects-heavy scenes in which various characters are hacked, slashed, decapitated, de-tongued and generally slathered in their own gore – all in the name of entertainment! These moments are sprinkled sporadically throughout a vague and plodding story with an emphasis on gross out gore effects and close-ups of hapless victims being outlandishly murdered by a creepy caterer wielding a copy of ‘Ancient Weird Religious Rites’.
Prowess and subtlety are not words in Lewis’ vocabulary, and we wouldn’t want them to be. The film’s very raison d’être is to provide audiences with an abundance of over the top and gory imagery and showcase the splattery effects. Everything plays second fiddle to this. The acting is gobsmackingly awful and yet immensely amusing. This exchange is just one example of the sort of staggeringly bad dialogue and woeful delivery one can expect whilst wallowing in this sordid viewing experience. As dated as the special effects are, a couple of them still manage to seize attention – particularly those featured in the shot of the dead women on the beach, her head a bloody mess, and the scene in which a character has her tongue slowly ripped out of her throat whilst flailing around a grotty motel room is also disturbing.
This sublimely trashy film firmly falls into the ‘so bad it’s entertaining’ category. Completely tensionless, it more than compensates with its sheer camp value. Blood Feast is cheap, nasty and a bloody fun time. I watched it through the bottom of a wine glass at a recent screening in Belfast’s Safehouse Gallery as part of a new film night dubbed Texploitation. Organised by local comedians and fans of exploitation movies, Texploitation is set to take place at least once a month for the foreseeable future. For more info, simply follow the linkage…
This sublimely trashy film firmly falls into the ‘so bad it’s entertaining’ category. Completely tensionless, it more than compensates with its sheer camp value. Blood Feast is cheap, nasty and a bloody fun time. I watched it through the bottom of a wine glass at a recent screening in Belfast’s Safehouse Gallery as part of a new film night dubbed Texploitation. Organised by local comedians and fans of exploitation movies, Texploitation is set to take place at least once a month for the foreseeable future. For more info, simply follow the linkage…
Comments
Thanks very much for the linkage also.
Rock!
I was lucky enough to be present at the world premiere of HGL's (currently unfinished) latest movie, The Uh-Oh Show, at the Abertoir Festival. Can't wait for a proper release of that :)
As you pointed out, these movies are not very good. However, the enthousiasm and creativity of the gore effects more than make up for it, and a fun time can be had by all!
I love Herschell Gordon Lewis, and would kiss the man on the mouth if the opportunity presented its self!
That first clip of Tony on the beach just may well be the funniest thing I've seen in months. I could laugh
just thinking about it.
Thank you!!
(Oh, and everyone should wear dress slacks and a button down dress shirt during hanky panky on the beach.)
Sarah - I too must admit I also love a bit of depravity and sadism. Luckily we're in good company.
Jenn - Are your short story and fake article for Weekly World News online anywhere?? I'd love to check them out - maybe you could post 'em on Cavalcade? If HG signed anything of mine you can bet it would be a prized possession too!
WriterME - A few years back I taped Two Thousand Maniacs! off the TV (I MUST be going back a few years if I'm talking about 'taping' stuff from the TV). Unfortunately it had no sound. I watched it anyway (don't ask), but obviously didn't enjoy it as much as I would have with sound.
You went to Abertoir?? I've yet to make it there - I'd love to go though as I used to study at Aber. Are you based there yourself?
Stac - Isn't Connie Mason just the dreamiest? That vague, faraway look in her eyes - you CAN'T fake that sort of acting. She's a keeper.
I too would kiss HG on the mouth after watching Blood Feast. He is one classy bitch.
Chris - I think, rather unsurprisingly, that Blood Feast was Gene (Tony - boy on the Beach) Courtier's only role to date. I guess his acting techniques were just way too progressive for audiences. Talk about method. Though what kind of method, I'm really not sure though. And just for the record - dress slacks and a button down dress shirt during hanky panky on the beach are HAWT!
James: I'm based in Cardiff myself. Went to Abertoir last year as part of the Uni of Glamorgan Grand-Guignol work: the organisers had asked us to do a play there. Was the production assistant/effects person for that (playing around with stageblood is fun!).
I enjoyed it a lot and, if I can make it, I will go again this year. The atmosphere and the movies on offer are terrific; great mix of types of horror.