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APRIL 24 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : BLOOD FEAST (1963)
From horror-extreme.com
As the earliest movie on the video nasty list (1963) Blood Feast (also known as Feast of Flesh and Egyptian Blood Feast) is also surprisingly one of the most worthy. Although the movie is old and the effects are very unconvincing compared to many others in the list, the gore is quite extreme and the storyline is quite depraved considering the era and the wooden acting is more reminiscent of musically abundant movies from the fifties which make the whole scenario seem even more creepy and ill-fitting for a horror movie. Herschell Gordon Lewis is one of the first pioneers of extreme horror movies and is renowned for his excessive graphic depictions of violent death and is credited for creating the "Splatter" sub genre of horror as well as being a visionary in the world of exploitation flicks with movies such as The Gore Gore Girls and 2000 Maniacs. As can be expected from a low-budget B-Movie from the sixties, do not anticipate any Oscar winning performances from the actors and the storyline is comparable to a stretched out episode of the Twilight Zone but the influence of this movie on the horror world is undeniable due to its intrepid expedition into extreme gore.
Dorothy Freemont is a wealthy socialite wanting to throw the greatest ever party for her daughter Suzette. Knowing that Suzette has an interest in Egyptian history and having been recommended Fuad Ramses as a caterer that can cater for her needs, Freemont goes to Ramses store and enquires about hiring his services to produce the feast. Ramses explains that he has just the feast in mind, a feast that hasn't been served for over 5000 years and that he will need a couple of weeks to procure the required ingredients.
Ramses has a different motivation to prepare the feast; he plans to resurrect the Goddess Ishtar, The Mother of Veiled Darkness, with his bloody culinary delights composed of body parts of the local female population.
Meanwhile Detective Pete Thornton is investigating a series of brutal murders of young women in the area, all of which have been mutilated and are missing body parts. Having no leads on the motivations for the murders and no clue as to the perpetrator, Pete decides to carry on his normal life and attends his weekly Egyptology class with his girlfriend who just happens to be Suzette. After numerous clues about an ancient Egyptian ritual involving virgin sacrifice the slow-thinking detective finally pieces the puzzle together when one of Ramses narrowly surviving victims mentions the word Ishtar.
Now with all characters fully intertwined in Fuad Ramses diabolical home-economical scheme, Detective Pete must stop the barmy Egyptologist before Suzette becomes the final ingredient in the blood feast.
Blood Feast, amongst the other splatter-works of HG Lewis, manages to push the boundaries of horror to the next level with graphic depictions of eye-gouging, dismemberment and brain-extraction injected into the storyline simply for the sake of shock and revulsion in a story that could have possibly been dumbed down to reach a wider audience. Mr Lewis is an audacious horror director who looks upon his movies as a work of art, sticking to his blood-soaked vision regardless of the controversy caused. Blood Feast is a classic gorefest with boundary breaking nastiness and a nauseating story and the movie must be admired and respected for how and when it has influenced the horror that proceeds it.
APRIL 24 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : DEVIL TIMES FIVE (1974)
This often overlooked 70's sicko really deserves a place on every horror fans' mantle. Thanks to Code Red, this film is now available on DVD for everyone to enjoy. The story is rather simple: A group of psychotic kids, who escape after their van slides in the snow and rolls down the side of a mountain, invade the deep-in-the-woods winter home of iron-fisted patriarch Papa Doc (Gene Evans) and proceed to kill the residents. Papa Doc's group are a veritable smorgasborde of stereotypes: Family suck-up Harvey (the DUKES OF HAZZARD's "Boss Hogg", Sorrell Booke) and his alcoholic wife Ruth (Shelley Morrison), nymphomaniac Lovely (Carolyn Steller), good-girl daughter Julie (Joan McCall) and her good-guy boyfriend Rick (Taylor Lachler), and mentally retarded (and abused) servant Ralph (John Durren). When the kids first enter the home, they are treated as poor helpless tots, but it soon becomes clear that they are way more dangerous than meets the eye. David (Leif Garrett, already an established child star [and future rock star and flameout]) likes to play chess and is a closet transvestite. Hannah (Gail Smale) likes to dress as a nun but is not above using a butcher knife. Moe (Dawn Lyn) likes to play with her doll but likes playing with dead bodies more. Susan (Tia Thompson) likes to play with a lighter and Briann (Tierre Turner) likes to carry a toy rifle and thinks he's in the military. When Ralph is found dead (hanged by a boobytrapped generator) as well as the phone disconnected, the family become suspicious of the kids, and rightly so. Papa Doc's collection of rifles end up missing as does all of the sharp-edged silverware (Rick wryly says to Papa Doc: "I hope you can butter your toast with a spoon."). Soon they all end up dead thanks to piranhas in the bathtub (!), an ingenious use of a scythe, being soaked with gasoline and set afire, a child-made spear and bear traps capped-off by a throat slashing. The most unusual death comes in the beginning when one of the surviving doctors in the accident tries to warn the people in the house, only to be attacked by the kids with garden and construction tools. The scene turns to black-and-white and slow-motion as the kids stab and whack the doctor with a pitchfork, a sledgehammer, a claw hammer and other instruments until he slowly dies. I was also taken aback that the kids would first target Ralph, the person who would probably cause the least resistance due to his mental state. These kids mean business! Director Sean MacGregor (NIGHTMARE COUNTY - 1971; GENTLE SAVAGE - 1973) infuses enough perverse situations (Garrett in drag; the intense piranha kill sequence) and, surprisingly, no female nudity (but there is a instance of male nudity) to hold your attention throughout, even if the screenplay (by co-star John Durren and Sandra Lee Blowitz) has enough holes to pass a train through. But, all things considered, this is a great example of 70's sleaze that could never get made today. Also known as PEOPLETOYS (which makes sense if you've seen it) and THE HORRIBLE HOUSE ON THE HILL. Also available on VHS from Media Home Entertainment in the SP speed and Video Treasures in the EP speed and as part of Mill Creek's 50-movie DVD compilation CHILLING CLASSICS (which looks like a dupe of Media's VHS). Stick with the DVD from Code Red. It's widescreen and looks beautiful. Rated R. { text from critcononline.com }
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