BLOOD FEAST (1963)
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Image Entertainment/Something Weird Video

In 1963, coming off a string of successful "nudie-cutie" films, the exploitation team of director Herschell Gordon Lewis and producer David F. Friedman were on the lookout for the next big thing. They saw the nudie picture racket drying up as the major studios began to incorporate more skin in their releases and the exploitation market drifted towards the rougher sex pictures like the pair's own SCUM OF THE EARTH (1963). Then Lewis came upon a script about a maniac killer obsessed with an Egyptian cult and he had the idea to produce a horror film that would show gruesome deaths in vivid "Blood Color!" There were blood and guts in horror films before, but graphic detail had always been kept to a minimum. Lewis and Friedman decided to make a picture where they would show the audience everything. Following their credo of only producing films that the majors could not, or would not, produce themselves, they made a movie that promised audiences the opportunity to "witness the slaughter and mutilation of nubile young girls -- in a weird and horrendous ancient rite!" And then they delivered.

BLOOD FEAST tells the story of a strange old man with "wild eyes" (Mal Arnold) that runs an exotic catering shop somewhere in sunny Florida (filming was done in Miami). His name is Fuad Ramses, and it turns out that he is a cultist who authored a book called "Ancient Weird Religious Rites" and worships a sadistic Egyptian goddess named Ishtar. In order to revive the ancient goddess, he murders young "nubile" girls and removes specific vital organs and appendages to be used in a cannibalistic "blood feast" which he plans to serve at a party being thrown for young Suzette Fremont (Connie Mason) by her mother (Lyn Bolton). The local police, portrayed by William Kerwin (under the alias "Thomas Wood") and Scott H. Hall, bumble along, failing to get any solid leads in the series of grisly murders. By the time they recognize the clues that have been staring them in the face all along, it could be too late.

But let's not spend too much time on the plot. Lewis and Friedman certainly didn't! Everything here exists solely to set up the shock moments that made this the first genuine "gore" film ever made. There are several gruesome, horrible murders here, each with their own cheap effects that still pack a bit of a shock even today. The most infamous of these filmic butcherings is the "tongue scene," wherein Ramses overpowers a cheap, drunk bimbo (Astrid Olson) and literally rips her tongue out of her mouth. Over the course of the picture's 67 minutes, you also get to see one girl's legs get hacked off, another's brains removed, and, in a flashback of an ancient Egyptian rite, a young girl's heart removed from her chest. The effects are primitive, but despite (or perhaps because of) that, they are still genuinely unpleasant to watch which is what Lewis and Friedman were going for in the first place.

Seeing as how BLOOD FEAST was filmed in about nine days, and most of the time was spent "perfecting" the visual effects, you can't expect too much from the actors. That being the case, they still fail miserably. Leading lady Connie Mason, a one-time Playboy Playmate, exhibits the stiff acting style she would become infamous for, helping her leading man, the Lewis-Friedman regular Bill Kerwin, come off as the consummate acting pro. The star of this movie though is clearly Mal Arnold. He hams it up as the twisted, evil psychopath who fools everyone with his mild-mannered caterer shtick. The scene in his shop where he hypnotizes Mrs. Freemont to host a "genuine Egyptian feast" is a priceless piece of over the top thesping that ranks with anything Bela Lugosi pulled in those old Monogram cheapies.

The transfer quality on this Image Entertainment/Something Weird Video co-release is as good as we're going to get. Scratches and evidence of wear is minimal. The film is presented full-screen, which appears to be the original ratio. Lewis' trademark vibrant colors are in full-bloom- all those blues and reds stand out the way they were intended, and the gore effects are all the more effective for it. The sound is very good -- not noticeably spectacular, but not noticeably lacking in any major way either. There are 12 well-chosen chapter stops with titles like "Beach Blanket Butcher" and "Mean Cuisine."

The most unique extra on this release is a promotional short that Kerwin starred in with Harvey Korman called "Carving Magic," where Kerwin learns how to carve every kind of meat imaginable. It's one of those priceless, odd, very 60s period pieces that Something Weird honcho Mike Vraney seems to have a never-ending supply of. Also included is 44 minutes of unreleased footage and outtakes. The footage has no audio, so music from the film's soundtrack is played over the clips. There really isn't anything worth seeing that didn't make it in to the picture, but between the finished film and this you can see virtually every inch of film that was shot for BLOOD FEAST, no doubt a selling point to the most obsessive collectors. The original theatrical trailer is also included.

The best reason to buy this DVD may be the audio commentary, which features Lewis, Friedman and Vraney discussing this all-time drive-in champ. Lewis and Friedman genuinely are old friends who don't get together nearly as much as they'd like and it shows in their nostalgic reminisces that bring the making of BLOOD FEAST to life. They have a healthy perspective on their creation's place in film history and are still a little surprised at how much money this little picture has brought in over the years. They knew they were doing something unique, new and different when they were making it, but they had no idea that it would go on to become one of the most successful independent films ever produced in America. It was still playing drive-ins regularly through the mid-1980s and spawned a seemingly endless string of imitators that have become huge box-office franchises for others. Always keen businessmen, the dynamic duo of dreadful pictures didn't wait long to follow-up on their success, and got to work immediately on the second of what would become known as the "Blood Trilogy," 1964's TWO THOUSAND MANIACS.

I recommend the entire trilogy, as well as the other Lewis and Friedman releases being reissued by Image and Something Weird, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better place to start than with this seminal classic. (Ted Cogswell)

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