INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS (1972)
Director: Ed Adlum
Retromedia

Opening with spooky narration from somebody doing a ridiculous James Mason impression, we are treated to an effective long shot of hooded figures on a hill with torches under a red sky. It is explained that the Druids, shrouded in mystery by the passage of time, were not of this Earth and that they were Sangroid blood eaters. We then cut to a backroads highway where a staggering guy called "Jim Carrey," blood all over his oversized white shirt, arrives in a local bar and drops dead in front of the hick patrons.

Elsewhere, a sappy young couple sporting some very Brady fashions get mushy in the yard. The girl's pop is a pathologist who discovers something unusual about Carrey's blood, which caused his body to explode. The girl's boyfriend is the square assistant of the pathologist, so he gets heavily involved in trying to figure out what the hell's going on. Lots of people are killed early on, including a woman with tubes in her arms being slowly drained, her hillbilly husband (who gets a needle in the eye), a poor fluffy pooch who gets hung over the front porch, and a couple of boring newlyweds in a hotel room. It's all a plot by the blood farmers to revive the "last queen of the Sangroid" (who's kept in a glass tank), by finding a suitable blood host for an ancient ritual.

Shot in upstate New York, by the team of Ed Adlum and Ed Kelleher (later responsible for the incredible SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED), this is as cheap as the come: A 70s equivalent to what Eddie Wood was doing in the 50s, but it's also a lot like a tolerable Andy Milligan movie. The acting is nonexistent, the gore effects are lame (although pretty explicit for PG), the soundtrack consists of overbaked stock music, and the editing (by SHRIEK director Michael Findlay) is so clumsy that at times you can notice actors waiting for their cue! In other words, a classic drive-in epic of the trashiest proportions.

Retromedia's DVD of INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS is very impressive, especially for an ultra-cheap film. The transfer is appropriately letterboxed, the colors look accurate, and the picture is crisp and smooth for the most part--only soft on occasion. There are minor blemishes in the source material, but again, this is due to its low budget origins. Basically the DVD presents a very pleasant presentation, but you won't forget that you're gazing at trash.

Fred Olen Ray (with some lovely gals) introduces the film as part of his "Night Owl Theatre" series. The disc also contains a still gallery, a trailer for the film, trailers for other Olen Ray films, giveaway offers, and "Night Owl" bloopers. (George R. Reis)

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