[.ca] Blood Feast

From Amazon.com:
A serial killer is on the loose. Women are being killed and body parts are being stolen. The police are stumped (so to speak). Meanwhile, Egyptmania seems to be gripping this small Florida town. Fuad Ramses's "exotic catering" shop is doing a booming business and his book, Ancient Weird Religious Rituals, is being studied by the local book club. Is there a connection between Ramses and the murders? Of course! In this movie by the wizard of gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis, plot and suspense take a back seat to the gruesome and bloody murder scenes. The acting may not be very good, the script is weak at best, and the effects don't hold up to later standards of Hollywood gore, but there is an infectious enthusiasm that comes through Lewis's desire to shock his audience. The exploitation elements may be dated, but that only makes them all more entertaining. A shocking drive-in sensation when released in 1963, Blood Feast remains a milestone in the exploitation genre, followed (in what would come to be known as Lewis's "blood trilogy") by Two Thousand Maniacs! and Color Me Blood Red. --Andy Spletzer

giving this movie any less than 5 STARS!!! is a CRIME!!!!!!!:
WHY IS IT A CRIME?????????because this movie is the mother of all BLOOD/GORE movies!!!!!this is were it all started!!! and if you don't LOVE this movie then your just insulting the GENRE!!!THANKS!!!! H.G.LEWIS your the MANNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, Herschell Gordon Lewis!:
In 1963 Herschell Gordon Lewis, an independent filmmaker best known for making limited release "cutie" pictures, changed forever the face of American cinema when he released "Blood Feast." This film, as low budget as you could possibly get, heralded the era of the gore film. While it would be quite some time before Hollywood caught on to the fact that certain segments of the movie going public hungered for films containing nauseating scenes of explicit violence, H.G. Lewis took one look at the receipts for "Blood Feast" and decided he better quickly make another movie similar to this one. What followed was a series of gruesome zero budget shockers, films like "The Wizard of Gore," "A Taste of Blood," "2000 Maniacs," "Color Me Blood Red," and "The Gruesome Twosome." Lewis lensed the downright offensive "The Gore-Gore Girls" before retiring from the film business in 1972 in order to devote his time to join the advertising industry. It wasn't until 2002 that the director returned to form with "Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat," a movie which proved beyond a doubt that the Godfather of Gore still has what it takes to gross out an audience. "Blood Feast" introduces us to a cast of intriguing characters set against lush, expensive set pieces crafted by the best designers money could buy in 1963. Moreover, the actors employed by Lewis represent the cream of Hollywood talent, surpassing the likes of Henry Fonda, Marlon Brando, Katherine Hepburn, and nearly any other legendary thespians imaginable. Yeah right. This is zero budget schlock, folks, the sort of movie you would make on a home movie camera if you didn't think your parents would ground you for wasting film stock. What we get in "Blood Feast" is an insane Egyptian caterer named Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold) lurching around slaughtering local ladies in order to prepare a feast made out of their body parts to fulfill some sick ritual to the goddess Ishtar. Ramses intends to present his bloody course at the wedding party of a brainless young lady (played by Connie Mason, an actress with the allure of a speed bump) until the local cops step in and end his bloody spree (Lewis regular Bill Kerwin plays one of the police officers). There isn't anything more to it than that. Well, there are a few killings, gruesome little scenes like the trepanning on the beach, the tongue extraction, and the flashback to the Ishtar ritual where a guy in some cheesy get up removes what looks like a heart from some woman's chest. But you're not really interested in any of those scenes, are you? Of course you are! The ONLY reason a viewer would submit themselves to the agony of a H.G. Lewis film is to see the gore! The incredibly lame acting, the wooden pacing, the slipshod editing, and the brain numbing dialogue certainly wouldn't pack in the crowds. Yes, the gore is a lot of fun here, with some of Lewis's best grue scenes ever gracing the hallowed halls of "Blood Feast." The drooping tongue alone should secure this guy a place in the pantheon of gore cinema. Still, fans that know and love Herschell like I do get a kick out of the other aspects of his films. I loved the soundtrack to this schlockfest, a mix of monotonous drumbeats, strings, and hypercheesy flashes of organ during those scenes where something "important" happens. As good as the soundtrack sounds here (!), the acting really grabbed my attention. Kerwin gives one of his worst performances here as the cop who wouldn't recognize a clue if it came up and tore his tongue out. Connie Mason turns in a bravura performance as the young airhead whose mother hires Fuad Ramses to cater her wedding party. Sweet, seductive Connie couldn't act her way into a paper bag, let alone out of one. If you can keep a straight face when you notice her reading dialogue off of cue cards, you are a bigger man than I. And that guy crying on the beach! Oh man, my friends, OH MAN! I guess we should not express too much surprise that the first gore film ever made looks like the mess that is "Blood Feast." An unpopular genre like this one would never draw big buck investors or heavy studio support from Hollywood. Even today, the gore film--an extreme gore film--tends to rely on a miniscule budget compared to most other movies in different genres. After viewing many of Lewis's films I still cannot figure out how in the heck he convinced people to play these atrocities anywhere in the country. I understand the lure of a buck provides incentives aplenty to screen even the most egregious tripe, but the sordid gore in a Lewis film pushes the envelope beyond the bursting point. The director has stated on several occasions that censors did hack his films to pieces in some regions, but many prints made it through unscathed. How? In 1963? I wish I could go back in time and see "Blood Feast" in a theater just so I could watch the audience reactions. The DVD edition of "Blood Feast" is one of the best Lewis discs available. You get an entertaining commentary track with Lewis and his partner David Friedman, stills aplenty, nearly fifty minutes of silent outtakes, a trailer, and an odd short film about carving meat (no joke!) starring Bill Kerwin and Harvey Korman (!). Parts of the film look magnificent for such an ancient motion picture, while other parts look like they went through a washing machine. Still, the gore comes through in bright color, no amount of poor picture quality could mar the ghastly acting, and the soundtrack sounds great. Get it, watch it, love it!

HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN EGYPTIAN FEAST??:
Unleashed in drive-in theaters back in 1963, H.G. Lewis's "Blood Feast" shocked and revolutionized the horror genre. Clearly an exploitation film, it was the first to make stomach-churning gore the main attraction. Of course, the effects are cheesy by today's standards. The blood itself looks too much like acrylic paint, and the mutilated tissue was generously piled on top of the skin. Also, while the low-budget plotline is grossly predictable, the soap opera acting is both dreadful and hysterical. Nevertheless, "Blood Feast" is a delectable cult masterpiece of camp. It allowed Lewis to freely assemble a series of twisted slasher flicks, including "Two Thousand Maniacs!," "The Wizard of Gore," and "The Gore Gore Girls." Actor Mal Arnold plays Fuad Ramses, a diabolical serial killer who runs an exotic catering shop and publishes a book titled "Ancient Weird Religious Rites." Spewing forth his dialogue, he sports a black mortician's suit and a fake pair of blue-grey eyebrows. In addition, he owns a secret hideout where he worships the statue of Ishtar, Egypt's Mother of the Dark Sun. (Actually, she's nothing more than a department store mannequin painted in gold and cheaply draped in blue fabric!) Then, when Dorothy Freemont asks Fuad to prepare a dinner party for her daughter Suzette (Playboy's Connie Mason), he decides to concoct an authentic feast for the goddess. Simmering in a cauldron is a butcher's buffet of body parts that will supposedly resurrect Ishtar from her tomb. Meanwhile, a homicide detective named Pete (William Kerwin) and the Bureau's Chief Frank (Scott Hall) are busy investigating the many grusome murders that plague the city. Both of these actors can be quite dull, since they are not given that much to do in the film. In fact, if you look at Hall carefully, you will realize that he's reading his own lines off the palm of his hand! Anyway, Pete and Frank are frustrated because the perpetrator seems to disappear without a trace, not leaving even one fingerprint behind. Can anybody guess who the killer is? You guessed it! It's none other than Ramses himself! Walking in broad daylight with an obvious limp, he stalks scantily clad women and cuts them down to size with a machete (a weapon that was later borrowed by Jason Voorhees in the "Friday the 13th" franchise!). Before the opening credits even appear, Ramses attacks a beautiful blond soaking in a bathtub. After stabbing her in the eye socket, he carves off the shin of her leg, allowing the bone to protrude from her thigh! Then, he enters an empty beach and extracts the brains of a bikini girl named Marcy. Much later on, Ramses manages to get his third victim in a cheap motel room. Holding her down on the bed, he rips out the shrieking woman's tongue with his bare hands! Last but not least, as he puts the finishing touches on the blood feast, he kidnaps Truly Sanders, Suzette's best friend. After chaining her to the dungeon wall, Ramses flogs her to death in an act of sadomasochistic torture. I don't want to reveal the graphic ending of this movie, but let's just say that poor Ramses is chased by the law and is taken out with the trash. What is most entertaining about "Blood Feast" is how the Egyptian legend is revealed through a history lesson attended by Pete and Suzette. 5,000 years ago, Ishtar was a deity whose love is steeped in violence and suffering. In the beginning of spring, when the Nile river gave life to the land, the people visited the goddess's temple and indulged in 6 full days of wild orgies. Then, on the 7th day, 20 virgins were sacrificed on the altar. Their blood was collected in silver bowls and fresh organs were cooked and eaten by the crowd. I encourage you freaks and lunatics to try "Blood Feast" at least once. Although it's not the best one directed by Lewis, it's certainly not the worst work either. If you are too intimidated by how I described this movie, then I suggest you have hamburgers for dinner instead.

Everything bad means everything's great:
These movies are definitely an acquired taste, but love him or hate him, you have to respect a man like Herschell Gordon Lewis. He is a filmmaker truly dedicated to his vision, and thanks to producer David Friedman, made movies that were definitely stepping stones in the future development of horror. The gore on films like Night of the Living Dead probably wouldn't have been made if not for the success of these low-budget terrors. To him, I give my props. Blood Feast: 4/5 stars Two Thousand Maniacs: 5/5 stars Color Me Blood Red: 2/5 stars Bad and good, it's entertaining all the way through. Recommended for fans of b-movies or students of horror interested in seeing the real origins of gore.

Boring...with bright red paint, that is susposed to blood:
Alright to start out this review I wanna add that I respect this movie becuase of the year, it was probally the sickest movie in that time period, but now in 2004 it seems that movie has an attempt to try to gross out its audiences. It didn't work for me becuase I felt that the killing scenes we dull and boring. Not to metion the fact the color of the blood was so bright red, paint red, and the acting was terribal. so terribal it seemed like the acters were reading their scipts while being filmed, it was so bad. The main acter, killer guy looked like Kramer from seinfeild. Now...... I can't give this movie all bad reasons, there were some things that were alright, and that was the storyline, But the main psycho guy, did a terribal job acting like he believed in egpytion Gods. So thats it...... Just the storyline that was alright. The rest was absolutly, positively, boring. ..................Lot of Love, John............