Blood Feast


1h 15m 1963

Brief Synopsis

An Egyptian priest uses human sacrifice to bring back his goddess.

Film Details

Genre
Horror/Science-Fiction
Horror
Release Date
Jan 1963
Premiere Information
Peoria, Illinois, showing: Jul 1963
Production Company
Box Office Spectaculars
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 15m

Synopsis

Ramses, an exotic caterer and a fanatic worshiper of the devil-cult of Ishtar, convinces a woman to give her daughter an "Egyptian feast," in which he secretly plans to serve parts of girls' bodies. As the day of the party approaches, a series of bloody murders occur. The girl's fiance, a police lieutenant, arrives just in time to prevent her being vivisected for the feast. Fleeing from the police across the city dump, the fiendish cultist is accidentally mangled to death beneath the blades of a garbage truck.

Film Details

Genre
Horror/Science-Fiction
Horror
Release Date
Jan 1963
Premiere Information
Peoria, Illinois, showing: Jul 1963
Production Company
Box Office Spectaculars
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 15m

Articles

The Gist (Blood Feast) - THE GIST


That popular horror subgenre, the gore movie, first appeared on American screens in July of 1963 with the release of Herschell Gordon Lewis' Z-grade horror film Blood Feast, which reveled in unflinching onscreen violence and its visceral consequences. True to its title, blood did flow, while exposed intestines and internal organs glistened, limbs were crudely severed and people died with their eyes wide open. Moviegoers had never seen anything like it and critics (those who deigned to review the film in the first place) were united in their contempt, with one wag slamming the production as "amateur night in the butcher shop." Four months later, US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy had his brains blown out in front of spectators gathered for a public appearance in Dallas, Texas – a horrific moment captured on frame 312 of the infamous "Zapruder film," an 8mm home movie that preserved the killing for posterity. The impact of the mortal injury spattered the motorcycle cops riding behind JFK and even First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy sitting beside him with blood and gray matter. It was an occurrence that, had it happened in a narrative film, could only have come from the mind of Herschell Gordon Lewis, a former director of nudist reels making the career jump to exhibiting extreme violence. (In 1963, "Bloody Sam" Peckinpah, whose reliance on filmic brutality would characterize Hollywood filmmaking toward the end of the decade, was still directing benign episodes of The Dick Powell Show.) Of course, there is no real connection between these milestones (one cinematic, one historic) apart from the coincidental fallout that nothing in America would ever be the same.

At the end of the opening credits for Terence Fisher's Dracula (US: Horror of Dracula, 1958), the United Kingdom's Hammer Studios spattered a bit of bright red stage blood onto the nameplate of the Undying Count's stone sepulcher – a gory non sequitur communicating the warning that all bets would be off for the following 90 minutes. The early "Hammer Horrors" (starting with their Technicolor take on Frankenstein in 1957) polarized critics expecting the tame shudders of the Universal classic monster cycle but primed strong-stomached horror fans for a gauntlet of taboo-shattering shocks. While Colin Clive's Dr. Frankenstein had collected brains but left the rest of his "To Do" list to the imagination, Peter Cushing's amoral Baron F. blithely scrounged for limbs and organs in plain sight. Lewis and producer David F. Friedman had likely seen these widely-distributed and hotly-discussed films and (like their Egyptian UnSub Fuad Ramses) taken the best bits for their own use, tripling the amount of Hammer's arterial spray for the opening credits of Blood Feast. The infamous shower murder that occurs a third of the way into Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) was another inspiration, prompting Lewis and Friedman to stage their first murder scene in a blue-tiled motel bathroom, against which the victim's outstretched hand slides lifelessly in a manner made immortal by Janet Leigh. If Blood Feast couldn't match the production values of the films that urged it on, it seemed hell-bent on bettering the instruction in wretched excess. George Romero's black-and-white Night of the Living Dead (1968) is often credited with turning the tide of American horror and reflecting a darkening national state of mind but Blood Feast did it five years earlier...and in color.

Shot cheaply (for $24,000) and quickly (in just nine days), the production had to make do with actual locations – mostly motels on Miami Beach – which give the setting a sterility perfect for a depiction of middle class America in the acquisitive "Camelot" era. The repression of the characters/victims is perfectly illustrated by the showroom perfection of their homes; even the stilted acting hints of a population burying their untidy emotions and passions with Brylcream and Playtex. Into this lifeless milieu the predations of Fuad Ramses work like a Deux ex machina, exposing the lie of the American Dream by hacking its acquisitive complacency to the bone. If Harpo Marx had made a film about Wisconsin serial killer/cannibal Ed Gein (whose true crimes inspired both Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974), he might have looked like Mal Arnold, who plays Ramses as an ungainly "funny little man," a method to his madness. Yet for all his victims, Ramses is no Hannibal Lecter; his powers of hypnosis allow for a single application (squandered on getting a patron of his exotic food store to agree to the catered affair she came in to arrange), forcing him to cosh subsequent victims over the head. His red curtained inner sanctum lighted by aluminum Tiki torches and the Goddess Ishtar represented by a department store mannequin sporting two coats of Rust-Oleum Gold, the limping Ramses is no less pathetic or disturbing in his cobbled-together catechism than the Miami tight-asses he hunts as ingredients for his Egyptian feast.

Producer: David F. Friedman, Stanford S. Kohlberg, Herschell Gordon Lewis
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Screenplay: Allison Louise Downe, David F. Friedman, Herschell Gordon Lewis
Cinematography: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Film Editing: Frank Romolo, Robert L. Sinise
Music: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Cast: William Kerwin (Detective Peter Thornton), Mal Arnold (Fuad Ramses), Connie Mason (Suzette Fremont), Scott H. Hall (Police Captain), Lyn Bolton (Dorothy Fremont), Christy Foushee (Trudy), Ashlyn Martin (Marcy), Gene Courtier (Tony), Astrid Olson (Motel Victim), Louise Kamp (Janet Blake/Egyptian Sacrificial Victim), Al Golden (Dr. Flanders), Jerome Eden (Egyptian High Priest), Herschell Gordon Lewis (Radio Announcer).
C-67m.

by Richard Harland Smith

The Gist (Blood Feast) - The Gist

The Gist (Blood Feast) - THE GIST

That popular horror subgenre, the gore movie, first appeared on American screens in July of 1963 with the release of Herschell Gordon Lewis' Z-grade horror film Blood Feast, which reveled in unflinching onscreen violence and its visceral consequences. True to its title, blood did flow, while exposed intestines and internal organs glistened, limbs were crudely severed and people died with their eyes wide open. Moviegoers had never seen anything like it and critics (those who deigned to review the film in the first place) were united in their contempt, with one wag slamming the production as "amateur night in the butcher shop." Four months later, US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy had his brains blown out in front of spectators gathered for a public appearance in Dallas, Texas – a horrific moment captured on frame 312 of the infamous "Zapruder film," an 8mm home movie that preserved the killing for posterity. The impact of the mortal injury spattered the motorcycle cops riding behind JFK and even First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy sitting beside him with blood and gray matter. It was an occurrence that, had it happened in a narrative film, could only have come from the mind of Herschell Gordon Lewis, a former director of nudist reels making the career jump to exhibiting extreme violence. (In 1963, "Bloody Sam" Peckinpah, whose reliance on filmic brutality would characterize Hollywood filmmaking toward the end of the decade, was still directing benign episodes of The Dick Powell Show.) Of course, there is no real connection between these milestones (one cinematic, one historic) apart from the coincidental fallout that nothing in America would ever be the same. At the end of the opening credits for Terence Fisher's Dracula (US: Horror of Dracula, 1958), the United Kingdom's Hammer Studios spattered a bit of bright red stage blood onto the nameplate of the Undying Count's stone sepulcher – a gory non sequitur communicating the warning that all bets would be off for the following 90 minutes. The early "Hammer Horrors" (starting with their Technicolor take on Frankenstein in 1957) polarized critics expecting the tame shudders of the Universal classic monster cycle but primed strong-stomached horror fans for a gauntlet of taboo-shattering shocks. While Colin Clive's Dr. Frankenstein had collected brains but left the rest of his "To Do" list to the imagination, Peter Cushing's amoral Baron F. blithely scrounged for limbs and organs in plain sight. Lewis and producer David F. Friedman had likely seen these widely-distributed and hotly-discussed films and (like their Egyptian UnSub Fuad Ramses) taken the best bits for their own use, tripling the amount of Hammer's arterial spray for the opening credits of Blood Feast. The infamous shower murder that occurs a third of the way into Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) was another inspiration, prompting Lewis and Friedman to stage their first murder scene in a blue-tiled motel bathroom, against which the victim's outstretched hand slides lifelessly in a manner made immortal by Janet Leigh. If Blood Feast couldn't match the production values of the films that urged it on, it seemed hell-bent on bettering the instruction in wretched excess. George Romero's black-and-white Night of the Living Dead (1968) is often credited with turning the tide of American horror and reflecting a darkening national state of mind but Blood Feast did it five years earlier...and in color. Shot cheaply (for $24,000) and quickly (in just nine days), the production had to make do with actual locations – mostly motels on Miami Beach – which give the setting a sterility perfect for a depiction of middle class America in the acquisitive "Camelot" era. The repression of the characters/victims is perfectly illustrated by the showroom perfection of their homes; even the stilted acting hints of a population burying their untidy emotions and passions with Brylcream and Playtex. Into this lifeless milieu the predations of Fuad Ramses work like a Deux ex machina, exposing the lie of the American Dream by hacking its acquisitive complacency to the bone. If Harpo Marx had made a film about Wisconsin serial killer/cannibal Ed Gein (whose true crimes inspired both Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974), he might have looked like Mal Arnold, who plays Ramses as an ungainly "funny little man," a method to his madness. Yet for all his victims, Ramses is no Hannibal Lecter; his powers of hypnosis allow for a single application (squandered on getting a patron of his exotic food store to agree to the catered affair she came in to arrange), forcing him to cosh subsequent victims over the head. His red curtained inner sanctum lighted by aluminum Tiki torches and the Goddess Ishtar represented by a department store mannequin sporting two coats of Rust-Oleum Gold, the limping Ramses is no less pathetic or disturbing in his cobbled-together catechism than the Miami tight-asses he hunts as ingredients for his Egyptian feast. Producer: David F. Friedman, Stanford S. Kohlberg, Herschell Gordon Lewis Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis Screenplay: Allison Louise Downe, David F. Friedman, Herschell Gordon Lewis Cinematography: Herschell Gordon Lewis Film Editing: Frank Romolo, Robert L. Sinise Music: Herschell Gordon Lewis Cast: William Kerwin (Detective Peter Thornton), Mal Arnold (Fuad Ramses), Connie Mason (Suzette Fremont), Scott H. Hall (Police Captain), Lyn Bolton (Dorothy Fremont), Christy Foushee (Trudy), Ashlyn Martin (Marcy), Gene Courtier (Tony), Astrid Olson (Motel Victim), Louise Kamp (Janet Blake/Egyptian Sacrificial Victim), Al Golden (Dr. Flanders), Jerome Eden (Egyptian High Priest), Herschell Gordon Lewis (Radio Announcer). C-67m. by Richard Harland Smith

Insider Info (Blood Feast) - BEHIND THE SCENES


The Blood Feast budget was $24,000.

The Sphinx seen during Blood Feast's opening and closing credits was a feature of Miami's Suez Motel, where Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman were staying when they conceived and shot the film.

H.G. Lewis recalled in an interview with Re/search that "The Suez Motel was typical of a whole string of motels that line that north beach [of Miami]. It's a so-so kind of place: not particularly fashionable, but it's not a fleabag. But, outside the Suez Motel, in all its glory, standing about 5 or 6 feet high is a pyramid and a sphinx! Which is why they call it the "Suez Motel." If it were called the "Gotham," they'd probably have a fake Empire State Building."

"The film opens," Lewis said, "with a shot of that fake sphinx outside the Suez Motel. And then we start pouring blood all over the place. There again I proposed to do that with an optical effect, and every optical house in the business said, "You can't do that. If you're going to have an optical in color, you have to shoot it against a blue background." I said, "Not true! If you make a mask, the mask will be black; therefore I'll give you the mask for it." And we did it, and it was perfect - accidentally, perhaps, but it turned out that way."

The blood dripping on the main titles was poured by Friedman.

There was no actual shooting script for Blood Feast and most of the dialogue in Blood Feast was improvised from notes.

Most of the Blood Feast cast was ported over from Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963).

Scott H. Hall was a grip on the set of Blood Feast and wound up playing the Police Captain because the professional actor hired for the role never showed up.

Allison Louise Downe was given screenplay credit for Blood Feast because it was her idea to have Fuad Ramses sacrifice his victims to the goddess Ishtar.

Because they considered Mason to be such a terrible actress, Lewis and Friedman dubbed her "Friedman's Folly."

Astrid Olson, who plays Blood Feast's infamous tongue victim, was also a bunny at the Miami Playboy Club and was chosen for the role because of the size of her mouth.

Interiors of Fuad Ramses catering shop were filmed on Sundays in a Syrian grocery store.

The tongue used in Blood Feast was a sheep's tongue, transported over from Tampa. During a power outage at the Suez Motel, the tongue started to spoil and was soaked in Pine-Sol and covered in cranberry sauce.

Lewis considered commercial stage blood to be too purple and struck a deal with a Miami cosmetics company to mix a shade to his satisfaction.

A key ingredient of Lewis' custom-made stage blood was Kaopectate, an anti-diarrheal medication.

Regarding his film, Lewis told Re/Search interviewer Boyd Rice, "Blood Feast was a recapitulation of a bloodletting ritual of bygone days. Yes, blood is the ultimate symbol. It's the one symbol everyone understands. You squash a bug - if it happens to be a mosquito that has recently gorged itself; instead of being just a yellow mess there will be some blood in there and you'll recoil. There is power to blood. It has emotional impact unlike any other substance on earth."

The snake seen in the beach attack belonged to David Friedman and was only on camera because it escaped during shooting. The snake also hated sand.

The actress in the Egyptian sacrifice flashback could not hold her breath when playing dead, forcing Lewis and Friedman to pay for a film laboratory freeze frame.

Blood Feast was given its world premiere in Peoria, Illinois rather than in Chicago, so that any potential bad press would spread less quickly.

"When we opened Blood Feast," Lewis recalled in Incredibly Strange Films, "we had vomit bags, and all that was printed on them was "You may need this when you see Blood Feast!" And people would come just to get the bags! It's astounding what motivates people. So, yes, I regard all of that as showmanship, and I'm very much in favor of it, because it preconditions someone to accept what you're going to show him before he sees a foot of film."

compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Sources:
Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by Andrea Juno, Mark Pauline and Boyd Rice, RESearch: Incredibly Strange Films
Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by Bill Kelley and M. J. Simpson, Video Watchdog No. 60, 2000
Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by John Wisniewski, Bright Lights Film Journal, 2001
Herschell Gordon Lewis/David F. Friedman audio commentary, Blood Feast DVD (Something Weird Video)

Insider Info (Blood Feast) - BEHIND THE SCENES

The Blood Feast budget was $24,000. The Sphinx seen during Blood Feast's opening and closing credits was a feature of Miami's Suez Motel, where Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman were staying when they conceived and shot the film. H.G. Lewis recalled in an interview with Re/search that "The Suez Motel was typical of a whole string of motels that line that north beach [of Miami]. It's a so-so kind of place: not particularly fashionable, but it's not a fleabag. But, outside the Suez Motel, in all its glory, standing about 5 or 6 feet high is a pyramid and a sphinx! Which is why they call it the "Suez Motel." If it were called the "Gotham," they'd probably have a fake Empire State Building." "The film opens," Lewis said, "with a shot of that fake sphinx outside the Suez Motel. And then we start pouring blood all over the place. There again I proposed to do that with an optical effect, and every optical house in the business said, "You can't do that. If you're going to have an optical in color, you have to shoot it against a blue background." I said, "Not true! If you make a mask, the mask will be black; therefore I'll give you the mask for it." And we did it, and it was perfect - accidentally, perhaps, but it turned out that way." The blood dripping on the main titles was poured by Friedman. There was no actual shooting script for Blood Feast and most of the dialogue in Blood Feast was improvised from notes. Most of the Blood Feast cast was ported over from Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963). Scott H. Hall was a grip on the set of Blood Feast and wound up playing the Police Captain because the professional actor hired for the role never showed up. Allison Louise Downe was given screenplay credit for Blood Feast because it was her idea to have Fuad Ramses sacrifice his victims to the goddess Ishtar. Because they considered Mason to be such a terrible actress, Lewis and Friedman dubbed her "Friedman's Folly." Astrid Olson, who plays Blood Feast's infamous tongue victim, was also a bunny at the Miami Playboy Club and was chosen for the role because of the size of her mouth. Interiors of Fuad Ramses catering shop were filmed on Sundays in a Syrian grocery store. The tongue used in Blood Feast was a sheep's tongue, transported over from Tampa. During a power outage at the Suez Motel, the tongue started to spoil and was soaked in Pine-Sol and covered in cranberry sauce. Lewis considered commercial stage blood to be too purple and struck a deal with a Miami cosmetics company to mix a shade to his satisfaction. A key ingredient of Lewis' custom-made stage blood was Kaopectate, an anti-diarrheal medication. Regarding his film, Lewis told Re/Search interviewer Boyd Rice, "Blood Feast was a recapitulation of a bloodletting ritual of bygone days. Yes, blood is the ultimate symbol. It's the one symbol everyone understands. You squash a bug - if it happens to be a mosquito that has recently gorged itself; instead of being just a yellow mess there will be some blood in there and you'll recoil. There is power to blood. It has emotional impact unlike any other substance on earth." The snake seen in the beach attack belonged to David Friedman and was only on camera because it escaped during shooting. The snake also hated sand. The actress in the Egyptian sacrifice flashback could not hold her breath when playing dead, forcing Lewis and Friedman to pay for a film laboratory freeze frame. Blood Feast was given its world premiere in Peoria, Illinois rather than in Chicago, so that any potential bad press would spread less quickly. "When we opened Blood Feast," Lewis recalled in Incredibly Strange Films, "we had vomit bags, and all that was printed on them was "You may need this when you see Blood Feast!" And people would come just to get the bags! It's astounding what motivates people. So, yes, I regard all of that as showmanship, and I'm very much in favor of it, because it preconditions someone to accept what you're going to show him before he sees a foot of film." compiled by Richard Harland Smith Sources: Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by Andrea Juno, Mark Pauline and Boyd Rice, RESearch: Incredibly Strange Films Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by Bill Kelley and M. J. Simpson, Video Watchdog No. 60, 2000 Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by John Wisniewski, Bright Lights Film Journal, 2001 Herschell Gordon Lewis/David F. Friedman audio commentary, Blood Feast DVD (Something Weird Video)

In the Know (Blood Feast) - TRIVIA


Before he broke into the motion picture business, Herschell Gordon Lewis was a serious-minded academic with a doctorate degree in psychology.

Lewis taught English for a time at Mississippi State University and was a television producer at WKYY in Oklahoma.

While working for a Chicago advertising agency, Lewis partnered with the firm's co-owner to make low-budget features and produced the youth drama The Prime Time (1960) featuring Karen Black.

Establishing a production company with David F. Friedman (a former carnival barker), Lewis began shooting "nudie cuties," precursors of soft core pornography, in 1961.

To direct his "nudie cuties," Lewis affected the pseudonym Lewis H. Gordon.

After shooting Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963) for producer Leroy Griffith in Florida, Lewis and Friedman decided to stay in Miami and make a film for themselves rather than return to Chicago in the dead of winter.

Leading man William Kerwin (billed as Thomas Wood) had appeared in some of Lewis' "nudie cuties", as well as the 1963 "roughie" Scum of the Earth.

The San Diego-born Kerwin was a cofounder of the San Diego Actor's Theater.

Leading lady Connie Mason was discovered while working at the Miami Playboy Club.

William Kerwin and Connie Mason were married from 1964 until Kerwin's death from a heart attack in 1989.

Credited scenarist Allison Louise Downe was a secretary for Florida filmmaker K. Gordon Murray, who loaned her out to Lewis and Friedman for Blood Feast.

Blood Feast coeditor Robert L. Sinise is the father of CSI: New York star Gary Sinise.

Beach victim Ashlyn Martin would go on to be Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in April 1964.

In 1968, Lewis operated his own Grand Guignol theater called The Blood Shed, which was trashed during the riots surrounding the Democratic National Convention that year.

Lewis directed a belated sequel to Blood Feast in 2002, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat.

Compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Sources:
Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by Andrea Juno, Mark Pauline and Boyd Rice, RESearch: Incredibly Strange Films
Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by Bill Kelley and M. J. Simpson, Video Watchdog No. 60, 2000
Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by John Wisniewski, Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 34, 2001
Herschell Gordon Lewis/David F. Friedman audio commentary, Blood Feast DVD (Something Weird Video)

In the Know (Blood Feast) - TRIVIA

Before he broke into the motion picture business, Herschell Gordon Lewis was a serious-minded academic with a doctorate degree in psychology. Lewis taught English for a time at Mississippi State University and was a television producer at WKYY in Oklahoma. While working for a Chicago advertising agency, Lewis partnered with the firm's co-owner to make low-budget features and produced the youth drama The Prime Time (1960) featuring Karen Black. Establishing a production company with David F. Friedman (a former carnival barker), Lewis began shooting "nudie cuties," precursors of soft core pornography, in 1961. To direct his "nudie cuties," Lewis affected the pseudonym Lewis H. Gordon. After shooting Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963) for producer Leroy Griffith in Florida, Lewis and Friedman decided to stay in Miami and make a film for themselves rather than return to Chicago in the dead of winter. Leading man William Kerwin (billed as Thomas Wood) had appeared in some of Lewis' "nudie cuties", as well as the 1963 "roughie" Scum of the Earth. The San Diego-born Kerwin was a cofounder of the San Diego Actor's Theater. Leading lady Connie Mason was discovered while working at the Miami Playboy Club. William Kerwin and Connie Mason were married from 1964 until Kerwin's death from a heart attack in 1989. Credited scenarist Allison Louise Downe was a secretary for Florida filmmaker K. Gordon Murray, who loaned her out to Lewis and Friedman for Blood Feast. Blood Feast coeditor Robert L. Sinise is the father of CSI: New York star Gary Sinise. Beach victim Ashlyn Martin would go on to be Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in April 1964. In 1968, Lewis operated his own Grand Guignol theater called The Blood Shed, which was trashed during the riots surrounding the Democratic National Convention that year. Lewis directed a belated sequel to Blood Feast in 2002, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat. Compiled by Richard Harland Smith Sources: Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by Andrea Juno, Mark Pauline and Boyd Rice, RESearch: Incredibly Strange Films Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by Bill Kelley and M. J. Simpson, Video Watchdog No. 60, 2000 Herschell Gordon Lewis interview by John Wisniewski, Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 34, 2001 Herschell Gordon Lewis/David F. Friedman audio commentary, Blood Feast DVD (Something Weird Video)

Yea or Nay (Blood Feast) - CRITIC REVIEWS OF "BLOOD FEAST"


"... the very first splatter movie."
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror, edited by Phil Hardy

"... the Birth of a Nation [1915] of exploitation movies."
- Bill Kelley, Video Watchdog

"...a blot on the American film industry..."
- The Los Angeles Times

"This is it! The infamous first gore film. If you can stand the sight of guts, it's hilarious... The acting is terrible. If the actors were as good as the effects it would be nearly impossible to watch."
- Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film

"Blood Feast is a reactionary attempt to bring to films the obsolete trickery of Grand Guignol... (and) will continue to outrage middle class proprieties while titillating the more sophisticated members of the audience."
- Carlos Clarens, An Illustrated History of the Horror Film

"Gross exploitation of buxom young women... Sickening spectacle of the worst kind, which preys on the vicarious needs of lowbrows. The squeamish are not advised to watch – nor are the intelligent."
- John Stanley, Creature Features Movie Guide

"... a mindless, virtually plotless, but high-spirited orgy of gore for gore's sake..."
- John McCarty, Splatter Movies

"It's just remarkable how awful every scene is."
- Danny Peary, Cult Movies 2

"The script is laughable, the acting is atrocious, and if it weren't so short it would be a total bore!"
- The Horror Film

"... the acting is so wretched, it's positively surreal..."
- John Charles, Video Watchdog

"The plot is threadbare, the acting is on a par with the clumsiest of high-school plays, and the direction is static and uninvolving. Nevertheless, this is one of the important releases in film history, ushering in a new acceptance of explicit violence that was obviously just waiting to be exploited."
- Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

"Lewis' charming relic has long passed critical mass and today sprouts quasi-canonical mold - the obligatory result of four decades of joyous imitation, hyperbolic homage, salivating fanzine pictorials, and other institutionalizing practices."
- Andrew Grossman, Bright Lights Film Journal

"This is the mother lode, the Book of Genesis, the wellspring from which spewed the gallons of grue that flowed through 30 years' worth of splatter and gore movies... The acting is terrible, the threadbare budget shows in every shot, but just imagine Southern drive-in audiences lining up around the block back in 1963 to toss their cookies... Offensive, nasty, shabby, and revolting, but also great fun, if you can stand the sight of guts..."
- Jerry Renshaw, Austin City Chronicle

"If there's a fertilizing moment in the Cinema of Bad Taste, it's Blood Feast... Its importance to the horror genre in particular cannot be over-estimated."
- Stephen Thrower, Nightmare USA

"A ludicrously OTT fable of sacrificial slaughter, cannibalism and violent death...."
- The Rough Guide To Cult Movies

compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Yea or Nay (Blood Feast) - CRITIC REVIEWS OF "BLOOD FEAST"

"... the very first splatter movie." - The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror, edited by Phil Hardy "... the Birth of a Nation [1915] of exploitation movies." - Bill Kelley, Video Watchdog "...a blot on the American film industry..." - The Los Angeles Times "This is it! The infamous first gore film. If you can stand the sight of guts, it's hilarious... The acting is terrible. If the actors were as good as the effects it would be nearly impossible to watch." - Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film "Blood Feast is a reactionary attempt to bring to films the obsolete trickery of Grand Guignol... (and) will continue to outrage middle class proprieties while titillating the more sophisticated members of the audience." - Carlos Clarens, An Illustrated History of the Horror Film "Gross exploitation of buxom young women... Sickening spectacle of the worst kind, which preys on the vicarious needs of lowbrows. The squeamish are not advised to watch – nor are the intelligent." - John Stanley, Creature Features Movie Guide "... a mindless, virtually plotless, but high-spirited orgy of gore for gore's sake..." - John McCarty, Splatter Movies "It's just remarkable how awful every scene is." - Danny Peary, Cult Movies 2 "The script is laughable, the acting is atrocious, and if it weren't so short it would be a total bore!" - The Horror Film "... the acting is so wretched, it's positively surreal..." - John Charles, Video Watchdog "The plot is threadbare, the acting is on a par with the clumsiest of high-school plays, and the direction is static and uninvolving. Nevertheless, this is one of the important releases in film history, ushering in a new acceptance of explicit violence that was obviously just waiting to be exploited." - Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide "Lewis' charming relic has long passed critical mass and today sprouts quasi-canonical mold - the obligatory result of four decades of joyous imitation, hyperbolic homage, salivating fanzine pictorials, and other institutionalizing practices." - Andrew Grossman, Bright Lights Film Journal "This is the mother lode, the Book of Genesis, the wellspring from which spewed the gallons of grue that flowed through 30 years' worth of splatter and gore movies... The acting is terrible, the threadbare budget shows in every shot, but just imagine Southern drive-in audiences lining up around the block back in 1963 to toss their cookies... Offensive, nasty, shabby, and revolting, but also great fun, if you can stand the sight of guts..." - Jerry Renshaw, Austin City Chronicle "If there's a fertilizing moment in the Cinema of Bad Taste, it's Blood Feast... Its importance to the horror genre in particular cannot be over-estimated." - Stephen Thrower, Nightmare USA "A ludicrously OTT fable of sacrificial slaughter, cannibalism and violent death...." - The Rough Guide To Cult Movies compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Quote It (Blood Feast) - QUOTES FROM "BLOOD FEAST"


POLICE CAPTAIN (Scott H. Hall): "Seven killings in two weeks. Young girls. And each killing more brutal than the other. This lab report doesn't mean anything. We went over that last girl's apartment with a fine tooth comb. The body looked like Jack the Ripper got to it."

DET. PETE THORNTON (William Kerwin): "Well, Frank... this looks like one of those long hard ones."

MRS. FREMONT (Lyn Bolton): "I want something unusual... something totally different."
FUAD RAMSES (Mal Arnold): "Yes, Mrs. Fremont. I do cater to unusual affairs. What do you consider to be unusual?"
MRS. FREMONT: "Oh, I don't know. What do you recommend?"
FUAD RAMSES: "Have you ever had an Egyptian feast?"
MRS. FREMONT: "Why that would be fine, that would be perfect. My daughter, Suzette, is a student of Egyptian culture. Mr. Ramses, she'd just love it. An Egyptian feast!"
FUAD RAMSES: "Yes... an authentic dinner... such as one might have attended in ancient Egypt. The actual feast... of an ancient pharaoh. It has not been served for five... thousand... years."

PETE: "Say, what do you make of these murders, Frank? He always kills the same way. He just takes one part of the body. This time he took the brains."

FUAD RAMSES: "All is nearly ready... nearly ready... the ancient formula needed for your rebirth. Now we shall have the flavor... the special flavor... seasoned just right for you, oh Mother of... of the Veil of Darkness."

SUZETTE FREMONT (Connie Mason): "I was reading about all those murders and it sort of takes all the joy out of everything."

PROFESSOR (Al Golden): "Hers was an evil love that thrived on violence!"

DOCTOR (Hal Rich): "This is one of the most brutal cases I've ever seen. Her face was hacked away clear to the bone."

PETE: "Well, the killer must have thought she was dead. It's a miracle she wasn't."
POLICE CAPTAIN: "Well, she is now."

FUAD RAMSES: "And now, now for the flavor, Ishtar. The flavor of blood!"

FUAD RAMSES: "Give yourself up to the Goddess!"

PETE: "Ishtar... Itar... Ishtar... Itar..."

POLICE CAPTAIN: "What in the name of all that's holy is that?"
PETE: "That's Ishtar, Frank."

PETE: "Frank, if I'm right, these are the leftovers from the preparation for the Feast of Ishtar. That's a blood feast. They take all the young girls and they cook 'em to satisfy their Goddess."

POLICE CAPTAIN: "Call the Fremonts. For Pete's sake, tell them not to eat anything!"

MRS. FREMONT: "I'll bet there was never a party like this."
FUAD RAMSES: "Ah, but there was, Mrs. Fremont. Five thousand years ago."

POLICE CAPTAIN: "Mrs. Fremont, this feast is evidence for murder!"
MRS. FREMONT: "Oh dear... I guess we'll have to eat hamburgers for dinner tonight."

PETE: "Lust, murder, food for an ancient goddess who received life through the perverted death of others."

compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Quote It (Blood Feast) - QUOTES FROM "BLOOD FEAST"

POLICE CAPTAIN (Scott H. Hall): "Seven killings in two weeks. Young girls. And each killing more brutal than the other. This lab report doesn't mean anything. We went over that last girl's apartment with a fine tooth comb. The body looked like Jack the Ripper got to it." DET. PETE THORNTON (William Kerwin): "Well, Frank... this looks like one of those long hard ones." MRS. FREMONT (Lyn Bolton): "I want something unusual... something totally different." FUAD RAMSES (Mal Arnold): "Yes, Mrs. Fremont. I do cater to unusual affairs. What do you consider to be unusual?" MRS. FREMONT: "Oh, I don't know. What do you recommend?" FUAD RAMSES: "Have you ever had an Egyptian feast?" MRS. FREMONT: "Why that would be fine, that would be perfect. My daughter, Suzette, is a student of Egyptian culture. Mr. Ramses, she'd just love it. An Egyptian feast!" FUAD RAMSES: "Yes... an authentic dinner... such as one might have attended in ancient Egypt. The actual feast... of an ancient pharaoh. It has not been served for five... thousand... years." PETE: "Say, what do you make of these murders, Frank? He always kills the same way. He just takes one part of the body. This time he took the brains." FUAD RAMSES: "All is nearly ready... nearly ready... the ancient formula needed for your rebirth. Now we shall have the flavor... the special flavor... seasoned just right for you, oh Mother of... of the Veil of Darkness." SUZETTE FREMONT (Connie Mason): "I was reading about all those murders and it sort of takes all the joy out of everything." PROFESSOR (Al Golden): "Hers was an evil love that thrived on violence!" DOCTOR (Hal Rich): "This is one of the most brutal cases I've ever seen. Her face was hacked away clear to the bone." PETE: "Well, the killer must have thought she was dead. It's a miracle she wasn't." POLICE CAPTAIN: "Well, she is now." FUAD RAMSES: "And now, now for the flavor, Ishtar. The flavor of blood!" FUAD RAMSES: "Give yourself up to the Goddess!" PETE: "Ishtar... Itar... Ishtar... Itar..." POLICE CAPTAIN: "What in the name of all that's holy is that?" PETE: "That's Ishtar, Frank." PETE: "Frank, if I'm right, these are the leftovers from the preparation for the Feast of Ishtar. That's a blood feast. They take all the young girls and they cook 'em to satisfy their Goddess." POLICE CAPTAIN: "Call the Fremonts. For Pete's sake, tell them not to eat anything!" MRS. FREMONT: "I'll bet there was never a party like this." FUAD RAMSES: "Ah, but there was, Mrs. Fremont. Five thousand years ago." POLICE CAPTAIN: "Mrs. Fremont, this feast is evidence for murder!" MRS. FREMONT: "Oh dear... I guess we'll have to eat hamburgers for dinner tonight." PETE: "Lust, murder, food for an ancient goddess who received life through the perverted death of others." compiled by Richard Harland Smith

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