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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Horror fans have to see this, naturally, May 5, 2005
This is one of those few movies where everything that everyone says about it is precisely true: Utterly barebones production, flatly pathetic acting, stilted and pointless dialogue, and lots and lots of ultra-phony gore. Of course, this is pretty undisputedly the first real gore film, so horror fans pretty much have to see this. And, even if it weren't so important historically it would be worth seeing anyway, cause it's pretty damn cool either way.
Fortunately, in making the first gore film they didn't go halfway. Sure, there are tons of films which are gorier then it now, it's still gory enough that if it were redone, shot for shot with realistic, modern effects, it wouldn't be allowed an R rating in a million years. You got flaying, leg severing, heart extracting, tongue ripping, brain, um, snatching etc. And, while the gore effects are incredibly dated, they aren't quite as cheap and old as I would have imagined. The blood itself actually holds up fairly well, and looks better than much of the stage blood you'd see over the next 20 years or so. It's actually red! It is also delightfully shameless, perpetually leering at the simplistic effects in a way that makes Fulci look almost reserved by comparison. For example, fairly late in the film there is a 42 second pan over a flaying victim. (i.e. someone just covered with fake blood) 42 seconds may not sound that long when I just say it, but when you're actually watching it it's pretty damn funny, and seems to go on forever. It's also got some odd quirks, such as how virtually all the violence is performed in utter silence, with no sound effects, only music. It manages to make these scenes somehow poignant, in spite of the overall laughable nature of the project.
The film only gets 3 stars because much of the terrible acting and dialogue grows somewhat tiresome after a while. There are only a few topics: The cops whine about how they can't catch the mad butcher who is killing women, and stealing their body parts, and the civilains whine about there's a killer out there, and then reflect happily on the party they plan to have that Saturaday. (Turns out that the guy who's catering the party, Fuad Ramses, is the killer, and is gonna feed them the parts he stole. What a coincidence.) The directing is also amusingly flat. The camera hardly ever moves, nor do the actors. They just stand there, statue-stiff, delivering there lines. It's also got a fun soundtrack, with endless thumping tympani and cheesy organs and such. Lotsa people are irritated by it, but I find it quite amusing.
Yeah, you know if you wanna see this or not. So do it.
Grade: C
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BLOOD FEAST Is A Great DVD From Something Weird Video, March 2, 2000
"Blood Feast" is the most famous work of exploitation auteur Herschell Gordon Lewis. Released in 1963, it is considered the first slasher film, the one that spawned all of the imitators: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Friday the 13th", etc. Despite (or because of) its questionable acting and really fake blood, it is a classic. Something Weird Video has given "Blood Feast" a great tribute with its DVD version. A beautiful print of the film was used, all of the garish colors are presented in their full glory. It contains one of the most interesting audio commentaries on a DVD that I have ever listened to. Director Herschell Gordon Lewis and producer David F. Friedman provide insights into everything you've ever wanted to know about "Blood Feast" - the casting, the special effects, the creation of Lewis' signiature music score, and much more. There are so many great anecdotes shared on the commentary: how Pine Sol was used to get rid of the smell of the sheep tongue (used for the infamous tongue removal scene) since it was being stored in a refrigerator and the power went out, how they had to spend money on a freeze frame at the optical effects lab because an actress pretending to be dead couldn't hold her breath (you can see her failed attempts in the collection of nearly 50-minutes of outtakes included on the DVD), a pizza parlor was used for the scene where the maniacal Fuad Ramses cooks a human leg in an oven, and how they first realized the film was going to be a phenomenon when they got stuck in a traffic jam on the way to its Peoria, Illinois drive-in premiere. P.S. - Bonus for trivia buffs: Robert Sinise, the editor of "Blood Feast", is the father of actor Gary Sinise. The DVD of "Blood Feast" is a must own for fans of the film and film buffs thanks to the great quality of the film to DVD transfer and the extras included by Something Weird Video.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Laugh a Minute, May 4, 2000
How do you define the classic that is "Blood Feast"? H. G. Lewis has said in interviews that as soon as the soft-core sex romps that he made went out of fashion, he needed a new angle that was cheap and attention grabbing - well, it was GORE! "Blood Feast" was his first attempt at this new style, and its hilarious from start to finish. The plot involves a sinister shop owner who is trying to resurrect an Egyptian goddess by dismembering beautiful girls. The film strings scenes of bloodshed together with the most inept and hammy scenes ever committed to film, especially those involing starlet Connie Mason, who can barely remember her cues, and the assorted extras who really go overboard upon the discovery of gruesome bodies. Watch out for the hysterical over-acting from the grieving mother of the beach victim! The gore scenes are indeed extreme, with gallons of blood and chunky bits splashed everywhere, but you would be hard pushed to be frightened during these scenes as nobody really looks like they are suffering. All in all it has the cheap atmosphere of one of thos 60's "nudie" films, but instaed of lingering close-ups on a young beauty undressing, you get lingering close-ups of a young beauty having her tongue extracted, or having a leg sawn off while in the bath! All in all it's enormous fun, especially at parties. Worth buying.
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