Customer Reviews

Color Me Blood Red [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1965's "Color Me Blood Red" is another slice of sickening cinema by H.G. Lewis, the Godfather of Gore. Released one year after "Two Thousand Maniacs," this film takes place on the sunny beaches of Sarasota, Florida. Actor Don Joseph stars as Adam Sorg, a blunt and frustrated artist who enjoys making rude comments toward any critic who analyzes his work. Although savvy collectors at Farsworth Galleries are anxious to purchase his abstract paintings, Adam indignantly refuses to sell them. Isolated in his studio, he has a great deal of trouble trying to concoct the best color scheme. Later, when his nagging girlfriend Gigi (Ellen Warner) cuts herself on a jutting canvas nail, Adam is instantly enamored at how blood emits the most brilliant shade of red. Immediately, he attempts to cover an entire canvas with his own hemoglobin; slicing open his hands with a razor blade, he feverishly smears his own bleeding digits onto a nude portrait, frantically squeezing the wounds before they clot. However, as he became dizzy and lightheaded, it doesn't take him long to realize that to finish his masterpiece, he would have to bleed himself dry. So, what does he do instead? As Gigi assails him with yet another tongue-lashing, Adam stabs her in the cranium with a palette knife! Then, in perhaps the most morbid example of artistic expression, he holds up Gigi's limp corpse and wipes her face on the picture, using her head as a giagantic brush! Eventually, his first ghastly painting is complete; we as an audience get to see it as a grisly representation of Adam's obsession with blood. When the critics at Farsworth Galleries see this work, they are instantly astounded and expect Adam to create more pieces with the same style. Buyers offer the upcoming artist up to $15,000. But, in an insane outburst, he downright refuses to sell the Red Painting. Over time, of course, the guilt relating to Gigi's death and the pressure to uphold his reputation drive him to the brink of madness.
In a fiendish manner, Adam continues his pattern of bleeding brushstrokes by killing any youth who vacations outside his beach house. At one point, he preys upon two unsuspecting swimmers; driving a motorboat, he stabs a young man in the chest with a harpoon, then grinds apart his flesh with the spinning propellers! The other victim was a woman; he has her tied against the wall with her intestines hanging out! Weeks later, a group of college students set up a picnic on Adam's cove. Like a crazed stalker, he lures a virginal girl named April (Candi Conder) into his studio, promising her the chance to be a model. I don't want to give the ending away, but let's just say that it includes sweet April in a pink bikini, a little bit of bondage, and a sharp axe!
While H.G. Lewis did have a disturbing concept behind "Color Me Blood Red," the film fell short overall. The outcome was predictable and the pacing was far too slow. The movie's grusome humor isn't as over-the-top when compared to "Two Thousand Maniacs" and "Wizard of Gore." Still, if you are a ravenous fan of Lewis's lurid legacy, this DVD is worth purchasing.

COLOR ME BLOOD RED

** Out of 5

Release Date- October 13th, 1965

Running Time- 78-Minutes

Rating- NR

Writer/Director- Herschell Gordon Lewis

Starring- Don Joseph, Candi Conder, Elyn Warner, Pat Lee, Jerome Eden

Released in 1965, Color Me Blood Red is considered by many fans of H.G. Lewis to be one of his weaker films and to be honest it's kind of hard to argue against that. When one watches a movie by Herschell Gordon Lewis you should know what to expect and Color Me Blood Red has pretty much all the elements that made H.G. Lewis a cult favorite, but those elements don't work nearly as well as his movie that came before and after this.

The screenplay was written by H.G. Lewis and overall the script is rather pathetic; the characters like expected are poorly developed, but going into the movie that was sort of expected, but the characters were really annoying. For me the characters are among the worst I've ever seen in a movie. All of them were either boring or annoying and in some cases both. Nobody goes into an HG Lewis for the characters, but it's as if he wasn't even trying.

As director Herschell Gordon Lewis doesn't fair any better. Color Me Blood Red is very poorly paced and almost always boring. Due to the poor nature of the film there are some entertaining moments, but for the most part it's just boring. There are only 4 death scenes and Color Me Blood Red needed a lot more than that the movie only runs at 78-minutes, but it felt a lot longer and it seemed like forever in-between death scenes. The gore was alright, but in the end it didn't make up for everything else.

The acting was beyond terrible; you don't go into an HG Lewis movie for the acting, but the actors in Color Me Blood Red were downright terrible and it's not a shocker none of them had much of a career. Besides being bad actors they were also really annoying. Don Joseph as Adam Sorg and Candi Conder as April were the best of the lot, which isn't saying too much, but at least they weren't all that annoying.

Overall Color Me Blood Red is just a poor movie and due to the poorness it does have some fairly decent moments, but they are very few and far between. If you are curious about the films of HG Lewis this isn't the best place to start. This was the last movie made together by HG Lewis and exploitation producer David F. Friedman who produced many of Lewis' more well known movies. They had a falling out, but would later patch things up and re-team in 2002 for Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat, which was the first movie by H.G. Lewis since The Gore-Gore Girls, which was released in 1972.

Of Lewis' Blood Trilogy, this is definitely the least bloody. That's not to say it's not an entertaining movie(hence the four stars) though. The now not-so-original plot of an artist murdering folks for his art is the basis of the movie. An arrogant schmuck of a painter discovers that missing ingredient for the color of his paintings.......blood of course(assuming the title didn't give that one away). After nearly bleeding to death cutting his fingers, artist Adam Sorg resorts to murdering his girlfriend, and then just about anybody who winds up on his beach front property. This is intercut with some groovy teenagers partying down on the beach. All the Lewis trademarks are there, but as stated before, a lack of gore for a gore film. That shouldn't discourage Lewis fans though, coz it's never boring. Strangely enough, one of the most disturbing scenes uses probably the simplest of fx gags. It makes you cringe a tad seeing Sorg squeezing blood from his fingertips and furiously painting the canvas with it. Fun stuff and certainly worth your time.

If You are a Herschall Gordon Lewis Fan or just love vintage Gore, then Buy this DVD now! Firstly the print quality is beautiful very clean and crisp. There is an awesome Secondary audio track With the man himself Herschell and Producer David Friedman, who rant quite lucidly about being exploitation filmmakers, and the golden age of Gore. This happens to be one of the first Gore movies ever made, very disturbing at the time (even today) The wonderful extras on the DVD keep you occupied for hours, it has over 50 MINITES OF OUTAKES! extremely rare stuff no one has seen for years, also included on the DVD is an extra short film with one of the actors from Color me Blood red, called "Cutting Magic". Image makes some of the greatest Dvds for affordable prices. This movie you'll never find on a Criterion lable.

This movie is just ok. I wouldnt pay alot of money for it but if you can find it pretty cheap somewhere you should pick it up. The movie is about this mad painter that cannot find the right shade of red that he is looking for. His girlfriend pricks her finger of a nail he finally finds the right shade of red, and that shade is BLOOD RED.He finds more people and he kills them so he can paint more things. To be honest this movie is a bit on the boring side. Dont get me wrong this movie isnt horrible but like I said its not the best. If you do decide to get it pick it up cheap and pick it up at Amazon.

A great movie from the master of gore H.G. Lewis. A fun and campy movie with lots of blood and gore.

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, ushered in 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.

"Color Me Blood Red" is the story of a temperamental painter and his efforts to achieve success at any cost. And what a cost! When Adam Sorg (Gordon Oas-Heim) struggles to sell paintings at a local art gallery, he must decide how to change his methods. He stumbles on the perfect color when his girlfriend accidentally cuts her finger. Sorg smears the blood across the canvas and has an instant masterpiece-well, almost. It takes a few more pints drawn from his girlfriend as well as himself to complete the painting, but when it is finished it looks divine. The struggling artist rushes the canvas over to the gallery where the owner, a snooty art critic, and a wealthy patron all swoon and gush over this brilliant and daring objet d'art. Regrettably, by putting his body and soul into the work (literally, in one respect), Sorg cannot bring himself to sell the painting even though the figure offered for it is quite enormous. Even worse, he realizes he doesn't have enough blood to keep working, and in a H.G. Lewis film that can only mean one thing: bloody and graphic carnage must soon follow.

Did I mention Sorg killed his girlfriend to get that first painting finished? Sorry 'bout that. It's not enough, though, as the painter realizes he doesn't have enough sauce to complete future masterpieces. After burying his gal in the sand outside his lakeside property (it's not much more than a shack somewhere in Florida, but this is a cheap movie), Sorg homes in on a hapless couple that had the misfortune of lounging around outside the house. These scenes run excruciatingly long as the demented painter tools around the lake in a speedboat, harpooning the boyfriend and capturing the girl. Once inside the house, Sorg disembowels the young woman and collects her precious blood in what is probably the movie's most effective gore scene. The fun, however, does not stop there. The daughter of the wealthy patron who wanted to buy the first Sorg painting turns up at the house with a trio of friends. She stumbles over the painter standing outside his house, and he offers her a chance to pose for one of his creations. The girl is quite hesitant at first, but soon agrees to do it as her friends stay behind on the beach. While Sorg prepares to murder yet another victim, the friends discover the decaying remains of the artist's girlfriend and head to the house to investigate. A bloody showdown involving a shotgun effectively ends Adam Sorg's short career.

"Color Me Blood Red" is definitely a lesser Lewis horror film. While that might not be saying much-all of his films boast atrocious acting, horribly cheap production values, and pedestrian dialogue-the film fails to match the nauseating atrocities seen in "Blood Feast" and "2000 Maniacs." Moreover, it fails to stand up along side Lewis's later, more vicious films like "Wizard of Gore" and "The Gore-Gore Girls." "Color Me Blood Red" has little red in it, unfortunately, and in a Lewis movie that's a crime of epic proportions. After all, audiences aren't watching a film like this for the acting or the big name stars; they want to see stomach-churning gore. Except for the scene with the girl in the house, there isn't much worth mentioning here. You may get a few laughs out of the acting, especially Sorg's histrionic antics as the tormented artist, but overall this movie is a disappointment. If I had to pick one notable element of the film, it would have to be the two "beat" friends of the daughter of the wealthy patron. These two stumble around throwing out all sorts of hep cat lingo, act all "crazy," and generally make complete fools out of themselves. In fact, they're immensely annoying, so much so that they do stand out in a film largely populated by walking and talking mannequins.

The DVD contains a heap of extras, including a commentary track with Herschell Lewis and producer David Friedman, poster galleries, outtakes, trailers, and an introduction from Lewis regular Bill Kerwin warning you about the graphic nature of this film. The extras are better than the movie, sad to say, but Lewis completists will want to own this one along with all the rest. I felt a bit down in the dumps after watching "Color Me Blood Red" because it was my last Lewis gore film. I have now seen all of them, from "Blood Feast" to "Blood Feast 2." Hopefully, this director will make another film in the next year or two. If not, it's been a heck of a run.

...you will want to pick this one up eventually. This is the least imaginitve of the Blood Trilogy, and it borrows shamelessly from Roger Corman's Bucket Of Blood, and has less gore than usual, but it is still an essential purchase for fans of this genre. The picture quality is very good overall, and the all important reds are very well rendered. The out takes offer nothing of interest,and the trailer is really lame, but the commentary is the best of the entire Blood Trilogy.

Normally, if you're in the mood for a good, cheesy gorefest, you would look to Herchell Gordon Lewis. However, I can only say that this film is boring in comparison to most known gore films. It has to do with a deranged artist who enjoys success only when he paints with human blood. Not bad for 60's gore, but still leaves much to be desired, and of course the only reason to see this type of film would be for gore(or cheap laughs). You've been warned.

I personally felt this movie was a really good film. It combined comedy and murder which I just love. There was lots of blood which was very good. I loved the gory scenes of naked woman being killed. This is fun to watch alone with a bottle of vodka. Highly recomended for the single man. My children also found it quite enjoyable.