How could a movie with a title like this be anything but fun
for any gore loving horror fan? And that cover/poster artwork for the film? It
has to be great, right? Well yes and no. The movie is a lot of fun and it does
show tremendous potential. But to be honest the end result isn’t that
fantastic. Which is what makes this movie so much fun. This is one of those
movies you put on during a party so people will stand around and think what the
heck are we watching.
The story for the most part is fairly simple. Centuries ago
druids known as the Sangroids were driven underground and not allowed to
worship with their blood cult ceremonies. Now they’ve shown up again in upstate
New York in a small rural community with plans to resume their practices and
take over the world.
To do so they need blood and their henchmen are bib overall
wearing hicks, or at least what New Yorkers would assume are hicks, who fumble
the simple jobs they’re assigned. These ghoulish goofs kidnap victims and take
them to a shack where they hook them up to a pump and drain the blood from
them, replacing it with a substance that causes the blood output to increase.
When the first victim shows up at the local morgue the man
in charge, Dr. Anderson, notices what is going on. It wasn’t the wounds that
cause the person to die but they seemed to be exploding from within due to the
increase in blood. Putting a sample in a jar he watches as it grows overnight
and shows it to his assistant Don Tucker (who happens to also be his daughter’s
boyfriend).
Bodies go missing, blood continues to grow, the locals hang
out in what appears to be the only bar in town and with the sheriff away his
deputy spends more time keeping a watch on a bar stool than he does the town.
It’s all done in the goofiest yet loving way possible, a movie made by people
who wanted to make movies but who had no money to do so let alone vast amounts
of talent. But in spite of that there are some decent performances among the
many bad ones.
The effects are pretty much high school play quality. The
sets are people’s home. And the leader of the Sangroids presents one of the
hammiest performances that will have you laughing like crazy. But these things
combine to form the charm of the movie. There is no way you can take it
seriously and that’s the point. It’s no wonder that the film found a fan base
that became a cult of their own, seeking out the movie at midnight shows and
drive-ins.
Severin has done an amazing job with this film presenting it
in the best possible edition to date with plenty of extras on hand. My first
viewing of the film was years ago with a low rent copy that made the film
almost unbearable to watch. Severin’s version, scanned from the original
negative for the first time ever, makes this film look better than I’ve ever
seen it. The extras include an audio commentary track with director Ed Adlum
and actress Ortrum Tippel moderated by Kier-La Janisse (author of HOUSE OF
PSYCHOTIC WOMEN), “Nothing You’d Show You Mom” a featurette about Ed Adlum and
his life, “Harvesting the Dead” an interview with actor Jack Neubeck, “Painful
Memories” an interview with cinematographer Frederick Elmes and the original
trailer for the film.
For a movie made for just $24,000 where actors were reportedly
paid with six packs of beer the odds are that Severin spent more to present the
film as it is seen here as well as the extras. They’re offering it in such
great condition that it makes it watchable. For horror fans this is a must
have. For everyone else it’s worth it just to have a good laugh.
No comments:
Post a Comment