Blood Feast (1963)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writer:

Allison Louise Downe (screenplay)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Adult Horror!

Plot:

An Egyptian caterer kills various women in suburban Miami to use their body parts to bring to life a dormant Egyptian goddess, while an inept police detective try to track him down.

Plot Keywords:

Goddess | Caterer | Police | Kill | Evil

Cast

William Kerwin	...	Det. Pete Thornton (as Thomas Wood)
Mal Arnold	...	Fuad Ramses
Connie Mason	...	Suzette Fremont
Lyn Bolton	...	Mrs. Dorothy Fremont
Scott H. Hall	...	Frank, police captain
Christy Foushee	...	Trudy Sanders (as Toni Calvert)
Ashlyn Martin	...	Marcy, girl on beach
Astrid Olson	...	Motel Victim
Sandra Sinclair	...	Pat Tracey
Gene Courtier	...	Tony, boy on beach
Louise Kamp	...	Janet Blake / Sacrificial Victim
Hal Rich	...	Hospital Doctor
Al Golden	...	Dr. Flanders

Also Known As:

Egyptian Blood Feast (USA) (reissue title)
Feast of Flesh (USA)

Runtime:

67 min | USA:58 min (edited version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2001) | Germany:(Banned) (re-rating) (2004) | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:PG (heavily cut) | Netherlands:16 (2006) (DVD) | Australia:R | UK:18 | USA:Unrated | UK:(Banned) (1984-2001)

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Company:

Friedman-Lewis Productions

Trivia:

Prints issued at drive-ins in New York carried the advertising title "Egyptian Blood Feast", though the title card remains the same.

Quotes:

Radio Announcer: And now, some tragic local news. We have a report of another murder tonight. A young girl has been found dead in Rogers Park. The body was badly mutilated. Because of these murders, the police request that all women stay inside their homes after dark. If you must go out, please have someone accompany you. Keep your door locked.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Mau Mau Sex Sex (2001)

Something new

From a technical standpoint, this movie is awful. But, you still have to give credit to Lewis and Friedman for creating a new genre of film; the splatter flick. For this reason, and probably this reason alone, I rate it at 6. Well, you have to give Lewis credit for the musical score that he did himself. The electric organ and opening shot of the Sphinx is hilarious. The writing and acting, though, are deplorable.

This is an exploitation movie in the mold of the circus sideshow. The ad campaign for the movie made it appear to be more than it really was. In fact, a "nurse" was on hand at showings to assist those who might become overwhelmed by the horror presented on the screen. Many of the scenes, like the one with the woman's tongue being ripped out of her mouth (from what I understand, it was a sheep's tongue purchased from a local butcher)are quite revolting and unsettling. Actually, this is a part of what is known as the Blood Trilogy along with Lewis' better made, Two Thousand Maniacs. The third film is Color Me Blood Red.