The Ghastly Ones (1968)

Director:

Andy Milligan

Writers:

Andy Milligan (screenplay)
Hal Sherwood (screenplay)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A Gruesome Orgy of Human Mutilation!

Plot:

Three married couples are forced to spend the night in a Victorian-era house where they start getting killed off by a deranged psycho who's bent on claiming an inheritence they are all entitled to.

Plot Keywords:

Rabbit | Mansion | Island | Pitchfork | Gore

Cast

Veronica Radburn	...	Martha
Maggie Rogers	...	Hattie
Hal Borske	...	Colin Trask
Anne Linden	...	Vicky
Fib LaBlaque	...	Rich (as Fib La Blaque)
Carol Vogel	...	Liz
Richard Romanus	...	Don (as Richard Romanos)
Eileen Hayes	...	Veronica (as Eileen Haves)
Don Williams	...	Bill
Hal Sherwood	...	Walter
Neil Flanagan	...	Lawyer Dobbs (as Niel Flanagan)
Ada McAllister	...	Ada
Robert Adsit	...	Robert

Also Known As:

Blood Rites

Runtime:

81 min | USA:72 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | UK:(Banned) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

ASA Productions

Trivia:

Horror author Stephen King claims in his book "Danse Macabre" that this film is "the work of morons with cameras".

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In several of the fight scenes of the film, the crew and their cameras and sound equipment are visible. There are also moments when the director can be heard softly reminding the actors of their lines.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell (1987) (V)

Ghastly, just Ghastly

This film was released in the UK under the name Blood Rites. It was banned outright and never submitted again for release.

As The Ghastly Ones, it was supposedly a hit with the horror hungry denizens of New York City's famed 42nd Street Grindhouse circuit. If you are looking for some bloody horror, then you will find it in this film.

Unfortunately to see the developmentally disabled Colin (Hal Borske) chomp down on a live rabbit, you have to put up with shaky 16mm camera work that makes Ed Wood look positively marvelous.

Three sisters are to spend three days in the family homestead with their husbands before the old man's money is disbursed. Naturally, in such a situation, people start dropping dead. Family secrets are exposed and lots of blood is spilled, especially during a gruesome dismemberment.

Maybe it was the bunny bit that the Brits objected to, I know I did.