Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972)

Director:

Ed Adlum

Writers:

Ed Adlum (writer)
Ed Kelleher (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

They planted the LIVING and harvested the DEAD!

Plot:

Somewhere in upstate New York, a young woman is terrorized by a group of rural farmers primarily interested in a harvest of blood. |

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Violence | Sect | Occult | Decapitation

Cast

Norman Kelley	...	Dr. Roy Anderson
Tanna Hunter	...	Jenny Anderson
Bruce Detrick	...	Don Tucker
Paul Craig Jennings	...	Creton
Jack Neubeck	...	Egon
Richard Erickson	...	Sontag
Cynthia Fleming	...	Queen Onhorrid
Tom Edwards
Lucy Grant	...	Mrs. Greenman
Frank Iovieno	...	Police Chief Frank Spano
Warren D'Oyly-Rhind	...	Ogmar
Joseph McDermott		(as Joe McDermott)
Allan Charlet
John Stewart
Richard Kennedy

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:(Banned) (video rating) | USA:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Westchester County, New York, USA

Company:

The Farmer Company

Trivia:

The film was shot over three weekends, with a $24,000 budget. It never made its money back.

Goofs:

Continuity: Constant mix of day and night shots, with dialog that further demonstrates the mismatches (i.e, saying "Good night" in broad daylight).

Quotes:

Dr. Roy Anderson: Old Jim Carrey dropped dead Sunday.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (2000) (V)

A Personal Fave

As with another poster, I have a soft spot for this truly awful film because I knew a member of the cast.

Bruce Detrick, who plays Don Tucker in this film went on to become a brilliant composer, poet, teacher, actor and philanthropist. Bruce starred in a Clio Award winning commercial for Mennen "Trouble" cologne, appeared in a recurring role as Clint Buckley on "One Life To Live," played a Doctor on "The Doctors," and had a small part in Martin Ritt's "The Front." You may also recall him in national commercials for Signal Mouthwash ("Onions") and UltraBrite Toothpaste ("Sex Appeal"). Bruce won rave reviews for his starring stage performance on the tour of "Butterflies Are Free."

In the early 1980s Bruce retired from acting and wrote the book, music and lyrics for a musical play entitled "Crosstown Bus" which was optioned for Broadway and produced in workshop by producer Stuart Ostrow ("1776," "M Butterfly") with Tony-winner Donald Saddler doing choreography. Bruce also wrote the music and lyrics for three other musicals ("Babe, The Blue Ox," Walden Pond," and "Gifts"). His crowning achievement as a composer is "The World Mass" (1999) which brings together a dozen different spiritual traditions through music. "The World Mass" premiered at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

From 1987 to 2001 Bruce was Executive Vice President and Creative Director of The Tamarand Foundation which built playgrounds and roof gardens on NYC hospitals and brought music, nature and arts programs to children and adults living with HIV and AIDS in the greater New York area. The work of The Tamarand Foundation has been honored by Apple Computer (Change The World award 1993), The Municipal Art Society of New York, The Citizens Committee of New York, The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and The National Pathfinders Association.

When Bruce saw that "Blood Farmers" was available on VHS, he wanted to buy them all up and burn them, but I told him they'd only make more! In the mid-90s a "fan" from California tracked him down and Bruce spoke with him over the phone for half an hour about the film.

Bruce Detrick died in 2001 of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.