Synopsis for
Blood Freak (1972) More at IMDbPro »

Narrator [Brad Grinter], puffing on a cigarette: The one constant in this world is that things change. There is order in change in that one thing leads to the next thing, and one seemingly random event can affect the course of the future.

Herschel [Steve Hawkes], an out-of-work and homeless Vietnam vet, meets and befriends Jesus freak Angel [Heather Hughes] when her car breaks down on the Florida turnpike. Angel takes Herschel home where her hot-to-trot sister Ann [Dana Cullivan] is smoking marijuana and doing drugs with a bunch of her friends.

Narrator: *puff* Angel and Ann are both truth-seekers, although each goes at it from a different angle.

Herschel accompanies Angel to a meeting with her Jesus freak friend Tom Nolan [?], who offers Herschel a job on his poultry ranch. Angel invites Herschel to stay with her and Ann until he can get on his feet. The next day, as Herschel cleans their swimming pool, Ann dons her bikini and tries to get Herschel to notice her. When that doesn't work, she gets Herschel to take a drag on a joint laced with something that Ann's friend Guy [Larry Wright] guarantees will hook him after only a few tokes. Into the bedroom they go, and off comes Ann's bikini.

Narrator: *puff* Because Herschel is a real man, he couldn't refuse Ann's attentions. But the paths of life are predicatable, and we choose them over and over again.

The next morning, Herschel heads over to the Midway Turkey Farm & Hatchery. Tom introduces Herschel to Lenny and Gene, who work in the farm's laboratory. They are currently researching the chemical "caponization" of poultry. Needing a human to eat the meat in order to see if there are any side-effects, they rope Herschel into it by offering him some recreational drugs for his personal use. Later that evening, Herschel begins to withdraw from that incredibly-addicting grass and is in dire need of a fix. Ann calls Guy, who brings over some more weed.

The next day at work, Lenny presents Herschel with a whole roasted turkey, which Herschel proceeds to gobble down. After finishing off the turkey, Herschel isn't feeling so good, so he goes for a stroll in the yard and passes out in the bushes. Lenny finds Herschel suffering from convulsions in the grass and he and Gene cart him off and dump his body elsewhere. Sure that they are going to be caught for killing Herschel, Lenny and Gene split. Later that evening, the drugs appear to have run their course, and Herschel wakes up and goes home to Ann. Unfortunately, Herschel has turned into a were-turkey and can only communicate with Ann by writing; when he tries to speak, all that comes out is a gobble. [Herein is one of the most bizarre seduction scenes I've ever seen.] Ann feels awful, because she thinks it is all her fault, so she calls her sister Angel.

Narrator: *puff* Interesting how, in times of trouble but not before, we turn to God. Be careful what you pray for.

Herschel has learned that he can get his drug fix by hanging users by their feet, slitting their necks, and drinking their blood. While Herschel goes around drinking the blood of various drug-abusing girls, Ann talks turkey with two of her friends, trying to get them to help her find and take care of Herschel until he reverts back to normal. When Herschel is spotted by a non-druggie man, he is forced to kill the man. The man's wife or son (it's hard to tell) attacks Herschel and stabs him in the eye. Bleeding all over his turkey feathers, Herschel stumbles home to Ann.

Meanwhile, Guy is trying to buy more drugs, but his pusher refuses to deliver unless Guy pays what he already owes. Guy offers him $175 and a chance to make it with Ann, who is taking a nap in the bedroom. The pusher agrees. As he fondles Ann's breasts, she wakes up and sees that it isn't Herschel. The pusher sees Herschel out the window and runs out of Ann's bedroom. He tries to hide in a garage, but Herschel finds him and cuts off his leg with a tablesaw. Herschel isn't feeling too steady and falls to his knees in the grass. As Herschel folds his hands in prayer, Ann's two friends find him. They cut off the head of a turkey. The final scene shows people's hands tearing the meat from a roasted turkey. Next to the turkey is Herschel's turkey head.

But wait a minute. Back up a few paragraphs and pick up where Herschel goes for a walk and passes out in the bushes. Tom finds Herschel. It was all a hallucination. Turns out that Herschel was badly burned in Vietnam and became addicted to pain killers. The combination of smoking marijuana and eating drugged turkey brought on hallucinations. Tom calls Angel who works at the Drug Center. Angel calls Ann and offers to bring her to pick up Herschel at the turkey farm, but Ann feels too guilty to face Herschel right now. Angel explains everything to Herschel, tells him how much Ann loves him, and they pray together to increase Herschel's faith.

Narrator: *puff* This movie has been a story about the horrors that can occur when we use the human body as a mixing bowl for drugs. *cough* *puff* *cough* *hack*

Epilogue: Herschel finds Ann walking alone on a pier near the ocean. They smile at each other, kiss, and walk away in each other's arms. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl]