Blood Hook (1986)

During a local fishing contest, people are being violently dragged into the lake and killed by a giant fish hook.

Director:

Jim Mallon (as James Mallon)

Writers:

Larry Edgerton (screenplay), John Galligan (screenplay)

Stars:

Mark Jacobs, Lisa Jane Todd, Patrick Danz

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Jacobs	...	Peter van Clease
Lisa Jane Todd	...	Ann (as Lisa Todd)
Patrick Danz	...	Rodney
Sara Hauser	...	Kiersten
Christopher Whiting	...	Finner
Don Winters	...	Leroy Leudke
Paul Drake	...	Wayne Duerst
Bill Lowrie	...	Evelyn Duerst
Sandy Meuwissen	...	Bev D.
Dale Dunham	...	Denny Dobyns
Paul Heckman	...	The Sheriff
Don Cosgrove	...	Roger Swain
Bonnie Lee	...	Shiela Swain
Greg Nienas	...	Irving Swain
Julie Vortanz	...	Ruth-Ann Swain

Storyline

It's time for the annual "Muskie Madness" fishing contest, and the lake is packed with hopeful fishermen. It soon becomes apparent, however, that a psychotic serial killer has also decided to join the festivities. Although the police have determined that the killer is claiming his victims by landing them with giant fishhooks, no clear suspects can be found since everyone is using the exact same hook! What is the killer's goal? And more importantly, can the murders be stopped?

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Plot Keywords:

backwood slasher | fishing contest | fishing | lake | death | 

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Taglines:

You Can't Worm Your Way Out.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Muskie Madness

Filming Locations:

Hayward, Wisconsin, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Chargers, Spider Lake Films Ltd. Partnership (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 111 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bulk of the cast was obtained from the Twin Cities area of Wisconsin.

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Goofs

When the sheriff opens his car door during the final scene of the film the reflection of a blonde crew member can be seen in the door's rear view mirror.

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Quotes

Kiersten: Oh sick! They hang dead fish on the wall here?
Rodney: It's taxidermy. Stuffed shit?
Finner: Take it easy Kiersten. It's just a hobby. Like your hair.

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Crazy Credits

The D in the title card "Blood Hook" rushes at the screen to fill it with blood red color; the title is the only credit that appears in color, dissolving to red as it looms on screen.

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Alternate Versions

The Troma DVD release of Blood Hook is a heavily edited version of the film. Nearly 30 minutes of scenes are cut from the original film. The cuts scenes are: -spoilers herein*

• The scene where Peter explains to everyone how he's inherited his grandfather's house now that he's 21.
• A sequence where Denny Dobyns challenges Peter to a line-casting contest, only for Peter to cast his line into a fisherman's coffee cup.
• The scene where our teen characters walk into the giant fiberglass muskie.
• The teenagers complaining about the bad music at the restaurant and Kirsten pointing out that Sheila Swain is starring at Rodney.
• Peter's confused reaction at the bar after seeing Sheila disappear from the restaurant dock.
• Finner inviting Peter and Rodney out for night fishing, while Kirsten gets Rodney to guess what's inside various food cans.
• A brief scene where Kirsten flirts with Peter after he gets mad at Ann.
• The sequence where Finner urinates off the fishing boat while Rodney talks about "Muskie madness" and finds out that Finner can't swim.
• A brief scene where Bev. D tells Finner to bring his muskie to her house so it won't get stolen.
• Finner telling Bev. D that Red Echos "Things Aren't What They Seem" is his favorite album before he and Rodney air-guitar to the song.
• The scene where Peter and Ann search the restaurant dock for any sign of foul play, only to miss Sheila's loon button- stuck to a dead fish.
• Continuation of the conversation between Rodney and Leudke where Leudke talks about Evelyn Duerst and tells Rodney about a secret fishing spot.
• Rodney looking for Finner before going fishing alone.
• Peter and Ann being attacked in the street by Denny Dobyns. Leroy Leudke meeting Peter at the scene, when Irv Swain happens by and notices that Leudke has a metal plate in his head.
• Peter and Ann running into Finner on the street. Finner tells them about Dickie almost getting hooked.
• Continuation of the scene where Roger Swain tries repeatedly to crank his boat motor and yells for help. He then unbuttons his shirt just prior to getting hooked.
• Peter radioing the sheriff to report Bev. D missing and him noticing the Red Echos LP still turning on the record player.
• Shots of Leudke chopping Finner's fingers off with a hatchet and putting them into the meat grinder, then chopping into the arm again.
• The scene where Peter brings Finner's severed ear to Evelyn and hears the Fishing For Your Love song causing him to flashback to his grandfathers murder.
• The sequence where Peter, Evelyn and Irv figure out that vibrations from the cicadas and music are driving Leudke crazy.
• Peter and Evelyn first entering Leudke's bait shop.
• Ann awakening from drinking to find Kirsten and the Swain children sleeping on the couch.
• Kirsten attempting to seduce Peter in bed when he thinks Ann is dead.
• Lines of dialogue between Wayne Duerst and the sheriff after Wayne attempts to attack Leudke.
• Fishing For Your Love plays out after the closing credits.

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Connections

Featured in What's in the Tacklebox?: An Interview with Jim Suthers (2018)

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Soundtracks

Things Aren't What They Seem
(The Red Echoes Song)
Written by Thomas A. Naunas
Performed by Thomas A. Naunas, Brad Wray, Jeff Seitz, J. Whitehead, C. Denning

User Reviews

not bad!

This is one of the better B-horror movies out there. Being a person who watches these kinds of movies every couple days, this one actually stands out from the rest of the ones I've seen and long since forgotten. I can see why Troma picked it up.

There are some actual funny parts in this movie that are seriously meant to be funny. Usually movies don't pull that off very well. But the jokes in here are actually good ones. I liked the one about Elvis Costello being someone that parents listen to, I really don't like his music so that was cool to me.

The characters are good, too. I like the guy with the fishhook earring who tries so hard to be cool with everybody but no one really gives him a chance. When he's talking to the German guy and using all this slang that I have never even heard, it's really funny. Usually that kind of stuff isn't funny, but I laughed out loud for some reason.

It's funny, too, how they incorporate the Devil's Interval or whatever it's called, into the events. That group of notes really did exist back in the day, and people weren't supposed to use them because it supposedly was evil. I was wondering when a horror movie would pick up on that. And it's funny that the guy who figured it out in the movie was some rock and roll music theory composer college student.

The very athletic lady with the baby was a strange character. Her line "I like that" was kind of unique and everything about her made the movie seem more real when the rest of it seemed kind of cheezy. It's a good cheezy, though.

Besides, how many people own a giant fishing lure that is hooky enough to snag someone so they can't get away and then strong enough to pull someone right off of their boat into the water and able to be reeled in? That's some tackle!

The dummies of the dead people under the dock were actually super gross and looked real to me. Dead things under docks in water always freak me out anyway. And these were well-done, I thought.

So yeah, watch this one if you're a b-horror movie fan. Don't let the box cover deter you away. It's not a lame movie about girls in bikinis water skiing. In fact there are no scenes that even have the slightest resemblance to the cover. It's a good movie.