Blood Feast (1963)

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writer:

Allison Louise Downe (screenplay)
(more)

Genre:

Crime | 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 | Sacrifice | Kill

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerome Eden	...	High Priest (uncredited)
David F. Friedman	...	Drunken Husband (uncredited)
Herschell Gordon Lewis	...	Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Craig Maudslay Jr.	...	Garbage Truck Driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Allison Louise Downe		screenplay (as A. Louise Downe)
David F. Friedman		story (uncredited)
Herschell Gordon Lewis		story (uncredited)

Produced by
David F. Friedman	....	producer
Stanford S. Kohlberg	....	producer (uncredited)
Herschell Gordon Lewis	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Cinematography by
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Film Editing by
Frank Romolo
Robert L. Sinise		(as Robert Sinise)

Makeup Department
Allison Louise Downe	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
David F. Friedman	....	sound recordist
Henry Lieberg	....	post-production sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Herschell Gordon Lewis	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lorin D. Hall	....	chief electrician (as Lorin D. Hall Jr.)
Andy Romanoff	....	assistant camera

Other crew
Harry Kerby	....	crew chief

Production Companies

• Friedman-Lewis Productions

Distributors

• Box Office Spectaculars (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cult Video (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Astra Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Astra Video (1982) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Astra Video (1982) (UK) (video) (video 2000)
• Continental Video (1984) (USA) (VHS) (as Comet Video)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2000) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• CMV Laservision (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Box Office Spectaculars  presents

Also Known As:

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

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:

This was the oldest film on the UK DPP 74 list of official video nasties.

Quotes:

Police Captain: Ramses was the killer we've been looking for. Mrs. Fremont, I'm afraid this feast is evidence of murder!
Mrs. Dorothy Fremont: Oh dear! The guests will have to eat hamburgers for dinner tonight.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Extra Weird (2003) (V)

Watch and truly be appalled!

The breakthrough film for Herschell Gordon Lewis, a crafter of shock / schlock cinema who held nothing back and didn't just imply violence, he showed it in all of its tacky, outrageous, gruesome glory.

Mal Arnold is Fuad Ramses, a caterer preparing an Egyptian blood feast to appease his god Ishtar. His secret ingredients are not too hard to figure out. Suffice it to say, he gets right down to business, as does Lewis, diving head first into a scene of depravity right off the bat, as a sexy young lady is brutally mutilated in her own bathtub.

The acting is pretty non-existent in this movie that is quite literally a mess: most of it is just plain old laughable, especially when characters are called upon to show grief. I can't remember the last time I saw such incompetent emoting. In the context of this kind of film, however, it just adds to the enjoyment.

While this film is of course lacking in any sort of artistic merit, that is entirely the point. And I found it appealing - well, so to speak - on the level of the best/worst indefensible trash. Any viewer not encumbered by squeamishness, or prone to being easily offended, would be advised to check this vanguard splatter flick. I say check it out. You'll be glad you did.

5/10