Blood Feast
Well, this is Herschell Gordon Lewis's 1963 infamous gore classic. It is the first installment of what is called The Gore Trilogy, with 2000 Maniacs being the second installment, and Color Me Blood Red being the third. It should be noted, though, that Lewis and producer David F. Friedman did not intend to make a trilogy. It's just that after these three gore movies, the team broke up and eventually some theatres started running all three movies and referred to them as The Gore Trilogy or The Blood Trilogy.
The story behind this film has often been told, so there's no sense in me repeating it all here. But as a very brief recap, the Nudie Cutie field was becoming very crowded, and the movies were getting more and more explicit, and Friedman and Lewis didn't want to go that way. They needed to find another element to exploit, something the major studios could not and would not touch. They decided the way to go was "gore". So, Blood Feast was created for about $24,000. It was an instant Drive-in smash. A true phenomenon. Word of the film spread like wildfire and drive-ins had to turn people away. At the time, it was utterly shocking. Nothing like it had EVER been put on film. There are many reports of people actually throwing up in the theatres. I don't know if that's true, but one thing is for sure, it was the first of its kind. A new genre had been born.
The plot: A woman hires an Egyptian to cater the birthday party of her daughter who is turning 21. Faud Ramses decides to use the catering gig to create a special feast and ritual which will reincarnate the Egyptian goddess Ishtar. In order to create the special meal, he needs various body parts from a number of women...a tongue here, a heart there. And the final ingredient has to come from the birthday girl herself. While all of this is going on, a detective is trying to figure out who is perpetrating the grisly murders.
The production quality of this film is very crude. The acting is horrible. The gore effects look ridiculous and fake (for the most part). However, it is done with a sense of humor and is actually very funny. It has high camp value. The funniest thing about the whole movie is that two cultured gentleman the likes of Friedman and Lewis would actually have the audacity to unleash this on the public. I find this to be truly hilarious.
From a historical standpoint, it's an extremely important film. But beyond that, it's still highly entertaining. It's a movie that doesn't take itself seriously and the kind of movie that grosses you out and makes you laugh at the same time. I'm not a gore hound. Gore makes me uneasy. One thing that many gore movies that came after this didn't include is a sense of humor. This is an an essential element, at least for me. Some people say that all gore movies are funny, but I disagree. I do not find gore funny or pleasant or entertaining, unless it's done with a certain sense of humor. The first ever gore movie, Blood Feast, got it right. If all gore is funny and entertaining, why don't you just crack open a beer and watch heart transplant footage at home? Sounds like a real laugh-fest.
This movie is an all-time classic, and if you're just starting to investigate the world of Herschell Gordon Lewis, this is not a bad place to start. If you want to watch two excellent comedic homages to Blood Feast, I highly recommend Bloodsucking Pharaohs Of Pittsburgh and Blood Diner. I'll rate this movie as a 5.