With the recent passing of Director Hershel Lewis (known as the Grandfather of Gore), I thought I'd take one of his movies out for a test drive. I have to confess to being relatively unaware of his works but upon researching it seems he was more or less responsible for the exploitational gore genre.
Curiosity piqued, I chose "Blood Feast" for my first HG Lewis experience. The movie was widely panned by the media at the time but I found it reasonably well shot and quite watchable and to be fair, on par with anything shot in the 60s -70s .... I have to say I found some of the acting and the gore a little 'hammy' by modern standards but I went into this knowing that would be the case. The soundtrack has one of those creepy horror music backings that you will have to love.
Plot wise, it follows the exploits of a shop keeper 'Ramses' who is intent on bringing the ancient Egyptian goddess 'Ishtar' back to life with a series of murders of beautiful young ladies whose body parts are harvested with the intention of holding a 'blood feast', which he hopes will culminate in the return of said goddess.
Like I said before, I found it quite enjoyable and I love that old 60's 70's B Grade, cinematic feel which only a movie shot on film can have. As far as gore content goes, it is reportadly one of the first to show full-on gore ... but I don't think anyone who's ever seen a horror movie before would be put off by this, the gore does come across a little fake, but I guess it paved the way for many films following it.
For more great horror movie links and reviews feel free to check out http://www.gorenography.com
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