This is the kind of trash I love discovering in these public domain sets. I've found more than a few stinkers in my short time on this earth, but gems like Blood Mania make it all worthwhile. While not quite up to the level of such finds as Deep Red and House by the Cemetery (which led me to explore the amazing careers of their respective directors), this is still the sort of delightfully oddball Seventies hokum that amuses me to no end.
Like Trip With The Teacher (which also comes in the Gorehouse Greats set from Mill Creek), this is pretty light on horror, being more of a nasty soap opera than anything else. I actually found this to be the far better of the two, perhaps because stuff actually happened before the climactic third act. Teacher was pretty much an hour of nothing followed by 30 minutes of Last House on the Left style shenanigans, whereas for the first 80 minutes or so of this film we get a peek into the screwed up affairs of a dysfunctional group of people: Victoria, a borderline sociopath; her decrepit father; Dr. Craig Cooper, the object of her lust; and her sister Gail, among others. I know, pretty standard stuff, but it's all in the execution! As if to drive the sleaze factor home, at least 80% of the female cast prance around in the nude at some point. The film is also filled with delightfully clever (read: stupid) lines that I'm sure I'll be applying to everyday conversation. My favorite exchange:
Old lady: I don't buy it, doctor!
Cooper: I didn't know I was selling anything
It's mainly the offbeat atmosphere that makes this such an enjoyable film to watch, because there's nothing quite like these 70s low-budget films. They had a unique milieu that today's DTV movies just can't compete with. And the wait is certainly worth it, if only for the borderline insanity of the ending. I won't spoil it, but I'll say it doesn't make a lick of sense.
Like Trip With The Teacher (which also comes in the Gorehouse Greats set from Mill Creek), this is pretty light on horror, being more of a nasty soap opera than anything else. I actually found this to be the far better of the two, perhaps because stuff actually happened before the climactic third act. Teacher was pretty much an hour of nothing followed by 30 minutes of Last House on the Left style shenanigans, whereas for the first 80 minutes or so of this film we get a peek into the screwed up affairs of a dysfunctional group of people: Victoria, a borderline sociopath; her decrepit father; Dr. Craig Cooper, the object of her lust; and her sister Gail, among others. I know, pretty standard stuff, but it's all in the execution! As if to drive the sleaze factor home, at least 80% of the female cast prance around in the nude at some point. The film is also filled with delightfully clever (read: stupid) lines that I'm sure I'll be applying to everyday conversation. My favorite exchange:
Old lady: I don't buy it, doctor!
Cooper: I didn't know I was selling anything
It's mainly the offbeat atmosphere that makes this such an enjoyable film to watch, because there's nothing quite like these 70s low-budget films. They had a unique milieu that today's DTV movies just can't compete with. And the wait is certainly worth it, if only for the borderline insanity of the ending. I won't spoil it, but I'll say it doesn't make a lick of sense.