The Blood Trilogy: Blood Feast/Two Thousand Maniacs!/Color Me Blood Red (1963)

Herschell Gordon Lewis' pioneering "gore" films in deluxe Special Editions! First, Mrs. Fremont hires crackpot Egyptian cultist Fuad Ramses to cater a party--and he prepares a Blood Feast made from the grisly body parts of nubile young women. The world's first gore film! Then the Two Thousand Maniacs of a small Southern town celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Civil War by forcing a handful of Northerners to serve as "guests" in their macabre, blood-crazed fun and games. And when his girlfriend, Gigi, cuts her finger on a frame, maniacal artist Adam Sorg discovers a new shade of crimson that will make his artwork so special--human blood--in the shocktacular Color Me Blood Red.

It ain't art, but it's fun

It wasn't that long ago that going to the movies was a different experience. There were few multiplexes, and most theaters showed double features. When you went to the movies, you had to clarify that it was a "walk-in" theater because drive-ins were a popular alternative. It was a time when there were many low-budget movies produced by minor studios and making limited runs; these were a more charming version of the direct-to-video schlock that is made nowadays. H.G. Lewis was pretty successful at these low budget movies, especially with horror: Lewis was a pioneer in the field of gory movies, producing grisly movies decades before Jason, Freddy and Michael would make it standard film fare.

The so-called Blood Trilogy is actually three separate movies; the name was given in later years when they were released and shown as a set in theaters. The first film is Blood Feast, the tale of a madman killing young women to prepare a cannibalistic feast in honor of Ishtar. Lewis's formula is often the more blood, the better, but often the actual act of violence isn't really shown, only the result. We see the villainous Fuad Ramses making his attack, and we see the dead body, but we rarely see the actual stabbing (or other act). By many standards, this is a pretty awful movie: the acting is amateurish and the writing and sets are not much better, but it (and its two companion movies) has an Ed-Woodish appeal to it: it's in that so-bad-it's-good category that easily develops a cult following. It is also pretty much the first truly bloody movie, so even if flawed, it is a breakthrough film.

Two Thousand Maniacs is the best movie in the set, the tale of an isolated Southern town that lures unsuspecting Yankees to participate in a special celebration, which turns out to be the anniversary of some Union atrocities. Now, the residents are out to exact their own unique form of revenge against the North with murders taking place in a carnival-like atmosphere.

The final film is Color Me Blood Red, a take-off on House of Wax and Bucket of Blood with an artist achieving success through murder. In this case, it is a painter who discovers the color he needs to achieve his vision can only be gotten through blood. He apparently doesn't think of using animals (there wouldn't be much of a movie in this case). Instead, he starts with his girlfriend and moves on to people who wander too close to his home.

All three movies are pretty short and come with entertaining commentaries by Lewis and his producer which make it clear that they knew these were never going to win any Oscars. There are also trailers, a gallery of ads that show how these movies were promoted and a short subject on meat carving that features a very young Harvey Korman. Thanks to the movie Juno - which shows a small clip from Lewis's The Wizard of Gore, it is likely that Lewis will get some renewed interest. The Blood Trilogy set is a good way to be introduced to him with his first three horror flicks. June 17, 2008

Essential viewing for fans of exploitation cinema

Herschell Gordon Lewis is one of those rare directors who is so inept and clumsy that his films become wildly entertaining. He and others such as Ed Wood and Doris Wishman consistently made terrible movies that, while incredibly silly, are still engaging through and through. There are plenty of bad directors who made a few films that are fun to watch and there are plenty of bad directors who made films that are just pure tedium, but most every HGL film is a treat for those of us who enjoy the finer points of exploitation cinema.

"Blood Feast" is easily HGL's most infamous film - one that most gore fanatics know quite well. Although it's a bit tame by today's standards, it hasn't lost its edge. There are some incredibly bloody scenes and they're surrounded by some of the worst, most wooden acting anyone has seen outside of "Plan 9 from Outer Space". It turns even the most bland dialogue scenes into laugh riots.

"Two Thousand Maniacs!" is not amongst my favorite HGL films, but it does seem to be fairly popular with most fans. It's basically a remake of "Brigadoon", (yeah, HGL has a PhD in literature - honest) but this time with hillbillies and gory, violent deaths. It's a nice crossover between HGL's hillbilly films and his gore films.

"Color Me Blood Red" is another classic. The blood is plentiful, as is the campy atmosphere and typically awful acting. Any HGL fan will enjoy this.

Just like Something Weird Video's "Herschell Gordon Lewis Collection" (which I also highly recommend), there are plenty of extras. HGL and his partner on these three films, David Friedman, provide great commentary tracks, both hilarious and informative. We also get some trailers and a few shorts. Overall, excellent extra features. SWV did a typically excellent job with this.

This collection belongs on the shelf of any serious exploitation cinema collector. Buy it and enjoy! January 17, 2008

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