Mardi Gras Massacre

Plot synopsis:
In New Orleans, Louisiana, a man named John arrives at a bar searching for the "evilest" prostitute he can take home. He is directed to Shirley, who agrees to leave with him for two-hundred dollars. At his home, he asks her to lie on a table. She undresses, and John re-enters the room in a robe and wearing a mysterious metal mask. He begins massaging her, and then ties her to the table and eviscerates her, removes her heart, and offers it on an altar in a Peruvian ritual.
Sergeant Frank Hebert and his partner are assigned to Shirley's murder case after her body is found on train tracks in the city. When questioning other local prostitutes, Hebert meets Sherry, and discovers from her that the man whom Shirley had left with the night she died wore an unusual gold ring.
Meanwhile, John continues to stalk local strip clubs and bars for further female victims, performing the same evisceration and sacrificial murders on them. Hebert eventually comes upon a delivery man who helps lead police to the apartment belonging to John, where he has three women held hostage for a ritual sacrifice planned for the Mardi Gras celebration.
The police raid the apartment and save the three women, but John escapes on foot, finds a car, and begins a high-speed chase that ends with him crashing in the Gulf of Mexico. When they pull the car from the Gulf, they find the ritual mask, but John is nowhere to be found.

Tags: cruelty, murder, violence, cult, romantic, sadist

Review:
From the perspective of yet another guy who's trying to see all the 'official' video nasties - namely me - Mardi Gras Massacre passed the litmus test.
It offers another dose of the very particular atmosphere unique to a lot of no-to-low budget shock horror films from the seventies and early eighties, in this case involving one crazy devotee of a Mexican death goddess who ritually sacrifices (disembowels) a series of prostitutes in New Orleans pre- Mardi Gras.
While I was satisfied in a broad sense, I can't stress enough that Mardi Gras Massacre is an extremely incompetent film, both hilariously and tediously so.
There's real New Orleans scenery, lots of crass discoey glitz, badly amusing dialogue ("I hear you're the most evil woman in this room,") a cheesefest love montage between a cop and his newly beloved prostitute, and several cheap but plenty splattery disembowelment murders.
But I did find effective the grizzly synth score associated with the bad guy and used during the lead up to each of the sacrifice scenes.All in all, Mardi Gras Massacre is another dire triumph for lurid, bad-bad horror..
flavorless performances..."exHOTic" dancers...a deranged madman...bondage...torture...grrrl-fights...bumblesome cops...a "falling-in-love" montage...disemboweling...an evil Aztec goddess...a cheezy bachelor pad with a sacrificial altar...disco...a repeat of that disemboweling we saw earlier...scheming hookers...dope pushing pimps...street scenes where passers-by stare blankly at the camera, unaware that they are unpaid and uncredited extras in a bottom-of-the-barrel celluloid bowel movement...Thank you, Mr. Jack Weis.
And Mardi Gras Massacre is a perfect example.The story concerns a madman who picks up prostitutes and ritually slaughters them in his bachelor pad.
The cops in these kind of movies are usually pretty ineffective - let's face it, if they did their jobs properly we wouldn't have much of a movie - however, the police in Mardi Gras Massacre are biscuit-taking in their ineptitude.
If you like unintentionally funny bad movies with a dash of sleazy violence then really I have to recommend this to you; to do otherwise would be.................evil..
Of all the films that were banned in the United Kingdom during the Video-Nasty era of the eighties, Mardi Gras Massacre is probably the least notorious.
Despite the somewhat suggestive title, a cover picture showing a hooded killer about to murder a bikini-clad bimbo and various misleading plot summaries that describe a masked maniac stalking the Mardi Gras festival, surprisingly this isn't a traditional stalk and slash flick.
But for readers that find themselves still mysteriously allured to learning more about this long-erased from existence exploitation offering, let me tell you exactly what was going on over at the festival that particular year After a seemingly never-ending black screen displaying the title in what looks like Times New Roman fonts, the camera pans into a nightclub.
Shirley's clearly enjoying herself at this moment in time, she even remarks, 'Maybe I should pay YOU for this!' By now, I was rather scratching my head and considering re-evaluating this particular movie-viewing experience.
Meanwhile, Bob is busy working his way through the Mardi Gras band of Gold, repeating the same gore effect ad naseum.
The lowlights of all this misogyny include: A heavy-handed detective with a fetish for prossies, a maniac that would rather spend his spare time disembowelling them, a lowlife hooker as the film's female protagonist.
If heinous acting, a soundtrack straight from a seventies porno and a director that must've been absent from the entire shoot add up to your idea of a great movie, then there's no doubt that Mardi Gras Massacre will rock your world.
But if like me, you value your movie-viewing experiences, leave this one nestling in the suburbs of obscurity until the end of time.
Not exactly a straight slasher as many believe but it's surely as cheesy, and unintentionally funny as any slasher from the 80's."Mardi Gras Massacre" could be considered as a toned down exploitation low budget.
Not because of the recent tragedies, but, because this movie has generated a bad fame for the Mardi Gras celebration.
Of course, only among in the Horror movies world.The ritual method is repeated in all the death scenes.
Anyways, "Mardi Gras Massacre" has generated some kind of cult over the years but sincerely, this isn't a must see.
This inept gore movie is often compared to Herschell Gordon Lewis' "Blood Feast", but it is not quite as bad nor nearly as unintentionally funny as that anti-classic.
However, it is very hard to take seriously and didn't really deserve its famous inclusion on Britain's "video nasty" list.The very repetitive plot involves an Aztec high priest picking up surprisingly attractive New Orleans prostitutes, tying them naked to a makeshift altar, and cutting their hearts out with a stone dagger.
It does mix full-frontal nudity and a lot of gore, but even in that respect it's not as disturbing as such films as "Bloodsucking Freaks" and "The Gore Gore Girls" (although it does lack the black humor of those films).The film has been accused of misogyny (probably based on throw-away dialogue and ad-lines about "cutting out the part with which the women do evil").
Don't be led astray, this movie is not worth any amount of money you might pay for it.Unless you are looking for a movie with super cheesy lines, bad acting and sadistic, gory torture/murder scenes don't rent this movie.I rented this movie once.
"Mardi Gras Massacre" is a sleazy trash with misogynistic murders and tons of hilarity.It surely is one of the most unintentionally amusing experiences one can have.New Orlean is a dangerous city.There is a killer on the loose.The butcher of strippers and hookers.He is looking for evil women.He narrows his eyes and says to his female victims "I am looking...for someone...Evil!" then asks "Are you evil?".This gentleman killer,who orders Chinese Food delivery for one of his sacrificial lambs,has an Aztec fetish,so he wants to tie naked ladies to an altar and sacrifice them to some bloodthirsty Aztec god."Mardi Gras Massacre" delivers tons of full-frontal nudity,sleaze and a bit of nasty gore.There's also an incredibly poorly acted subplot surrounding the cop investigating these ritualistic murders falling in love with one of the hookers.The funniest thing is that "Mardi Gras Massacre" was classified as a video nasty.7 out of 10..
OK there are many movies that remain on my fave listThe Thing with two heads, The twisted brain, The Werewolf of washington, Invasion of the star creatures, Montague AND............Mardi Gras Massacre!You have all stated the obvious and i concur but 2 moments are just classic : I LOVE his costume!
Meanwhile, a local detective is hot on his tracks.Notorious as one of the "video nasties" of the late seventies and early eighties, "Mardi Gras Massacre" doesn't exactly promise a high-brow experience by virtue of its title alone, though fans of exploitation films and slasher flicks may expect a bit more fun out of this one than it necessarily delivers.The main issue with the film is that it feels wildly uninspired, both in script and visuals.
The performances are ho-hum by mainly unknown actors, and there is a wonderfully dated disco score that at least renders some of the scenes at least somewhat memorable.Overall, "Mardi Gras Massacre" is a generally weak exploitation offering.
A wealthy weirdo (William Metzo) trawls the seedy strip clubs and brothels of New Orleans, searching for the city's most evil women; those considered wicked enough are taken to his apartment where, instead of partaking in sordid sexual acts, they are sacrificed to an ancient Aztec goddess.
Tough cop Sgt Mike Abraham (Curt Dawson) is on the case, but falls for hooker with a heart Sherry (Gwen Arment), who inevitably winds up chained in the killer's apartment awaiting her turn on the sacrificial altar.Mardi Gras Massacre is what H.
G. Lewis' s Blood Feast might have looked like had it been made 15 years later, during the disco explosion of the late seventies: it's cheap, sleazy, and features enthusiastic scenes of splatter—Lewis trademarks one and all—but it also features a funky soundtrack, frequent full-frontal female nudity, not one but two hilariously naff montage sequences, bushy beards and 'taches aplenty (on the men, that is; the women sport their excessive hair elsewhere!), a jive talking pimp, and a hilarious dance-floor scene in which Sherry becomes lost in music before getting into a cat-fight (don't forget to look out for the 'disco-tranny' and 'fat girl in a big sweater' who are also getting' their groove on).Thanks to these outrageously trashy elements, I found Mardi Gras Massacre to be very entertaining nonsense, although it's clear that the film is not everyone's idea of a good time: this sucker found itself a place on the Official UK DPP 'Video Nasties' list during the '80s, most likely due to the graphically violent murders, which show each victim bound naked to a table and rubbed liberally with oil before being savagely cut open with a big knife.As a card-carrying gore-hound, I naturally welcome such gratuitous on-screen nastiness, but regrettably, director Jack Reis is almost as ritualistic with his handling of these scenes as his well-heeled whack-job is in offing his wayward women: each death is shot in precisely the same manner, and they soon become rather dull and predictable.
Blood Feast will always have cult value for the fact that it was directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, and for the fact that it is the oldest film to be featured on the DPP Video Nasty list.
Mardi Gras Massacre puts more focus on nudity than HG's classic did, and the gore is a lot more realistic; but despite the script which contains some real inept lines of dialogue, Jack Weis' film just doesn't have the camp class of the earlier schlock-fest, and overall the film just isn't as good.
We follow the psychopath as he goes about his macabre business, and also a rather ineffective police investigation into the whole affair.The acting and dialogue are continually ridiculous...perhaps not quite to HG Lewis' standards, but certainly below the level of most B-movie pictures.
Mardi Gras Massacre could easily have been cut down by twenty minutes without losing a thing.
There are certainly a few good scenes in this film; the opening murder being a highlight, but even so; it has to be said that Mardi Gras Massacre is severely lacking.
Have a look at the cop dating a hooker, listen to the score, see the girls never wearing underwear, yes, pure grindhouse galore and that's what I like from those good old seventies.Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 1/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5.
He takes a prostitute (Laura Misch Owens) home, oils her up, and performs his ritual, which includes removing her heart.The cop (Curt Dawson) is too busy getting prostitutes (Gwen Arment) in bed himself to solve the crime.
MARDI GRAS MASSACRE is a typically bad low budget horror film made in the late 1970s.
The film is extremely repetitive as the women are seduced or hired by the killer, brought to his place and strapped to an altar of sorts and killed.
It's not the Mardi Gras Massacre but more like the EAR BLEEDING DISCO MUSIC MASSACRE.
Arf.BTW the massacre of those women occurred well before the Mardi Gras started so the title is misleading.
Mardi Gras Massacre (1978) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Low-budget horror film is pretty much a re-telling of the Herschell Gordon Lewis cult-classic BLOOD FEAST.
This time out a deranged man (William Metzo) hires prostitutes and brings them back to his house where he ties them up on an altar and cuts out their hearts for the goddess he worships.
If you want a classic movie with great action, a heart-tugging story and masterful direction then you're not going to find it here but if you want a fun, gory and nudity full horror film then this one here is a real gem.
The film has enough gore for two movies as several women are tied up and then slashed up the middle so that their hearts can be ripped out.
The special effects aren't the greatest as you can tell the bodies are fake but this adds some mild charm to the film as does the fact that the same camera angles are used and the editing pattern is the same on each murder.
The film also isn't shy about the nudity as pretty much every hooker has a full-frontal scene and when this isn't going on, the action is usually taking place in a strip joint where we get even more nudity.
I think the film could have been better had the screenplay not spent so much time with the relationship between the cop and hooker.
With that said, the exploitation level here is extremely high and I'm sure fans of low-budget horror movies will get a kick out of this thing..
A very suspicious, deep-voiced 'gentleman' searches thorough the seediest clubs in town, picking up the local untraceable prostitutes, referred to here as 'evil women', this is definitely not a film for feminist groups.
The aforementioned 'evil woman' enjoys it when he returns to massage oils into her naked body and as you begin to ponder that this film should've belonged in the softporn section, the bloke, who remains nameless throughout, whips out a huge knife andeviscerates her.
If you make you're bed, you should sleep in it.If you're interested in Mardi Grass Massacre and are a Video Nasties completist then you should see it as it still remains banned here in the UK, but I'll warn you this might be more of a blessing than a bad thing.
"Mardi Gras Massacre" is a very, very (very) bad seventies film; approximately 75% retelling of, and 25% homage to Hershell Gordon-Lewis' "Blood Feast".
Why would anyone want to remake a movie like "Blood Feast", let alone pay good money to see it?
There's nothing even remotely unique about "Mardi Gras Massacre" and, on top of that, it appears to be even poorer than Lewis' original film.
Just a few days before the famous Mardi Gras festival, a clearly deranged self-acclaimed Aztec priest arrives in New Orleans and promptly begins to scour the local bars and strip joints looking for hookers.
Whatever "Mardi Gras Massacre" lacks in plot, it surely makes up in pointless padding and incompetent directing.
The Mardi Gras setting is original but wasted entirely, the dialogs make your ears ache and for some reason there's awful music playing non-stop.
The women are beautiful fully dressed as well as naked, but that's hardly a reason to track down a horror film, isn't it?
The film is included in the infamous list of "video nasties" (as well as its role model "Blood Feast"), but honestly doesn't deserve to be on any list except maybe the 'avoid-like-the-plague' one..
This is a really obscure horror/gore film from the late seventies directed by the very untalented Jack Weis and starring the equally untalented Curt Dawson and Gwent Arment (who?!).
The rest of the running time the movie follows the detective hunting the killer and a prostitute whom he tries to use to help his investigations.
That's why the exact scene was repeated two more times in the film only with different naked actresses.
There are no laughs to be had or shocks to be experienced.The only reason anyone should view this truly abysmal film is so that they can seen they have seen all of the video nasties.
IF you do not know what the video nasties are, then avoid this movie.
In the build up to the world famous mardi gras held in New Orleans, several prostitutes are disappearing and turning up dead and mutilated.
The film leaves no illusion to the audience who is committing these murders, as the first scene involves John (William Metzo) entering a bar with the intention of procuring a prostitute for "something special".
As for the sequences shot during the mardi gras, it seems they must have filmed a street that forgot to have a full display, as it looks about as fun as a hernia.Well, I'm guessing that this film is fundamentally influenced by the wonderfully crass cinema of Herschell Gordon Lewis, so you could argue that it is intentionally crap.
Mardi Gras Massacre fails to even be humorous, and does not have the intentionally hyperbolic, histrionic acting.
The only thing for me which kept the film interesting was the complete incompetence of the police in catching a killer who finds his victims in clubs by asking anyone who crosses his path if they know any 'really evil' women (slightly suspect to say the least).
The movie is a pale drab exercise in applied sleaze and a working demonstration of how even the most artless and inept among us can likely squeeze out a gory low budget horror film if they put their minds to it.
Just prior to Mardi Gras a well-dressed man walks into a nightclub and asks a prostitute named "Sherry" (Gwen Arment) where he can find the "most evil" woman in the club.
However, it does offer some cheap gore, a nice film location (New Orleans) and the story itself wasn't too bad.
A deranged killer cultist (woodenly played by William Metzo) picks up hookers in New Orleans and sacrifices them to an Aztec god by pulling out their hearts.
A Sleazy badly acted exploitation slasher about a killer performing human sacrifices to his Aztec god.The killer lures prostitutes into his apartment and after tying them to a table and oiling them he removes their hearts from their chests.
No amount of naked women getting butchered is going to make it feel anything but dull.Only for the hardcore sleaze and exploitation fan or if you're a slasher fan and have already seen everything else.Oh yeah it would probably be good to mention that this is a Video Nasty so any nasty completionist (like myself)is unfortunately going to have to bare though this.