Blood Feast

Plot synopsis:
In the midst of a series of gruesome murders, a young woman is killed inside her suburban Miami house by a grey-haired, wild-eyed man. He stabs her in the eye and hacks her leg off with a machete, bagging the leg before he leaves. At the police station the next day, detective Pete Thornton investigates the killing, noting that it is the latest in a series of four murders by a homicidal maniac who has yet to leave any clues. The police chief advises him to continue to pursue the case.
At Fuad Ramses Catering store, wealthy socialite Dorothy Fremont arrives, where she arranges for Fuad to cater a party for her daughter Suzette. Fuad agrees and tells Mrs. Fremont that the Egyptian feast that he is preparing has not been served for over 5,000 years. Mrs. Fremont wants the catering done in two weeks, and Fuad assures her that he will have enough time to procure the last of his needed ingredients. After Mrs. Fremont leaves, Fuad ventures to the back storage room where he has displayed a large gold statue of his "Egyptian goddess" Ishtar. Fuad is preparing a "blood feast" – a huge vat containing the dead women's body parts – that will ensure the goddess's resurrection. That evening, teenagers Tony and Marcy make out on a nearby beach. Fuad attacks them, subduing Tony and slicing off the top of Marcy's head. He removes her brain to serve as the latest ingredient. Thornton arrives on the scene with the police chief. After failing to obtain any useful information from the distraught Tony, they interrogate Marcy's mother, who can only tell Pete that her daughter belonged to a book club.
Staking out a local motel, Fuad sees a drunken sailor drop his wife off at her room. Fuad knocks on the woman's door and attacks her when she opens it. Fuad rips the woman's tongue out through her throat as another ingredient to his "blood feast". Pete continues to investigate this latest killing, and discovers that the latest murder victim also belonged to a book club.
Pete attends his weekly Egyptian Studies lecture at the local university with his girlfriend, who happens to be Suzette. The lecturer tells them about the cult of Ishtar, and describes how virginal women were sacrificed to the goddess on an altar as a blood offering to the Egyptian goddess. When the lecture is over, Pete takes Suzette out for an evening drive. She becomes worried about the recent attacks and fears that a serial killer is loose in the area. Their date is interrupted by the car radio announcing that another victim has been found near death. Pete drops Suzette home and races to the hospital. The police chief informs him that the maniac has struck again and hacked off the face of another woman named Janet Blake. Pete questions Janet in her hospital bed. Her face bandaged, Janet tells the detectives that the man who attacked her was old, with wild eyes, and that he said something which sounded like "Etar". Janet then dies and Pete can't shake the feeling that this word sounds familiar. Fuad receives a letter from Trudy requesting a copy of the book Ancient Weird Religious Rites, written by Fuad Ramses. Fuad calls Trudy's home phone number and learns that she's staying with Suzette. That afternoon, Fuad stakes out the Fremont residence, kidnaps Trudy from the grounds and takes her to his store. He whips her savagely and collects her blood, the final ingredient in his bloody potion.
With Trudy missing, Mrs. Fremont insists that the party continue. Pete calls Suzette to inform her that he will be late. Meanwhile, Fuad arrives with the food that he has cooked at his store. Elsewhere, Pete calls upon the college lecturer and gets more information about the cult of Ishtar and Fuad's book. He deduces that Fuad is the killer, since all the victims were women who personally called upon him to send them copies of his book. Pete and the police race over to Fuad's store and find Trudy's chopped-up body in the back. Pete tries to call Suzette to warn her, but Fuad cuts the phone line to the Fremont house.
At the Fremont party, Fuad's meal is ready, but he first asks Suzette to come into the kitchen to help him. He has Suzette lie on a counter, which he makes his altar, and says a prayer to Ishtar as he prepares to decapitate her with his machete as a final offering to his goddess. This takes forever because she can't take him seriously. Dorothy Fremont interrupts Fuad just as he's about to decapitate Suzette, and Fuad escapes as the police arrive. Pete and the rest of the police chase Fuad through a nearby garbage dump, where he attempts to escape by climbing into the back of a departing garbage truck. The truck's compact blades turn on and Fuad is crushed to death. The police stop the truck, noting that there's not much left of Fuad. As Pete puts it, "He died a fitting end, just like the garbage he was."

Tags: comedy, cruelty, murder, realism, violence, cult, horror, sadist

Review:
Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold), an Egyptian maniac of pagan bloodlust, must serve up a "blood feast" to Ishtar, his horrible goddess of gory days gone by.
Hell, the most intelligent character in this movie is the murderer, Faud Ramses - what, with him having penned a seemingly popular non-fiction work and running a bang-up catering business to boot - and even he is not too bright, which unfortunately catches up with him in the end.If you love bad movies in that MST3K kind of way, than this is one to see.
Though to be fair, of course, we can thank it for so many other blood-soaked cinematic excursions that are actually entertaining.And fortunately for cheese heads, director Herschell Gordon Lewis, the "Godfather of Gore," is also the Ed Wood of gore.
"Blood Feast" sports all of these endearing qualities and more, even going so far as to include some Woodian abrupt day-to-night-to-day transitions.The dopey plot involves one Fuad Ramses, author of the New York Times bestseller "Ancient Weird Religious Practices," and his attempt to re-create, through his ridiculous "exotic catering" service, an authentic Egyptian blood feast, whatever that is.
One could see Herschell's effect on Waters later films like 'Pink Flamingos' when you look at Herschells colors (color me blood red) and the trashy- campy acting, costumes and settings.
It sounded like old heroin-hooked Bela Lugosi having fun with a church organ.Exhibit 5 : Police that store their firearms in their back pockets (along with their wallets, most likely) and continue to mispronounce homicide (pronounced home_e-side).Exhibit 6 : Horrible acting in vivid, bright Cinemascope.Exhibit 7 : An intermission half way through the movie, where a Richard Nixon look alike is giving a lecture on ancient Egypt.Exhibit 8 : The longest and slowest getaway and chase scene by a man from the Ministry of Funny Walks.Exhibit 9 : Dialog such as : "Well the killer must have thought she was dead.
The plot of Hershell Gordon Lewis "Blood Feast" is paper-thin:a sinister shop owner is trying to resurrect an Egyptian goddess Ishtar by butchering and dismembering beautiful girls.Fun-filled gore romp with cheesy acting and inept splatter scenes.The tongue removal scene is legendary among horror fans.The plot is just an excuse to move from one bloody murder scene to the next.I am fairly sure that back in 1963 images from "Blood Feast" were shocking for the audience from that time.That's why Hershell Gordon Lewis chunk-blower is so important as perhaps the first gore film ever made.Don't take "Blood Feast" seriously - it's just a gross-out horror comedy.7 blood feasts out of 10..
With it's laughable attempts at acting, it's ridiculous storyline and it's cheese ball sets, "Blood Feast" stands as one of the worst 'films' ever put before the masses.This movie has some moments of what seems to be the most intentional kind of cheese.
In some parts it is like a really bad, old episode of the original "Batman." We are led into scenes by fake signs on doors, things like that.What makes this movie so amazing is the authenticity of the camp and of course, the gore.
Blood Feast is the lowest of low budget films with campy dialogue, tons of fake gore, and acting that is beyond amateurish.
The first "Gore" film ever made was directed by Hershell Gordan Lewis, who later went on to direct many films like this including "2000 Maniacs", "Wizard of Gore", "Blood Feast 2", etc.Blood Feast is a rather silly movie by todays standards but when this came out, it was considered shocking and demoralizing.
BLOOD FEAST IS HG Lewis' first gore movie and even though there are some memorable scenes of gore, the film itself was very bad.
The "Godfather of Gore" Herschell Gordon Lewis probably described this film best when he stated that "It's not any good but it is the first of it's type so therefore it deserves some recognition".
With it's bad acting, horrible costumes and hideous effects (a sheep's tongue used to represent that of a human plus various other animal viscera) "Blood Feast" is still shocking to this day because it leaves no stone unturned.
Must see viewing for all true gore fans...followed up over 40 years later with the equally nauseating "Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat" which is also directed by Lewis (who is now in his eighties!)..
Not only was Blood Feast the first splatter picture (though I'm not particularly fond of the genre), it's the first movie I ever saw "MSTed" (though this was years before MST3K -- I forget what we called it), so it has a special place in my heart.
(It is actually really funny how forced most of the dialogue seems.) As pointed out in my review for "Wizard of Gore", Lewis loves eyes and Ramses has the perfect "wild eyes".I am curious about who was going to eat the feast before the party came to Ramses' attention.
"Blood Feast" is the first gore film by the notorious director Hershell Gordon Lewis and by God does it ever live up to its gigantic cult reputation!
Like all of H.G. Lewis' later horror movies, "Blood Feast" is very cheap and amateurishly put together trash cinema, in which all the regular aspects of film-making are secondary to a couple of extended and utterly gross slaughterings.
Herschell Gordon Lewis, Florida's pioneering father of low-rent gore, is an Ed Wood type with a fixation on gushing blood, severed limbs, and ridiculous story lines.
Whereas "Blood Feast" once stood as a revelation within the horror genre (coming 5 years before George Romero gave us the serious, straight-faced gore of "Night of the Living Dead"), it now plays like a sincerely-intended romp.
From the mad caterer with the huge eyebrows and bug eyes, to the cardboard acting of Playboy centerfold Connie Mason, to a plot that has something to do with body parts being turned into stew to resurrect an Egyptian goddess, Mr. Lewis clearly has his tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Hershell Gordon Lewis´ "Blood Feast" was the first gore movie ever made and it´s remembered by the most for its bad special F/X and the ridiculous acting!
The story is about a weird old guy named Fuad Ramses who runs a catering service, but actually he´s possessed by the idea to bring back the deceased Egyptian Queen Ishtar into life by stealing the guts of some young women...This film doesn´t run longer than one hour, but it has a great value for the horror genre and it´s essential for every gorehound!
"Blood Feast" is a typical schlock horror film from the 60's with unusually gory visuals: bright red blood drips from an empty eye socket; a killer yanks a woman's tongue out of her mouth while she struggles...
American filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis realized this, and in 1963 moved from the erotic genre to horror (which was a more profitable genre), and directed the movie that many consider the first "splatter film" and the movie that introduced explicit gore to the genre: "Blood Feast".In "Blood Feast", Mal Arnold plays Fuad Ramses, a psychotic Egyptian caterer who follows the ancient religion of the blood-lust goddess Ishtar.
But when the wealthy Mrs. Fremont (Lyn Bolton) hires him to make the banquet of his daughter Suzette's (Connie Mason) party, Fuad decides that the party is the perfect occasion to finish his legendary Egyptian Blood Feast, so he begins to kill more women, hoping to finish the feast on time for the unsuspecting guests at Mrs. Fremont's party, who are unaware that Fuad is planning to honor his goddess at their party.Based on a story by director Herschell Gordon Lewis and producer David F.
G. Lewis shows that when he decided to use gore in his films, he really meant it, as the movie is filled with a wide array of mutilations, whippings and other similarly gruesome activities in very graphic detail (for its time); although of course, always with that outrageous style located too far from realism to be taken for something more than good (albeit macabre) fun.
Certainly, Lewis is not a director to look for when one wants moody and atmospheric horror, he goes for the visceral reactions the genre is able to pull off, and "Blood Feast", in all its gory glory, is a clear example of this.
While made with the sole intention of making a profit, "Blood Feast" shows that there is an artist inside the businessman, as while the movie is poorly made, Lewis makes an outstanding use of colors (specially red) and music in the film.While the work of Downe, Friedman and Lewis was certainly influential and "Blood Feast" is a classic splatter film, one has to be honest and say the truth: the acting is one of the worst in the genre.
I'm not saying that the film works perfectly (it definitely doesn't), as it is not exactly a good film; but at least Lewis manages to make it better than what one could expect.To tell the truth, "Blood Feast" is far from being a masterpiece of horror, and it's not even a good movie in the classic sense of the word; but it has something special, a special charm that makes it fun, it has magic.
Fortunately, Lewis went on to make better films than this (although also did worse), but as the original splatter film, "Blood Feast" is a must see for every horror fan with an interest in the gory side of cinema.
"Blood Feast" is a film that never pretends to be more than campy, gory fun, but, it has long become a classic, both for its pioneering character as the first gore film ever, and its wonderful cheesiness.
The police are baffled and disgusted by these strange and vile murders as they investigate, a mother is planning to have a party as she invites the caterer over but he has some plans in mind so he can appease his goddess.This has become the first ever Gore flick to hit the screen, there'd been nothing like it before in that time but when this movie arrived in theaters in July 1962.
It shocked audiences, made them sick and was a bona-fide box-office hit thus creating a landmark horror flick for using on-screen color splatter for the first time shown on any flick, yet the gory effects in this movie seem laughable by today's standards but back then it was unlike no one has ever seen on the screen.The acting is pretty bad but i'd do give this movie credit for being the first "blood and gore" flick and does hold something pretty special for gore-hounds and some old school horror fans.Also recommended: "Maniac ( 1980)", "Cannibal Ferox", "The Toxic Avenger", "Re-Animator", "Terror Firmer", "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer", "Caligula", "Blood Diner", "Driller Killer", "Two Thousand Maniacs ( 1964 and 2005)", "Color Me Blood Red", "Wizard of Gore", "Bloodsucking Freaks", "Evil Dead 1 & 2", "Dead Alive ( a.k.a. Braindead)", "Blood Feast 2", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "High Tension", "Men Behind The Sun", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Cabin Fever", "Ichi The Killer", "The New York Ripper", "Snuff", "Basket Case", "Nightmare on Elm Street", "Friday The 13th series", "Freddy Vs. Jason", "Hellraiser 1 & 2", "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers", "Bad Taste", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre series & 2003 remake", "The Hills Have Eyes ( 1977 and 2006)", "Cannibal Holocaust", " Eaten Alive!
Every scene in the film in almost completely inept, with atrocious acting featuring throughout...but hey, it's all in good fun and so long as you aren't too bothered about technical details, Blood Feast is a must see film..
If you like to watch bad movies just to get a laugh, watch "Blood Feast".1/10 - That Tony guy sure can cry loud!.
The same night I saw BLOOD FEAST, I also saw another of director Hershell Gordon Lewis' films, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS (which turned out to be a pretty good film).
Though this film was shot in 1963 and the special effects were just starting to bloom, Lewis knew he could get away without showing too much by coating everything in gallons of fake blood.It's this overabundance of the sticky red stuff that placed Lewis into the hearts of all the horror lovers out there - myself included,Here you have an Egyptian Caterer, who is really a follower of an Egyptian Goddess he is trying to bring back to life by carrying out an Egyptian "Blood" Feast.
The acting is standard and the only two outstanding characters are Mal Arnold who overacts the hell out of the killer Fuad Ramses and helps make the film more distinctive, and lovable in a B-Movie kind of way.
As far as I know, HG Lewis's Blood Feast is the first gore film.
While I am indeed a fan of HG Lewis's work and he made a lot of similar films, there is something special about Blood Feast.
But there has to be a certain distinction in being the first of anything, and H.G. Lewis has the distinction of having made the first real splatter film, even if he broke ground that never should have been broken and made a mess that never should have been made.If this sort of fare isn't up your alley, you'll know it by the title, but if you've been a willing observer of The Evil Dead, Hellraiser, Phantasm and the like, Blood Feast is the creaking granddaddy of them all.
Though I do love Herschell Gordon Lewis and he is one of my favorite directors, Blood Feast is probably one of the least favorite of his films.They say this is THE film that started the gore genre, I am not sure of that but I will say this is a classic for fans of the genre.This is a b-movie that goes into the category "it's so bad it's good".
Friedman and director Herschell Gordon Lewis came up with a 'script' called Egyptian Blood Feast, a film that would be designed to not only show gratuitous violence, but to have the explicit gore as its main selling point.
After reading about this movie for 25 years, I've finally watched Herschell Gordon Lewis' first gore film, Blood Feast.
The story is pretty ridiculous, with H.G. Lewis trying to add a bit of ancient, Egyptian, religious mumbo-jumbo into what is your standard killer-on-the-prowl storyline to make it more interesting.A luke-warm recommendation for those gorehounds who must watch every gore film ever made..
Blood Feast (1963) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Cult classic was one of th first splatter films to be made.
"Blood Feast" is known as the "Citizen Kane" of splatter films, and so Lewis is known as the man who launched the genre.
In director Herschell Gordon Lewis's own words, his landmark gore film may not be anything exactly "good", but it is a trailblazer and it does command a certain amount of respect.
The now legendary "Blood Feast" features ingredients that would make his subsequent efforts identifiable, such as the hilarious bad acting, the tacky, bright & colourful effects, and the dark humour.The story concerns a mad caterer, Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold, playing the role with hysterical eye popping gusto), intent on creating a feast to honour his god Ishtar and using human body parts as part of the process.
The detectives on the case are just about useless; meanwhile, Ramses is hired to cater the birthday party for local gal Suzette Fremont (Connie Mason, Playboy Playmate of the month, June 1963), so will Suzette be his ultimate victim or will her detective boyfriend Pete Thornton (William Kerwin, billed as Thomas Wood) figure everything out in time?As the awesomeness that is "Blood Feast" plays out, we are treated to such things as limb amputation, tongue & brain removal, and flagellation - all done in loving close up for the camera.
Here's the thing people need to remember about this film: Just because you can show gore, doesn't make the movie effective or interesting.Yes, the gore was good and the blood and everything was staged quite well.
G. Lewis's Blood Feast is an undeniably important entry in the annals of horror cinema, ushering in a new, much bloodier era for the genre; but although it is certainly a taboo shattering and highly influential film, the fact remains that it is also a dreadfully amateurish and rather tiresome effort—one that even the director himself admits was far from great: 'It was no damn good', he has said of the film, 'but it was the first of its kind'.Not only does the film feature some of the crappiest acting in movie history (Lyn Bolton deservedly receives flak for her awful performance, but I reckon Gene Courtier, as a victim's distraught boyfriend, is even worse: he looks like he's laughing!), but the direction is also extremely dull (with constant use of overlong static shots), and the music is abysmal.
Blood Feast was his first gore movie and it's very low budget but it's great fun, the effects are cheesy but effective like the tongue scene.
Blood Feast is commonly regarded as the first 'gore' film ever made.
Such is the case with "Blood Feast" a film that for all rights is not good but for some reason despite the terrible acting, cheesy close-ups and goofy gore manages to entertain....those of said certain crowd.Fuad Ramses is a shop owner who caters to people who have a persuasion for Egyptian delicacies.
Some gore and 60's girls to google at ensue leading to a "crushing" finale."Blood Feast" if viewed in the right frame of mind and with the right group of friends is a fun film, though it will not ever be considered a classic to the mainstream crowd those who like the drive-in scene of the era (1960's) will more than likely enjoy themselves with this one, I know I did.With solid bad acting and an Egyptian Cult murderer on the prowl how can you go wrong.
The gore's the thing, and if you're looking for the original inspiration for all those mad slasher flicks then Herschell Gordon Lewis's inept classic Blood Feast is the place to start.