I never have understood those who idolize Hershell Gordon Lewis. Aside from one or two good low-budget films (such as 2000 MANIACS), his movies were stupid, poorly made and stupid...not to mention, stupid. Yet oddly, he's revered as some sort of genius--the King of Gore. Now his older films from the 1960s did sometimes feature a lot of fake blood and guts, but too often, they were so fake that they looked stupid (hey, I'm using that word again). One of his earliest and worst splatter films was BLOOD FEAST. While not as bloody as his later films, it made up for it by being...stupid. Not silly stupid--just bad sort of stupid. However, it has become a cult favorite despite failing artistically in just about every possible way.
Now, almost four decades later, Lewis is back and out of retirement to make this sequel, of sorts. Surprisingly, though the movie was often quite dumb, it managed to work much better than the original and is a very watchable film...aside from all the guts (which were more realistic) and nudity. This film is not Disney...do NOT let kids watch it. But, if you have a reasonably strong stomach (I dissected a lot of things in college, so I was fine with this), then you might have a few laughs and actually like the film.
As for the dumb, there was plenty! All the women in the film have "silly" names like Bambi Deere, Laci Hundees, Brandi Alexander and Candi Graham. Much of the acting was very, very broad and over-the-top--subtlety was NOT a word you'd use for any of the acting or script or direction. But there were also some clever moments and things that were dumb but funny--such as the cops stopping to get donuts BEFORE going to the crime scene, how clueless the cops were and the way that the killer kept getting hurt when trying the first time to kill the annoying Mrs. Lampley.
Overall, this film is a guilty pleasure for gore fans. Others might enjoy it as well IF they aren't bothered by all the blood and guts. The blood is fake, but some of the organs (such as the liver) are real...and look it. It's easily better than BLOOD FEAST...but that certainly isn't saying much, since in my opinion having herpes is better than watching BLOOD FEAST.
Now, almost four decades later, Lewis is back and out of retirement to make this sequel, of sorts. Surprisingly, though the movie was often quite dumb, it managed to work much better than the original and is a very watchable film...aside from all the guts (which were more realistic) and nudity. This film is not Disney...do NOT let kids watch it. But, if you have a reasonably strong stomach (I dissected a lot of things in college, so I was fine with this), then you might have a few laughs and actually like the film.
As for the dumb, there was plenty! All the women in the film have "silly" names like Bambi Deere, Laci Hundees, Brandi Alexander and Candi Graham. Much of the acting was very, very broad and over-the-top--subtlety was NOT a word you'd use for any of the acting or script or direction. But there were also some clever moments and things that were dumb but funny--such as the cops stopping to get donuts BEFORE going to the crime scene, how clueless the cops were and the way that the killer kept getting hurt when trying the first time to kill the annoying Mrs. Lampley.
Overall, this film is a guilty pleasure for gore fans. Others might enjoy it as well IF they aren't bothered by all the blood and guts. The blood is fake, but some of the organs (such as the liver) are real...and look it. It's easily better than BLOOD FEAST...but that certainly isn't saying much, since in my opinion having herpes is better than watching BLOOD FEAST.