Crap Film Club presents "Blood Feast" v The Book Club
Blood Feast is a 1963 American horror splatter film composed, shot and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. The plot focuses on a psychopathic food caterer named Fuad Ramses who kills women so that he can include their body parts in his meals and perform sacrifices to his "Egyptian goddess" Ishtar. It is considered the first splatter film, and is notable for its tacky yet groundbreaking depictions of on-screen gore. It was highly successful, grossing $4 million against its minuscule $24,500 budget.
If you love inconsistencies, plot holes, illogical storylines, dumb police detectives and extremely hammy villains then you are in for a treat - this is the finest slice of vintage crap since "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "perhaps the best unintentional comedy ever made!" (IMDB). According to producer David F. Friedman, the most difficult aspect of production was the fact that the women playing the victims couldn't stop giggling and laughing at what was being "done" to them on camera; not that he or Lewis cared that much, having infamously responded to a widely-circulated negative review with, "Herschell and I have often wondered who told the Variety scribe we were taking ourselves seriously." Friedman came up with some publicity stunts for the film, such as giving theater-goers "vomit bags" and intentionally taking out an injunction against the film in order to gain publicity.
So, this November, join us for some belated Halloween hokum as we invite you to experience the film that invented a sub-genre but also proved there was plenty of room for improvement! We'll also be celebrating our fourth anniversary at The Book Club so you'll be able to enjoy a piece of birthday cake with your crap film, and maybe win a terrible prize to boot.
"One of the masterpieces of truly feckless cinema, an epic fail of such grandeur that Ed Wood himself would be hard-pressed to do better. Worse. You know what I mean." - Antagony & Ecstasy
"It features some of the worst performances ever to besmeer the silver screen. These, coupled with a ridiculous plot, ludicrous special effects and several bizarre deaths make the film pass beyond the realms of 'so bad it's good' into downright hilarity." - Film 4
"This is madcap mayhem from beginning to end...campiness and schlock are in constant supply. The acting alone is enough to make the entire feature ironically enjoyable." - Dread Central
"The cast seem like they’ve graduated from the Tommy Wiseau School of Amateur Acting. There are plenty of laughs to be had." - Starburst Magazine
"If you can find entertainment in truly bad films then you will love Blood Feast." - Classic Horror
"Be sure to warm up your hooting and jeering equipment beforehand - you will need it." - Stomp Tokyo