BLOOD FEAST  (1963)
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Writer: Allison Louise Downe
CAST---
William Kerwin ...  Det. Pete Thornton (as
Thomas Wood)
Mal Arnold ...  Fuad Ramses
Connie Mason ...  Suzette Fremont
Lyn Bolton ...  Mrs. Dorothy Fremont
Scott H. Hall ...  Frank, police captain
Christy Foushee ...  Trudy Sanders (as Toni
Calvert)
Ashlyn Martin ...  Marcy, girl on beach
Astrid Olson ...  Motel Victim

Runtime:67 min  
    
   I don’t really remember how I first heard of the film “BLOOD FEAST” and its notoriety as being the first
gore/splatter film but I do remember first renting it on VHS when I was 16 years old. I remember  a few
key gore scenes but it didn’t seem as a big deal for me then. The movie, especially the story started to
grow on me. I loved the story because it was simple and effective. The acting was decent and carried
the film along. The directing and score was excellent because I felt as if I was in a gory fairytale.

   Fuad Ramses played by Mal Arnold is clearly the star of the picture. Ramses runs an exotic catering
service but his real desire is to perform an ancient Egyptian ritual called the blood feast. In this feast a
choice virgin is sacrificed so that the goddess Ishtar will come to life.  So he limps across town killing
young women and stealing their body parts to cook in a stew in honor of Ishtar. In the back room of the
store he has prepared a life size idol of Ishtar which he worships, cooks stew, and bakes body parts for.
And oh yeah he also whips a girl chained to the wall.

   As for the gore, well you have to keep in mind that this movie came out in 1963 ! It was revolutionary
for it’s time but even today you can still get chills. I’m thinking of the scene where he opens a girls mouth
and pulls out her tongue. It’s slowly done, there’s lot’s of blood and the tongue looks great. The scene at
the beach looks real as hell. I have seen real pictures of a person with they’re  head smashed ( don’t
ask) and this looks very real.  I want to mention that I also noticed some light humor in the movie and it
adds to the whole feel. A lot of the lines are very funny . Most of the dialogue between the two policeman
is ridiculous but very funny. You have to enjoy every part of the film. I just finished watching it for the
second time and I wouldn’t mind watching it again. Also Faud Ramses is one of the strangest villains I
have ever seen. His eyes and how he takes the whole ritual so seriously is great. If you want to laugh
look out for one of the last scenes in the movie where he is trying to get Suzette, the innocent victim
onto the table to sacrifice her while her family naively  waits in the room next door !

   With “BLOOD FEAST” directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, the godfather of gore and produced by
David Friedman, gore films were born. A gore, or splatter film as it may also be called is a movie whose
chief purpose is to portray gore, blood and carnage. The story is then wound around that. Lewis and
Friedman produced several other gore films including: “TWO THOUSAND MANIACS”, “GORE GORE
GIRLS”, and “WIZARD OF GORE”.  All of these and more are available on DVD

   If you love gore films you owe it to yourself to at least rent and see where the whole subgenre began.
We have a classic here.

                                                                                  





                                                                                                    - Jorge Antonio Lopez

                                                                                                 
Feast of Flesh (USA)
Blood Feast (1963)
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