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ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - July 6th

"BLOOD FEAST" released in 1963

One of the more controversial movies of the early 60's, Blood Feast was actually prosecuted under the UK's then Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act - otherwise known as a "video nasty". It was also considered the first in the "splatter" film sub-genre, where a demented caterer murders 'virgin' female victims for ingredients in his "special meals"!

Watch the Blood Feast trailer below!

Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold) runs a local Miami catering company, and has just been contracted by wealthy socialite Dorothy Freemont (Lyn Bolton) to cater a party for her daughter Suzette (Connie Mason). Unknown to Mrs Freemont, Fuad intends to make a "Blood Feast" - cooking the body parts of women as a blood sacrifice to the Egyptian goddess Ishtar! As Fuad leaves a trail of bloody victims - minus a few of their limbs - in his wake, the police investigation, headed by Suzette's inept detective boyfriend, Pete Thornton (William Kerwin), are seemingly clueless to find any leads to identity of the madman. As the night of the party comes closer, Fuad's rampage gets more frequent and more savage as he collects the last ingredients for his feast, and reveals his ultimate intention - to sacrifice Suzette to ensure the resurrection of the goddess Ishtar herself!

Top:   Mal Arnold as the maniac cannibal, Fuad Ramses;

Above:   "Suzette Freemont", played by Connie Mason

Mrs. Dorothy Fremont: I'm giving a dinner party in two weeks for my daughter, and Mrs. Dupree says that you cater to just about the type of thing I'm looking for. I want something unusual, something totally different.

Fuad Ramses: Yes, Mrs. Fremont. I do cater to unusual affairs. What do you consider to be unusual?

Mrs. Dorothy Fremont: Oh, I don't know. What do you recommend?

Fuad Ramses: Have you ever had... an Egyptian Feast?

Fuad Ramses: A feast such as this has not been performed in 5,000 years.

Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), former Mississippi college teacher Herschell Gordon Lewis had felt cheated by the now-famous shower scene for not showing enough during the actual murder and developed Blood Feast with producer David F. Friedman; Friedman had already produced several of Lewis' early "nudie" films and would go on to produce Lewis' later "splatter" films. Blood Feast was filmed in only 9-days in Miami, Florida, beginning in early 1963. For the scene where Fuad rips a woman's tongue out through her throat(!), Lewis wanted a realistic prop for the scene and specifically imported a lambs tongue from nearby Tampa Bay. Lewis also choose to film in color to, unlike Psycho, really highlight the red blood and gore on the screen!

Top:   "Motel Victim" (Astrid Olson) meets a gruesome fate!;

Above:   Fuad puts the final touches on the banquet's menu

Police Captain: Call the Fremonts, fast! And for Pete's sake, don't let them eat anything!

Originally released in New York drive-in's as Egyptian Blood Feast, Friedman came up with some publicity stunts for the film, such as giving theater-goers "vomit bags" reading "You may need this when you see 'Blood Feast'" on them. Though produced for only $25,000, Blood Feast earned over $4 million at the box office and immediately became notorious for its explicit gore and violence. Variety's May 6, 1964 review termed the film a "totally inept shocker", "incredibly crude and unprofessional from start to finish" and "an insult even to the most puerile and salacious of audiences". In response to Variety's criticism of the film, Friedman said, "Herschell and I have often wondered who told the Variety scribe we were taking ourselves seriously."

Top:   Blood Feast director Herschell Gordon Lewis;  

Above:   Lewis in 2015

Blood Feast was the first in Lewis' "Blood Trilogy", with the others being Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) and Color Me Blood Red (1965), although Lewis would continue to make other splatter films, including The Wizard of Gore (1970). The character Fuad Ramses also had an impact on the genre with author Christopher Wayne Curry, in his book, A Taste of Blood: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis (1991), describing Fuad as "the original machete-wielding madman" and the forerunner to similar characters in Friday the 13th and Halloween. Although Blood Diner (1987) was intended as a 'spiritual' sequel to Blood Feast, it wasn't until 2002 that Lewis and Friedman worked together again (for the first time in nearly 36 years) to direct/produce Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat. Taking place years after the first film, All U Can Eat follows Fuad's grandson as he follows in his grandfather's gruesome, gory footsteps.

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE:   36%