Blood Freak 1972

"Only the blood of drug addicts can satisfy the thirst of the freak monster"

   If you ever wondered what what happen if somebody decided to make a Christian fundamentalist like anti-drug film, then hired a low budget exploitation gore director and give him a budget of about $39.00 to make the film, then wonder no more - Blood Freak is that movie.
 Co-directed & writer Brad F. Grinter, who in 1970 had directed the Veronica Lake comeback maggot-fest Flesh Feast while star (and co-director/writer) Steve Hawkes had appeared in a couple of low- budget Spanish Tarzan movies. A tragic pyro special effect accident on one of those movies burned a about 90% of Hawkes body, after locating to Fl. for recovery Hawkes hooked up with Grinter and together they made Blood Freak.
   The story opens with Hershel ( Hawkes in full Elvis regalia - sideburns, big greasy pomp and you gotta love those sunglasses) tooling down the highway on his chopper when he comes across a girl standing by the side of the road with a broken down car. After helping her out he drives her home and as it turns out this is the good sister Angel, while the other sister whom Herschel meets back at the house is Ann  - the bad sister (we know she's bad right away because of the halter top and tons of make-up she wears).  Ann and her friends spend most of the time hanging around taking drugs (and trying to talk Hershel into joining them - to no avail) while Angel stands around holding a bible and trying to talk Ann into going to church. Their father offers Hershel a job at his turkey farm and he decides to stick around. Later Ann shows up in a tight bikini and seduces him into taking a toke of some marijuana  ("are you a coward or something" - that plus the bikini does it for the poor sap).  The next day after a busy day on the turkey farm Hershel comes home, starts convulsing and demands Ann score some more some pot ("I have a feeling I'm hooked !").

   The next day at the turkey farm Hershel gets talked into eating some experimentally alerted turkey (turns out the sister's Dad has got some weird stuff going on out there) and grows a huge turkey head in place of his. At first no one seems too concerned bout Hershel's turkey head - Ann talks to him about their future and what their kids might turn out like. He soon however starts craving the blood of drug addicts. The first one he catches outside the pusher's house while the next couple of victims sort of randomly show up at the spot where he's hanging out in the woods. He strings them upside down, slits their throat and slurps up the blood with his giant beak (all the while the same shriek keeps looping over & over again on the soundtrack). Later he catches the pusher and cuts his leg off with a table saw (while the guy screams for what seems like 10 minutes). The climax has a couple of Ann's stoner buddies hunting down ol' Hershel and chopping his head off. But wait, there's is a SURPRISE ending!!

   If the above proceedings weren't bizarre enough co-director Grinter (with a purple satin shirt, looking like a scuzzy lounge lizard) hangs out in his 70's wood paneled basement and interrupts the movie at various points expounding on the modern young generation , the meaning of life, plus the evils of drugs and putting foreign substances into your body - all the while chain smoking and occasionally breaking into a wracking cough.

   The whole turkey head thing alone would make this an instant "so bad, its great" classic, but the dialogue,horrible acting (the two lab assistants at the farm have to heard to be believed), cheap gore effects and Grinter's narration really push this into Citizen Kane territory. Available on a DVD from Something Weird in in one of their typically loaded packages. Along with the movie you get Brad Grinter - Nudist, a short film featuring directer Grinter extolling the virtues of the nudist lifestyle, a couple of vintage short films on turkeys in wild and the history of Thanksgiving, a 28 min B&W nudie featuring Hawkes, some PSA's on the evils of drugs and finding God in the psychedelic world and bunches of other trailers etc. Perfect for late night viewing on Thanksgiving while snarfing down that that turkey sandwich snack.

Please pray for the soul of the Blood Freak !

The Evil Seductress !

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has left the building"