Sardu, proprietor of the Theater of the Macabre, and his assistant,
Ralphus, run a magic show that's actually a show of psychotic torture. HORROR
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Bloodsucking Freaks (1976)Written and Directed by Joel M. Reed
Starring Seamus O'Brien, Louis de Jesus, Viju Krem, Niles McMaster, Dan Fauci, Alan Dellay, Ernie Pysher, Helen Thompson, Ellen Faison |
I think I have to justify my score for this now because what I will discuss in this review could make that score seem unjustified or confusing. This was my introduction to Troma as I saw this before their flagship film, The Toxic Avenger. The gauntlet was well and truly thrown down and everything else I have seen from Troma since pales in comparison to what happens in this film. There are exploitation movies and then there's Bloodsucking Freaks. It is not without precedence though. What writer/director Joel Reed draws from is a theater that existed in Paris from 1897 to 1962, the Grand Guignol. The plays put on there were melodramatic in style and designed to shock its audience. The subjects were often taken from newspaper headlines of real-life crimes and other depraved stories. In fact, this was nothing new as plays from Shakespeare (Titus Andronicus) and Webster (Duchess of Malfi) were also explicit in nature.
Bloodsucking Freaks stands on the shoulders of its forefathers to reach sickening new levels of filth and unpleasantness. This film is mean and strangely playful at times with its handling of the gore and violence. Sometimes the music undermines the images and you aren't sure you should be laughing or turning it off. There are plenty of grotesque things to churn your stomach and question this film's validity. The story centers around Sardu (O'Brien) and his diminutive henchman/BDSM partner in crime, Ralphus (de Jesus), as the pair parade women on stage at the Theater of the Macabre, subjecting them to actual torture and murder on an unsuspecting audience. That's the story. Sardu is a man who has been allowed to bring all of his depraved fantasies to life. He does this claiming his "art" will one day be legitimized and him hailed as a genius. Along the way he kidnaps a critic (Dellay) who writes a bad review of his latest show and a ballerina (Krem) who will become his latest slave and star of his new production. Sardu is always trying to do bigger and has the continued funding from Arab businessmen who buy his slaves. I think it's time to just list the ridiculous and obscene things you will see in this movie: skull crushing, dismemberment, tooth extraction, brain surgery, human tables, lady bum dartboard, brain slurpee, BDSM, feral cannibal women caged in the basement, decapitation, painting with organs, and a penis sandwich. Even listing these things does not prepare you when it does happen. This film is a badge of honor because it's not put together well, you can see the production value and the budget was poured into special effects and not set design. I am by no means extolling the virtues of this film or begging you to give it a chance. This film does carry on a long held past time we have as human beings: to be shocked and disgusted all in the name of entertainment. It has been going on since the earliest days of recorded storytelling and won't stop anytime soon. Long live the theater of the macabre. *You can find this on the current season of The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder. The anecdotes alone make this worth the watch. |