'Blood Feast' a pioneer low-budget gore film helmed by Herschell Gordon Lewis

Reviewed by Steve D. Stones

Directed in 1963 by Herschell Gordon Lewis (The Godfather of Gore), Blood Feast centers around a psychopath Egyptian immigrant named Fuad Ramses, played by Mal Arnold, who runs a food catering business in Florida. Ramses murders local beautiful women in the Miami area and uses their body parts in his meals to perform sacrifices to the ancient goddess Ishtar.

Socialite Dorothy Fremont, played by Lyn Bolton, approaches Ramses at his catering business to request catering services for her daughter Suzette's birthday party. Ramses promises a feast for the birthday party that no one will ever forget and one which has not been served for five thousand years. Mrs. Fremont is unaware that Ramses will prepare a feast with body parts of local murdered women. He intends for Fremont's daughter to be one of his next victims in the cannibalistic feast.

Meanwhile, an incompetent, chain smoking police detective named Pete Thornton, played by William Kerwin (aka Thomas Wood), is on the case of tracking down a local killer who takes body parts from his murdered victims. 

Thornton happens to be dating Suzette Fremont, played by 1963 Playboy Playmate Connie Mason. The bad chemistry between both actors is so obvious on the screen. Mason stands in a number of scenes with her arms folded while gyrating back and forth as if she's shivering from cold. In one scene, she looks directly into the camera, searching for her cue card to read her forgotten lines.

Both Mason and Kerwin will go on a year later in 1964 to star as another couple in director Lewis' – Two Thousand Maniacs. Their chemistry does not improve much in this film, but Two Thousand Maniacs is technically a much better film. The couple married in real life in 1964 and remained married until Kerwin's death in 1989.

Despite its $24,500 production budget, Blood Feast went on to earn 4 million worldwide – which is a great return on such a small investment. Blood Feast is considered the first splatter – gore film in cinema history. The film threw the motion picture industry in a panic during an era without film ratings. Drive-in movie patrons across the United States lined up for hours to see Blood Feast. Word of mouth spread quickly about the gruesome nature of the film.

Director Lewis once said Blood Feast was like a Walt Whitman poem - “It's no good, but it's the first of its kind.” Even many of the AD campaigns for Blood Feast live up to the reputation of the film. As one advertising poster states: “Nothing so Appalling in the Annals of Horror! You'll Recoil and Shudder as You Witness the Slaughter and Mutilation of Nubile Young Girls!” Most horror films could never live up to this claim. Blood Feast certainly does a hundred times over.

Many of Lewis' gore films are currently offered on Tubi streaming service – Blood Feast (1963), Two Thousand Maniacs (1964), Color Me Blood Red (1965), The Wizard of Gore (1970) and The Gore Gore Girls. Don't miss these great gore classics. Happy viewing this Halloween season.