Blood Mania

source: Blood Mania

Not as much a horror movie(..considering the title)as a trashy soap opera(..who am I to complain!) concerning a bedridden Daddy Warbucks whose wealth is desired by a tramp of a daughter and physician over his care. You have all the elements. Greed. Avarice. Obsession. Jealousy. Homicide disguised as a stroke through the use of a narcotic known as amyl nitrite in order to secure the "rites" to a person through what she perceives to be a big, fat inheritance. Virginal innocent, a daughter who has been away for years, returns for her father's will reading, along with an older lesbian who could be her potential lover, discovering she will instead receive a large chunk of papa's fortune. And, the plot thickens. More murder. Blackmail. Scheming. Underhanded tactics. Conniving scoundrels with a goal of fulfilling their lustful desires. It's no surprise that Peter Carpenter helped pin the sleazy script for he gets all the chicks, starring as Dr. Craig Cooper, a doctor working for Ridgeley Waterman's(Eric Allison)clinic. Victoria(Maria De Aragon)wants Craig and will do whatever it takes to get him including murdering daddy. Craig is being blackmailed for 50,000 bucks by cretinous Mr. Mills(Arell Blanton, perfecting slimy)because of his past regarding the performance of illegal abortions. Cheryl(Reagan Wilson), Craig's lover, is sacrificed when he "sells his soul", starting up an affair with Victoria, conceding because if he doesn't obtain the necessary cash his practice could be lost. Cheryl loved him so much she allows Mills to rape her! Anyway, Victoria gets rid of pops, but the will leaves her only with a weekly salary while younger sister Gail(Vicki Peters)receives millions. Soon Craig starts up with Gail and this ultimately sends Victoria over the deep end. This also features Leslie Simms as Ridgeley's Nurse Turner and Jacqueline Dalya as Ms. Kate, Gail's "companion". Practically every character in this movie is loathsome, out to get something. Victoria is one diabolical bitch. Aragon, Wilson, and Peters are all delicious, most naked at one point or another. Gets more disturbing as desperation causes questionable behavior. A fitting conclusion. Gail's purity, trust, and naiveté get the best of her because she is a lamb in the midst of wolves. Not for everyone's taste, Blood Mania is probably most appealing to fans of trash.

A sex-crazed woman murders her ailing father so she can use the inheritance to help her "boyfriend" out of a jam. What the woman doesn't know, however, is that her father has left all of his money to her sister. Let's get this over with - Blood Mania is BAD. Take some of the choices that were made with the cinematography. I suppose that some of the camera work in Blood Mania was meant to be artistic or experimental. But much of it comes off as just plain ridiculous. One perfect example is an entire scene of dialogue shot at the waist. I suppose we are meant to gain some insight into what the characters are saying by the movement of their hips. I won't even bother mentioning the acting, dialogue, etc. It should go without saying that they are all equally bad. None of the characters has a single redeeming quality. All of them are as sleazy as you'll find. There's obviously the woman who kills her father. She's also blackmailing her "boyfriend" to sleep with her. The "boyfriend" is a doctor who knows the truth about the old man's death but does nothing for fear of being exposed as having performed illegal abortions. The sister who gets the inheritance isn't much better. It takes her two or three hours to fall for her sister's "boyfriend". And I haven't even gotten to the guy demanding money from the doctor to keep him quiet. Not a very nice lot. I felt like taking a bath after the movie was over. Unless you feel the need to watch a bad movie (and a shower afterward), steer clear of this one.

Crappy cable TV-Movie with nothing going for it. Rated Z for ZIPPO! Julia (de Aragon) gets stiffed of her Dad's cash and kills her sister, the benefactor. Along the way, Julia sucks her Dad's doctor (Carpenter) in to her pornographically shot and audioed world. That's not the only thing that SUCKS about this film. Not even bad 70's fashion can save this sin-bin material.

I watched BLOOD MANIA as part of BCI Eclipse' Drive-in Cult Classics (featuring Crown International Pictures releases) on DVD. As I work my way through the multiple DVD sets, I am growing to love many of Crown International's movies -- especially, the creepy, erotic, psychological thrillers! There is something about BLOOD MANIA… it is a soap opera. Moreover, when you view it through that lens, you can really appreciate the slow pace, the subdued performances, and, the hints at sex and violence that are never fully realized on screen – not by today's standards. This is well filmed; and, very colorful. The setting is extraordinary. It is eerie, claustrophobic and a bit skewed in many of the manor house scenes, which underscores the fact that these characters are prisoners of their own flawed personalities. The jarring, discordant music lends a certain quality to the film that heightens the suspense and anticipation. Especially, of note (***spoiler alert***) at about an hour and five minutes into the movie, when the AWFUL TRUTH of the father and younger daughter's relationship is revealed. The reveal is only a few seconds long; and, is amplified by the music and quick cutting. No wonder he left her all the money! This scene is actually an echo of the opening sequence, which I am sure does not register until you view this movie a second time. When we first meet the father/doctor, we think it is only a dream. What a fantastic twist! Everyone focuses on the older daughter; and, her scheming and the abortionist doctor/boyfriend, the blackmailer, Cheryl (the doctor's girlfriend – what happened to her); and, the nurse. However, those are all back-story, by comparison to the "hold" daddy had on his two girls! That is the real reason for the murder – jealousy. The feelings of which, are intensified when Victoria, the older sister, learns the doctor refused the generosity of Gail, the younger sister, after seducing her. However, he had previously schemed to get Victoria's money, after submitting to her advances! Victoria just wants to be loved Yes, this is a sordid melodrama. I like BLOOD MANIA.

There are people who are keen to point out Peter Carpenter's back- to-back 1970/1971 films Blood Mania and Point of Terror aren't horror movies at all. Which is in a sense fair, because the promotional material would lead one to believe that they were, but so what? Still others want us to know they think Carpenter was a Tom Jones wannabee and the music in Point of terror is bad. So what? Blood Mania and Point of Terror are perfectly trashy and entertaining pieces of early 70's schlock that are unique, wonderfully shot, and chock full of pretty people to look at. Tonight I'm watching Blood Mania for the first time, and I have to say it's a lot of fun. Not in the traditional sense of the word "fun," but the sense someone who enjoys seeing movies that are unusual and enjoys finding something new and unique. Sure, peter Carpenter probably didn't have the chops to be a leading man in A movies, but he was every bit up to carrying these B movies on his shoulders, surrounding himself with beautiful scenery and beautiful women, and telling an outrageous story that challenges ones ability to believe. It's sort of shame as a movie fan that we don't get these kinds of movies anymore. I mean we get bad movies, but not these kinds of bad movies. Blood Mania is an entertaining movie for those who aren't looking to waste their own time picking it apart.

Sleazy film about a swinging doctor who is lusted after by the daughter of his boss. He won't give her the time of day and she's very unhappy about it. When a blackmailer begins to really pressure the doctor he takes up with the daughter and the pair plan on doing the old man in. Unfortunately the old man left his money to her sister. The doctor of course takes up with the sister and thats where things spiral even more out of control. More thriller then horror film, its more Grand Guignol meets Film Noir with the except for a couple of shocking images at the end. The film is filled with nudity, sex and bad behavior. To me its an okay time killer but nothing I need see again. The rub is that this is a very talky movie. Things do happen but there is a great deal of talk on either side of any motion. Not the worst you're going to see nor the best. Worth a look if you're like me and pick it up as part of a multiple film DVD set.

Yet another one of Carpenter's drama-disguised-as-horror flicks. Dr. Craig Cooper (Carpenter) is in a bind. He is being blackmailed because of his past (he performed illegal abortions) but thinks he can silence the blackmailers up when his girl decides to off her wealthy father and give him the money. Too bad he didn't read the will first! D'oh! This is just as dull as Carpenter's later POINT OF TERROR and again features producer/co-writer/star Carpenter prancing around without a shirt. This offers nothing really except soap opera twists mixed with some flesh. If anything, the group foresaw the 90s career of Andrew Stevens with these tawdry plot lines. Director Robert Vincent O'Neill eventually made the first two trashy ANGEL flicks in the 80s. Look for Alex Rocco in a small role as a lawyer (was he ever young?). The flick features a tacked on horror-type opening credits that are actually better than the entire movie.

This attempt at a psychological horror film fails on literally every level. The acting is atrocious (even Alex Rocco acquits himself fairly poorly, though he's head and shoulders above anyone else here), the cinematography is pedestrian at best, the score is appalling and annoying, the thing is padded mercilessly, the sound is muddy and horrible (and I don't think it's all the fault of the video transfer), and the director's attempts at Art merely point up his hideous incompetence. The video distributors try to capitalize on BLOOD MANIA's obscurity by marketing it as an exploitation flick, even assuring prosective viewers on the box that it is rated R for nudity and gore. In fact, there is none of either, and it mystifies me how the thing did manage to get an R rating. Perhaps the ratings board heard the title, saw the ultra-low-budget production values, assumed it deserved an R and just didn't pay any more attention to the thing. In a desperate effort to drum up interest among exploitation fans, they also mention rape and incest, which have nothing to do with anything in this movie. Whether you like Hitchcock or TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, stay away from this one.

Whenever I think of legendary grade z studio Crown International, the first movie that pops in my head is BLOOD MANIA. I love Crown International's movies. There something about movies from that "studio" that I just can't help but love or appreciate. And BLOOD MANIA is probably its crowning (pun intended) achievement. Sleazy, cheap, obscure, with dream-like pacing and direction, BLOOD MANIA is almost one of kind in its wonky way of telling a story about sex, greed and murder. BLOOD MANIA is a soap opera but with a sleazy and lurid twist. BM is low key from beginning to end and never goes overboard with the sex, gore or violence, which is why maybe some don't like it. It's lurid enough to turn off the casual viewers but it's not lurid enough for fans of exploitation or gory enough for gorehounds. But I like this approach. The way I see it, the makers of this movie were probably inspired by the soap operas made in those days (EDGE OF NIGHT, for example) but wanted the film to be a notch higher on the sex and violent factors (but it's not high enough to what we've become accustomed to these days on TV or films). The film spends a bit too much time on the plain looking nurse, mainly because her character doesn't go anywhere, but I like the mostly good looking cast. The scene where the blackmailer talks endlessly to the nurse is one weird moment captured on film. The way he talks and the dialogue he says, and they way the scene is shot, is oddly fascinating. And the ending is effective, even if it might be a little too late for most viewers. I like BLOOD MANIA. I'll always look at it as one of Crown International's "best" films. PS, make sure to check out POINT OF TERROR, another trash classic from Crown International Pictures and Peter Carpenter.