Blood Sucking Freaks

Bloodsucking Freaks (1976) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Joel M. Reed's notorious exploitation flick about an off, off Broadway show being hosted by Sardu (Seamus O'Brien), which advertises "torture" but it is in fact real torture. Sardu and his dwarf assistant Ralphus (Luis De Jesus) keeps a group of women chained up with the sole purpose of killing them on stage. Sardu eventually decides to kidnap a ballerina (Natasha Di Natalie) so that he can impress (and kill) a critic who sees him as trash. Soon her football star boyfriend (Niles McMaster) and a crooked detective (Dan Fauci) are trying to find out what's really going on. Also known as THE INCREDIBLE TORTURE SHOW, this film became best known under the BLOODSUCKING FREAKS title and there's no question that it's quite vile, disgusting, sexist, revolting and just about every other negative word you can think of. With that said, there's something so beautifully bizarre and weird with this picture that, if you can stomach it, you can't help but have some dirty fun with it. Yes, technically speaking there's really nothing impressive here and you could bash some of the bad acting and poor effects but why hate? Yes, this is an extremely low-budget movie and we could nitpick it to death but you can't get over the fact that this thing picks up new fans each and every year. I think what makes this film work so well is the simple fact that it's downright bizarre. It almost seems like a group of friends just got together to make a movie and decided to come up with the craziest situations they could think of. There are numerous torture sequences here, which are so over-the-top that you can't help but laugh at them. Unlike many exploitation films, this one here is shockingly not mean- spirited and this here is another reason it works. This actually plays quite well as a black comedy and there's no doubt that you'll be laughing at how silly some of the stuff is. Just take a look at the cannibal women living in the basement. Watch the "doctor" scene and the brain drilling. Just the way this scene plays out is meant to make your stomach sick and you to laugh at how crazy it actually is. The film will always be remembered for how crazy it is and there's no doubt that the violence and gore is so over-the-top that you often can't believe what you're watching. The non-stop nudity is another thing the film is notorious for and when you combine all of this stuff it's easy to see why it earned (and deserved) the X-rating. It should also be noted at how fun the cast is. Seamus O'Brien, who was murdered shortly after the film was released, is simply charming in the lead role and De Jesus is also a blast as the assistant. Fauci is also entertaining in the role of the crooked detective and especially the wonderful way he delivers the lines. BLOODSUCKING FREAKS certainly isn't going to be a movie for everyone. In fact, the overwhelming majority are going to be highly offended and disgusted by it, which is a good thing if you're a fan of exploitation. Any movie that continues to shock nearly forty-years after it was made means that it was done correctly.

I bought this film on DVD and it sucks! It is painful to watch. I have not made it though the whole movie and have even tried to watch after drinking a few beers, to no help. The dialog is painful to your ears. I guess I was looking for something more like Tod Browning's Freaks when i bought it so maybe this type of film with lots of gore and breast shots is for you.

Blood Sucking Freaks is the most base of films: a no-budget shocker stuffed with wall-to-wall scenes of extreme sadism and torture. Copping a Herschell Gordon Lewis-style exploitation set-up, Blood Sucking Freaks chronicles all of the behind-the-scenes horrors at a New York City "Theatre of the Macabre" run by evil Sardu and his loathsome assistant, dwarf Ralphus. The glacially paced groaner spends the majority of its running time showing a variety of grisly dismemberment and all manner of accompanying perversion (the nadir of which might just be the human dartboard, but it would be a really tough call given the other cruelties on display). Despite its claim to legendary cult movie status ("second only to Rocky Horror!" trumpets the hyperbolic jacket note) the dull, nearly unwatchable stinker lacks all the flair, charm, and elan of a true midnight gem, Blood Feast.

Oh yeah, this definitely is one title for all you sick puppies out there to see! "Blood Sucking Freaks" is Troma's most sick-spirited and exploitative movie and Joel M. Reed's only intention clearly is to shock and disgust. But I must confess that it works, too, since this is easily one of the most memorable stomach-turning movie experiences I ever beheld. The plot centers on the deranged psycho Sardu, who runs the "Theatre of the Macabre" where audiences are exposed to the torturing and dismemberment of young women, only they don't know that what they see is real. The theater simultaneously is a cover for Sardu's more profitable business: the trading of white female slaves. He's assisted by the perverted midget Ralphus (who does a little dance every time something vile happens) and an insanely unorthodox doctor. Somewhere hidden between all the sickness, there also is the ultra-thin plot line of a famous ballerina who's kidnapped by Sardu and her athlete-boyfriend trying to trace her. The menu of atrocities is far too long to list and features for example the dissection of a girl with a rusty bone saw and an amateurish brain operation! The weak make-up art is the only thing that keeps this movie from being the sickest film ever made, actually. Still, I noticed that many other reviewers labeled "Blood Sucking Freaks" as 'funny' or even 'hilarious'... Let me tell you that this is not a funny film and people probably only claimed so because they don't know how else to respond to an exploitation-adventure like this. This is women unfriendly (I'll never understand what drives some women to star in films like this), aggressive and nauseating cinema. I'm glad that I saw it but I can't give a proper explanation why... Additional content warning: the guillotine sequence is super-sickening and has an extra depraved twist at the end.

I simply cannot believe that any sane human being would watch this garbage, or even recommend it. What reason is there for anybody to watch this. The so called 'comedy'? It has NONE! There are no jokes, no humorous situations, nothing even related to the word. The gore factor? If you want gore, watch 'braindead', directed by Peter Jackson. Granted, this movie has gore, but not enough to warrant watching it, and the special effects are absolutely terrible. The worst thing about this movie, however, is simply the storyline. There isn't one. Apparently, its about Sardu and his theatre of the macabre, but that is really just an excuse to make a movie about torturing and killing naked women. Here is a rough rundown of the storyline (what storyline?) : 0-5 mins Sardu kills people for an audience 5-100 mins Sardu starts killing naked women every 5 minutes for no reason at all 100-110 mins The 'amazing' surprise ending which just happens to be the worst ever seen in a movie. This movie just cannot be counted as entertainment. Even the most diehard gore fiend will not be able to keep his concentration because there is no storyline, no jokes, and the acting is terrible. It doesn't even fit into the 'so bad its good' category, because there is nothing to make you laugh at. So in conclusion, if you are entertained by shoddy acting, terrible special effects, and movies in which nothing happens with no storyline, I personally recommend this to you.

Probably one of the few movies that made me feel dirty after seeing it(THAT, my friends, is a real acomplishment). I don't know if I liked it or not but I never forgot it. With scenes showing what is used for a dartboard, what they bet with while playing cards and that bit of fun with the dwarf and a severed head, how could I(That drawf later went on to play an Ewok in Return Of The Jedi!!)? I usually like sick films but maybe this one was a bit too much... or maybe not... I won't be renting it again anytime soon to find out.

This is easily one of the most subversive, sick and demented films ever made..and badly made at that. A few of the scenes are stolen from early 1970's porno comics from Europe..as in the beheading/oral sex shot, scavenged from a really nasty little 8-pager called, "Nazi Sex." (!) If 1963 H.G.Lewis style gore and filmed-on-velveeta style direction are your joys, this is the film to seek out above all others..it's as bad as they come, and will get even jaded viewers to feel uncomfortable. I still regret renting this one, although it's good to know that any thought that is human is still available at the local video store...

A crazed magician tortures and brutalizes naked women in front of astonished audiences. Is it real or faked? Do you care? This infamous low budget rip off of H.G. Lewis's THE WIZARD OF GORE purports to be a black comedy, but is really the lowest form of sleazy, misogynistic exploitation. Had the filmmakers had the guts to stay true to their own sadistic fantasies, as opposed to excusing themselves by claiming it's all just a joke, this might have been some really strong stuff, a la GUINEA PIG. As it is, it's far more boring and stupid than offensive, with lousy photography, editing and performances only adding to the banality. One little known fact is that the title was originally THE INCREDIBLE TORTURE SHOW, and theater owners were instructed to use larger or different colored letters for the first letter of each word, thus creating the abbreviation T.I.T.S. Get it? There's that sophisticated humor. If you do bother to watch underground film company Troma's special edition DVD, be sure to check out the unintentionally hilarious commentary (by some effects guy who had nothing to do with the movie), in which all sorts of social and political satire are read into the movie. Did you know the caning/guillotine scene is a comment on fascism? Right.

Now this is a BAD movie! Having heard about this movie for quite a while I was expecting something fairly grotesque. What I found was a movie that reaches new depths in BAD. BAD acting, BAD plot, BAD special effects, BAD humor, basically BAD everything. I laughed most of the way through the film due to the incredibly stupid dialogue and amazingly cheesy effects. I've seen better special effects in junior high school cinematography films. The actors/actresses are worse than what you see in the average grade school play. There's a reason nobody went on to more than one or two more low budget films from this turkey. I don't know about anyone else but if I was getting all my teeth pulled out I wouldn't sit around looking bored. Then again teeth don't exactly pop out in under 2 seconds either. It looked like he was simply picking them up off her tongue, which is pretty much what he was doing. All in all a truly monumental waste of time and film. I'd really be torqued off about it if it had cost me a penny to watch but it didn't so I only feel like I wasted the time, not money. Anyone else think that Sardu bore an amazing resemblance to Eric Idle?

Without a doubt, the most reprehensible, repulsive movie I have ever seen. Completely without merit. Do not watch it. Stay away. I say this as a sometimes-fan of dark comedy and silly, violent movies, and one who enjoyed the Toxic Avenger. This movie sucks.