The Bloody Brood

Peter Falk is just great in his second screen role in this Canadian depiction of the "Beat Generation". Nico (Falk) is the self-appointed ringleader of a bunch of beatniks who deals drugs and violence, but still has to find ways to amuse himself. Determined to "make a statement" in regards to the topic of death, he ends up feeding a burger laced with broken glass to an unsuspecting delivery boy (William R. Kowalchuk). Soon, the boys' grieving older brother (Jack Betts, who's done everything from two "Sartana" films of the early 70s to mainstream titles like Sam Raimis' "Spider-Man", and "Gods and Monsters") decides to do some investigating of his own, infiltrating Nicos' crowd. "The Bloody Brood" may not be truly "great cinema", but it deserves some respect for being one of the earliest Canadian-made films of any note. (The producer-director Julian Roffman went on to make the trippy, surreal 3D horror flick "The Mask"). Its depiction of the Beat Generation is quite a hoot, complete with "artistic" types like the poet Paul (Kenneth Wickes), and a bespectacled goofball named Dave (Ron Taylor). Cliff (Betts) does develop an attraction to Ellie (Barbara Lord), a lovely member of this crowd. Overall, this picture is well-paced (wrapping up in just 72 minutes), generally agreeable nonsense, with impressive, atmospheric photography by Eugene Shuftan, who won an Oscar a few years later for his shooting of the Hollywood classic "The Hustler". The jazzy score is quite engaging. The acting from the able cast (also including Ron Hartmann as TV commercial director Francis, Robert Christie as Detective McLeod, and W.B. Brydon as thuggish greaser "Studs") keeps this consistently watchable, as well as a funny script with its fair share of loopy dialogue. (Four people collaborated on the screenplay: Anne Howard Bailey, Ben Kerner, Elwood Ullman, and Des Hardman.) But make no mistake: Falk, in a performance that commands ones' attention, is the main reason to watch. This makes an interesting companion piece to another, much better known 1959 film, the Roger Corman / Dick Miller classic "A Bucket of Blood". Seven out of 10.

This is pretty darn good crime-drama - Peter Falk is our beatnik psycho who deals drugs and likes to kill people. He throws neat-o parties complete with bongo drummers and dancing chicks. But his favorite thing murder - murdering in creative ways (you'll want to think twice before you eat a hamburger after seeing this film... I don't think ground glass is a good seasoning). It's a pretty cool story, some neat cinematography in some scenes, swinging artsy fartsy beatniks, a bit of jazz music and some bongo music, a bit of a dark film overall... makes a pretty good prime time film I think or a late night flick! 7.5/10

Just two years after their paths crossed on the set of this sleazy little exploitation quickie shot in Toronto, Peter Falk was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in 'Pocketful of Miracles' while cameraman Eugen Shufftan actually won for his work on 'The Hustler'! In just his second feature film Falk feeds a delivery boy a hamburger laced with ground glass in a manner reminiscent of Leopold & Loeb, and was creepy enough find plenty of work for the next few years playing hoods before the role of Lt. Columbo found him a second niche as unkempt eccentrics.

The Bloody Brood would be a much forgotten film except for the presence of Peter Falk in his first big screen role. In his second big screen part that Abe Reles in Murder, Inc., Falk got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. I have no doubt that his casting in The Bloody Brood led to the latter breakthrough part. In this film Falk plays part hoodlum, part beatnik who when he sees an old man who delivered newspapers to the club he frequents die of a heart attack, he decides just for kicks to kill somebody. As has been pointed out before, echoes of Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and I also might add Compulsion which came out the same year as The Bloody Brood. To satisfy his sick humor Falk feeds a telegraph messenger boy a hamburger with ground glass in it. The police are stymied in their investigation, but the kid's brother Jack Betts doesn't stop until he has the culprits identified and pulls a trick from the beatnik lifestyle to expose the culprits. I should also say that Falk's own greed has a lot to do with his eventual problems. The Bloody Brood was an independent production shot in Canada and at that time Canadian production facilities weren't the greatest. Some of the noir stuff earlier in the decade had better values. Still Falk's performance is mesmerizing and gave a big clue as to what a great talent he developed into.

Sometimes things are so dated and out of the mainstream that they are hard to get into. While the acting was pretty good and the plot, like Hitchcock's rope, is OK., there is something really passe about this movie. I appreciated seeing a young Peter Falk. He has always been a favorite of mine. But the disjointed slangy dialogue and sort of insincere flattery doesn't work for me. On the other hand, we don't have much of a film history of the beat. That was interesting. It was the poets, mumbling semi-nonsensical verbiage; the bongo drums; all that. It is about the hanger's on. Maybe they were hangers on, even in the middle of it all. Oh well. It was interesting. As a caricature of the early fifties, it does OK.

The first Canadian exploitation film ever made, with a way young Peter Falk playing a beatnik-gangster-mole who feeds a delivery boy 'a hamburger full of ground glass' - that phrase becomes a mantra as the Wonderbread protagonist-come-lately sleuths through the shocking and unseen world of the young bohemian! The beatniks are not shown as evil, they're just stupid dupes - that's nice. They're also viewed at a long arms-length via our virtuous heroes (there's also a girl, who is saved from an interesting life by mister blowdry). "The Mask" is later and greater Roffman, though it too depicts subcultural life as immoral and despicable while it cashes in on its allure. But why do ya think they call it 'exploitation'? It's got some energy, it's got Peter Falk, and it's competently shot when it's indoors. What's "Canadian" about this movie, I hear the tenured laggards inquire? Here's what's Canadian about it: it looks like Brits trying to look American only it's whiter than either.

Along with the much superior Bucket of Blood, this is another example of late 50's beatsploitation. Despite its horror title, The Bloody Brood is a crime-drama set in a Beatnik cellar bar. Similar to Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, this movie has two bored intellectuals deciding that they would like to kill someone just for kicks. This they duly do by feeding a message boy a hamburger laced with broken glass. Yech! Sadly, there is not a lot in The Bloody Brood to recommend. Peter Falk is good in a very early role, while the Beatnik vibe is mostly quite amusing. Other than these two factors though, this isn't very good at all. While it's mercifully short, nothing much of interest actually happens. It isn't really directed with much impetus and the whole plot line about the brother seeking vengeance for his brother's death is pretty tedious. Not too hip nowadays daddy-oh.

This was released in 1959. It came out the same year as The many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Both productions feature a Maynard G. Krebs type character. Bob Denver's was a little more over the top and fun to watch. This movie is good. It is worth watching. Peter Falk does give a nice performance although it is doubtful this was a springboard for anyone. Maybe. Peter does his job well here as a bad guy who is the money man for a small group of criminals. This actually would have been a good vehicle for Elvis as the good guy trying to find the killer. Replace the poets and bongos with a tight 4 piece rock band. It is mentioned in the film that the long distance call is five dollars a minute so we can see some things have improved. This is similar to DOA and maybe both films as a double feature would be entertaining. This movie also needs more outdoor scenes with nice old cars that were new then. Also look at The Cheap Detective or Murder By Death if you like Peter Falk and detective yarns. A better title would have been easy to come up with, such as Burger Murder or Do You Want Everything on Your Burger?

I think this film is a cut above the general response on the board, and interesting beyond it being the cause of Peter Falk's first (and interesting) lead performance. Unlike the more playful "Bucket Of Blood" this movie is down on the beatnik scene (in the way it's presented here, which may well have never existed) and tacitly blames it for the cruel mayhem at the center of the plot. The acting is fairly good overall. The plot contrivances bring the movie to a fast conclusion, but this is probably all for the best. Well worth seeking out by those who enjoy low budget films trying to work a little thoughtfulness into the mix.

Poorly acted, poorly scripted, choppy edited, and poorly transfered onto DVD, this film barely gets above sedate pulse rate mode. The plot promises much, man takes investigation of murder into his own hands due to ineptitude of investigating detective, well that last line I wrote is about as good as the film gets !. It would be nice if the villain of the piece was actually villainous, but sadly Peter Falk as Nico just doesn't instill any sort of menace and worse still is that he is surrounded by cartoonish followers who act like they are in a Bugs Bunny cartoon instead of the beatnik classic some seem to think this is. There is no tension worth writing about, and the finale brings about cries of relief that it's over rather than the nod of approval I'm sure the makers were hoping for, I have no idea what the budget for the movie was, but if it was more than the price of a bacon sandwich then the makers should spend 52 weeks in the stocks whilst we throw rancid tomatoes at them. I give it a generous 2/10 for the delightful Jazz beat score and the brave attempt from Barbara Lord to act with any sort of honest dignity in amongst the swamp of pain. Pah.