BlueBlood

Two questions remain unanswered after finishing "Blue Blood". What the hell is it? And why was it ever made? Now, I don't know what other people seek in movies, but to me those answers are crucial. Initially, I was quite excited - and mildly surprised - to find this title on Netflix. A psychedelic British horror/cult movie from 1974 and starring one of my all-time favorite actors (Oliver Reed) is an unusual find in their streaming offer, to say the least. "Blue Blood" turns out a massive disappointment, because the storyline is thin & senseless, the whole thing is boring beyond words, and Reed does not only act bizarre, but he also talks bizarrely.

The story - or lack thereof - entirely takes place in a massive mansion on a large country estate that is also a sort of zoo/safari park. The owner is a Lord (Derek Jacobi) who's only interested in having sons to continue the family legacy, and the most powerful person in the house is the head servant Tom (Oliver Reed). Tom uses drugs and black magic to manipulate everyone on the estate, also including the Lord's wife and mistress, and the newly arrived well-mannered German nanny.

Sounds interesting, and I'm convinced it could have been with a more gifted director and a slightly more elaborated script, but it's just slow, uneventful, dull, and irritating. Oliver Reed is the type of actor who gave stellar performances when he himself believed the film was great ("The Devils", "Revolver"), but when he didn't like it - like clearly the case here - he is arrogant and passive.

Now that I have reviewed approximately 5,500 horror & cult movies, I must admit I've had a few minor panic attacks about "running out". Not running out of titles to watch, because there are literally thousands of horror titles out there and new ones are being released on an almost daily basis. No, I'm worried about running out of GOOD movies from my favorite decades: the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Lately, when discovering obscure titles from these eras, they all turn out to be major disappointments. Like "Blue Blood", in fact.

This one really BOMBED! After watching most of Reed's films and his horror films being my most favorite I decided to watch this flop. What a big disappointment this was. Reed stars as a snobbish butler with an accent that changes like a bad ventriloquist dummy that is supposed to be the leader of a Satanic cult gathered in the mansion of it's rich owner with two bratty kids that have to be looked after by a strange and dumb maid because his wife is to busy singing and he's to busy sleeping with his girlfriend on the side and meanwhile the butler sends strange images to the maid and owner of Reed in the worst makeup job I have ever seen but what makes him look worse is the room in which he practices his worship is all red and you can barely see him anyway. This movie isn't at all Satanic in any way except for the few glimpses of Reed tormenting people and he gets blamed for all the misuse of the children and the things that go on with the house. This movie is boring from beginning to end, very slow dialogue and false advertisement of the point of the title. This movie isn't even a horror movie, it's a boring drama! Avoid it! Watch "Burnt Offerings" and "The Brood" thats Reeds strangest and his best in horror.

Ollie reed & co take the mickey in the luxurious home of the Marquis of Bath (who, himself briefly appears in the party scene). Derek Jacobi makes the best of a poor script, probably written on the back of a beer-mat. The film is soooooooo unintentionaly hilarious, it beggars belief! The film is full of musical tangents, poorly dubbed kids, satanic-undertones and a truly winning performance by the late, great Oliver of Reedshire. If it appears on T.V (it'll never appear on DVD, that's for sure) tape it, watch it, then watch it again. Best line (By Derek Jacobi): "ohhhhh, youuuuuuuuu stuuuuuuuupid biiiiitch".

BLUE BLOOD (1974) is undoubtedly one of the oddest British horror films I've ever watched, if you can even really call it a horror. It was barely released over here despite starring Oliver Reed, yet somehow Netflix have managed to stream it. The story focuses on the relationship between Reed, playing a butler, and his decadent master, played by Derek Jacobi, no less. The film was notably shot at the Longleat estate, co-written by the Marquess of Bath, and even has some scenes at the famous zoo.

After watching I have no idea what it was really about. There are red-tinted visions, dream sequences and an annoying twist ending. As the title would suggest, it seems to be a satire about class ties but doesn't really go into detail. There's one good horror scene but far more sex and eroticism. At times it feels like a Ken Russell or Michael Winner odyssey of excess and bad behaviour. Reed has a dodgy accent and Jacobi is typically committed to his role. Fiona Lewis co-stars alongsside the Marquess's real-life wife (well, one of them, anyway). Not one I'd want to sit through again!

A young German nanny takes up employment at a large English stately home, where a sinister butler called Tom (Oliver Reed) appears to have power over the master (Derek Jacobi) and the other staff. It has taken me decades to finally see this, having picked it up on DVD. I recall it being screened on TV years ago, listed as a horror, but for some reason I missed it. Sadly it proved somewhat disappointing. Filmed over two weeks for a mere £55,000 it is a far cry from many of Reed's other movies that he had starred in, and it does show. The story is based on a novel by Lord Alexander Thynn, the 7th Marquis of Bath, and was filmed at his home Longleat in Wiltshire. This was one of the film's stronger points, one part shows scenes of visitors queuing up in their delightful looking old cars, it is almost part documentary and brought back memories of visiting it myself back in the 1970's. The film features much drinking and smoking dope (apparently Reed would organise evening pub crawls for the cast and ended up smashing up his Bentley Continental!), plus Lord Gregory spends a lot of time in bed with his wife (Fiona Lewis) and his mistress, all three are seen naked. Oliver Reed is one of my favourite actors and he looks menacing here but unfortunately just mumbles his way through, "As a gentleman's gentleman I sometimes ask myself who is a real gentleman?". Billed as a horror movie this is 90% rather slow drama, only the Satanic looking segment near the end gives it any horror. The bruises on the young children, or baby bashing as it is referred to in the film, was the most horrifying aspect. Overall I felt slightly disappointed, having waited so long to finally watch it, there were elements that did interest me but Blue Blood is certainly not a film for a wide audience.