Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat

1963's Blood Feast is not particularly well known to most people that are not hardcore horror fans, but it's actually quite a remarkable film; and one of the first to use extreme gore, which makes it rather influential also. On paper, it's not all that surprising that such as a remarkable film got a sequel - even if it is almost forty years on from its release - the surprising thing about this film is the fact that it wasn't just made by someone who wanted to imitate Blood Feast's creator, it's actually The Godfather of Gore himself, Herschell Gordon Lewis, sitting in the director's chair! And despite the fact that it's thirty years on from his previous director's credit, he has lost none of his thirst for blood and guts! Essentially, the film is just a remake of the original and features an almost identical plot. We focus on Fuad Ramses III; a chef who just happens to be the grandson of the killer in the first film, and he also just happens to worship the same Egyptian God - so naturally it's not long before girls start being butchered...

Aside from a bucket of gore, Herschell has also kept the other things that made his older films such a blast in place - and that includes awful acting, poorly written characters and a very simple plot. He does appear to have moved with the times slightly as the effects are a bit better, plus the film features modern fashions...but other than that, the film could have been made in The Godfather of Gore's heyday. Lewis has lost none of his sense of humour either, with hilarious dialogues, ridiculous situations and even amusing character names (Bambi Deere, Laci Hundees) features. The plot basically just skips from gore scene to gore scene, but there's some interesting stuff in-between the gore; including a police investigation that even the most dim-witted of officers would have solved in about five minutes. Lead actor J.P. Delahoussaye unsurprisingly doesn't have many other film credits to his name; but he really is a blast in this one and gives a lead performance very much in Herschell's trademark style. Of course, it's the gore that is the real star and the film really does feature plenty, so HG fans rejoice! It all boils down to a typically ridiculous ending, but who cares? Blood Feast 2 is an absolutely great gore flick and while it's certainly a lot more redundant than the original - in its own right I wouldn't hesitate to call it one of Herschell's best and any fan of the director will surely want to track this down!

I first saw this movie in a small horror festival. A beer in a hand, a cigarette in the other one, I didn't expect to watch something that fun!

The opening scene itself is a tribute to absurd funny gore. I don't want to tell more, but it is one of the most hilarious intro I've ever seen. Since this moment, I didn't stop laughing until the end.

If, like me, you appreciate pictures with over played acting, absurd dialogs, many topless scenes, stupid humor and... some blood too, you will love this one. Of course, we can say that about a lot of films (troma, Fulci...) but this one is just a little bit better in everything. I found it almost as fun as P.Jackson's "Braindead". HG Lewis comes back with his famous humor noir, and is at his best!

I would give a special appreciation for the music: A few good old school psychedelic rock n'roll songs doesn't kill, after all.. does it? And of course, the acting is (intentionally) as bad as you could expect. At the opposite, the special effects are impressive. In fact, it is the perfect mix between a stupid teen movie plot and some old styled gore scenes!

The perfect film to watch with a few buddies and some beer! Don't miss it!

Blood Feast 2 (2002)

*** (out of 4)

Thirty-nine years after the original film comes this sequel that has the grandson (J.P. Delahoussaye) of the famous killer moving back into the small town to butcher more women and serve them as food at a wedding. Even though I'm a fan of the director and the original film I held off watching this one expecting something really horrible. I mean, Lewis hadnt made a film in thirty-years so how in the world would he come back with anything good? Well, he did somehow but I'm sure those expecting something like his older films are going to be disappointed because this is a very polished and rather good looking film unlike previous ones, which were usually low budget and ugly. There's no doubt that this film has a sense of humor, which really comes across with the two detectives played by John McConnell and Mark McLachlan. These two men do a great job together and their comic timing with one another really makes for some great laughs. There's an entire running joke about McConnell constantly eating, which works very well. Delahoussaye is also very good in his role as the maniac. We've also got several hot girls getting naked, which is something the early Lewis films couldn't show. John Waters even shows up as a pedophile priest. Then there's the gore, which is certainly over the top but the one thing people will be coming for. Lewis gets credit for bringing gore to movies but all of his previous movie's gore put together can't top one single sequence here. We have eyes being ripped out, guts pull out, scalpings and various other things including one woman having her face ripped off while she is alive. If you're a gore hound then there's plenty of stuff on hand here. The one negative is that the film runs 99-minutes, which is way too long as some more editing would have helped the film.

All cinematic values & qualities aside, you at least have to show respect for Herschell Gordon Lewis. The man was born in 1926! My grandpa was born in 1926! A lot of people's grandfathers were born in 1926! Can you imagine YOUR grandpa directing a movie that constantly features engrossing decapitations, disembowelment, brain removals (through the ear!), gauging eyeballs and lesbian lingerie parties? I wish my gramps was the Godfather of cinematic gore instead of a random guy who keeps nagging about the devastating years of World War II… At the ago of 76, H.G. Lewis suddenly made his one-time comeback with the nearly 40 years overdue sequel to "Blood Feast"; THE gore-movie that inspired all independent horror directors forevermore. The only characteristic proving Lewis actually is an elderly man is the fact that he doesn't evolve with the times. Lewis' filming style is exactly the same as it was forty years ago, meaning not the slightest attempt to tell a decent story, crude & vulgar humor, hideous music, amateurish editing, depthless characters and make-up effects that are ultimately gross but not the least bit shocking or convincing. So basically, yes, "Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat" is quite an awful film, but not a horror freak in this world is likely to spread negative comments about it. And besides, regardless of all the ineptitude, this undeniably remains a hugely entertaining and often downright hilarious horror film experience! The plot of the sequel is pretty much identical to that of the original. Fuad Ramses III reopens his infamous grandfather's small town catering business and promptly accepts an assignment to cater at the wedding of a local beauty and a dim-witted cop. But Fuad worships the same Egyptian (Babylonian?) Goddess as his grandpa and thus all the sexy bridesmaids' intestines end up on the catering menu during his ongoing search for the ultimate human sacrifice. That concludes the description of the story … or were you expecting something deep & thought provoking, perhaps? There's really no point in "defending" this movie… Either you already were a big fan of H.G. Lewis' oeuvre and decided to LOVE the sequel even before watching it or you never cared for his previous gore films to begin with and, in case of the latter, there's absolutely no reason to seek out this belated effort, neither. For the die-hard fans there are a handful of great surprises, like a delicious cameo of trash-director John Waters (as a gay-paedophilic priest!), purely gratuitous nudity, infantile textbook lesbianism ("Hey girls, let's all get together and try on our sexiest lingerie!"), hilarious dialogs ("I was dropping more hints than mariner soldiers drop soap in the shower") and random stupidity (some guy's corpse lying around everywhere). Thank you very much for this film, Mr. Lewis. I hope you enjoy your well-deserved retirement and live to be hundred years old.

Well, well, well...what can I say for the long-awaited(?) sequel to Blood Feast except that I have never laughed so hard in my life!! Back when the original was released, my father went to see it at a local drive-in. As he would later tell me, it was the last gore film he ever saw. The thing that stood out most in his mind was the sound of Fuad Ramses walking, dragging his bad leg behind him. Lo and behold, after the festvities begin, his grandson injures himself and spends the rest of the movie walking in the exact same manner. C'mon people, that's funny! Even by H.G. Lewis standards, it's got a serious case of tongue-in-cheek (then removed and dumped into soup). It's not Shakespeare, people, it's the Godfather of Gore. And having John Waters as a priest?? It gets funnier and funnier each time I watch it. Granted, the new Ramses is no Mal Arnold, and the acting won't make you forget Connie, but for your rental or purchase price, it's definitely a bargain!! I give it two bloody severed thumbs up!!

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