Bloodrage

The synopsis on the back of the ancient VHS cover box describes the plot of "Bloodrage" as reminiscent to "Taxi Driver" and "Death Wish" and the director's styles and methods for creating tension as "Hitchcockian". You can unquestionably guess without even seeing the movie for yourself that these generous comparisons are just *slightly* exaggerated, but it's nevertheless a decent and overlooked psycho-shocker that comes recommended to the selected group of avid fans of this type of obscure and grim exploitation cinema. Director Joseph Zito's predecessor to the much more known and infamous "The Prowler" is clearly inspired by the success of "Taxi Driver", since it's more or less also a portrait of the sleazy and pauperized streets of New York's red light district, but it definitely benefices most from it's atypical serial killer protagonist. Unlike Travis Bickle, the psychopath here – Ritchie – is a seemingly shy and introvert young lad; barely out of his teenager years and presumably from a decent social background. Ritchie visits prostitutes but ends up barbarically killing them because they aren't like he expects them to be … whatever that may be. Even when he meets a "normal" girl, she turns out to be an infidel nymphomaniac and Ritchie gradually sinks deeper into misogynist rage and madness. Meanwhile, the secret lover of one of Ritchie's prostitute victims – a ruthless copper – follows the trace to New York and hunts him down like an animal. Particularly the opening fifteen minutes – covering Ritchie's first murder prior to his escape to the big city – are immensely powerful and shocking. You really don't see this fragile kid capable of murdering but he is and, moreover, remains stoically focused throughout the entire process. Ritchie's odyssey in the rancid streets of New York is far less exciting, mainly because we're on more familiar territory here, but the murder sequences nonetheless remain harsh and ultimately brutal to look at. With is lurid atmosphere, copious amounts of gratuitous nudity, grainy and cheap looking photography and uncompromising violence against women, "Bloodrage" perfectly fits in the late 70's/early 80's trend of misogynist slasher pictures, like "Don't Go in the House", "Maniac", "Hitch Hike to Hell" and "Don't Answer the Phone". And if you really wonder where the connection lies with "Death Wish", you just wait until the downright fan-tas-tic end scene!

In the 1970s, grindhouse cinemas were awash with sleazy stories of killers and thugs, murderers and prostitutes. These low-budget thrillers often had a gritty, on-the-street look to them, just filming out in the streets amidst the crowds. Violence, drug abuse and prostitution was the norm. The best of the genre was undoubtedly TAXI DRIVER, Scorsese's excellent look at loneliness and madness, and as with any popular film it spawned rip-offs. BLOODRAGE is one of these, a delightful story about a young man who kills prostitutes.

The man is the film's main character, a kind of anti-hero who sometimes narrates his thoughts, just like De Niro. What surprised me is that BLOODRAGE is slightly above the run-of-the-mill for this particular genre, mainly because it has good direction (from Joseph Zito, who later went on to helm many an '80s action flick) and some surprisingly decent turns from the cast. Ian Scott, as the killer, has a lot of screen time and handles his role very well. He's creepy, frightening and seemingly disturbed, which is all that is needed for this kind of role. Inevitably there's a sub-plot about a cop stalking the killer, and James Johnson is also very good as this guy. The actresses playing the prostitutes are grubby and convincing, making you wonder whether they really are 'women of the night'.

What I liked best about BLOODRAGE is that it never descends into plot less gore and depravity, as with so many of these movies. Sure, it's sleazy, but that's inevitable when the entire cast list is populated with hookers, dealers and their clients. The New York locales add grimy authenticity to events, and there are one or two stand-out moments. There's a voyeuristic aspect to the movie as he goes Peeping Tom, scenes which reminded me of Hitchcock in places. There's also a ton of nudity, but for a movie called BLOODRAGE, virtually no blood, except in the opening scene. It's not a great movie, and it's forgotten today for a reason, which is misogyny. But I found it a surprisingly compelling entry in the genre that manages to hit the mark more often than not.

I noticed on the Net that this one isn't available on DVD and neither on VHS in the US. So for me as an European I was able to catch the ex rental VHS. Watch out, there are two movies from that time titled Bloodrage. This flick here is the bloodless one, the other one is available on DVD but totally ripped to pieces, you have to catch the VHS which is the only one uncut. Anyway, this flick came out on the Vipco label and stated as the bloodiest of their collection. Don't believe it. What's nice of this one are the shots made in New York. Depravity New York, still with their pornshops and grindhouses. I was once their too at 42nd but they started to tear places down. The movie starts of pretty well with a shy boy, a peeping tom, visiting a hooker. It gets out of hand and things aren't pretty well for him as for the hooker. That's the bloodiest part of the movie, well done too, so very promising. When he gets to New York the movie turns over into T&A. Nothing to do with the plot of the movie and it all falls down slowly, it's a shame 'cause his second killing was nice too. And then we go on from one full bush shot to another. Nothing else happens, playing peeping tom and suddenly the cop tracks him down with an surprising end. So almost no blood, sometimes really boring and a lot of titties and 70's bushes.

"Bloodrage" tells the story of Richie,a withdrawn young man with the penchant for murdering hookers.He kills Beverly,a small-town prostitute and after concealing his crime goes to New York.As his killing spree continues Richard becomes more and more fascinated with a prostitute who lives across the alley.He watches her undress through the window and we hear his innermost thoughts via voice-over monologues."Bloodrage" oozes sleaze and misogyny.The seedy atmosphere of 70's New York is well-captured with its peeling-wallpaper interiors and dirty alleys.The murder scenes are quite brutal and there is plenty of full-frontal female nudity.If you enjoyed "Maniac" or "Don't Go in the House" give this grimy slice of psycho cinema a look.7 out of 10.

Set in the seedy, grimy, rubbish-strewn streets of New York, home to pimps, strippers, hos, junkies and violent criminals, Joseph Zito's psycho thriller Bloodrage draws inspiration from Scorsese's Taxi Driver whilst sitting comfortably alongside other gritty horrors of the same era such as Maniac, The Toolbox Murders and Don't Answer The Phone.

The film sets the grim tone quickly with the grisly murder of prostitute Beverly (Judith-Marie Bergan) by young nut-job Richie (Ian Scott), who kills the woman when she threatens to tell his mother that he visited her without any money. The hooker's head goes through a window pane, her throat gashed on the broken glass. Richie mops up the mess, buries the body and hot-foots it to the big apple, where he continues to be upset by women who don't live up to his expectations. Needless to say, they don't stay alive for long. Meanwhile, cop Ryan (James Johnson) is looking for Beverly, his search leading him closer and closer to Richie.

Employing a Taxi Driver style inner monologue to let us inside the head of the misogynistic killer, this somewhat derivative study of a psychopath is helped by a convincing central performance from Scott. Richie's treatment of his victims is cold and brutal, with one victim tortured in her bath-tub before being strangled with her phone cord. Richie even goes so far as to break the neck of a neighbour's dog, before doing the same to its owner. He also likes to spend time watching the hooker in the next building as she entertains a series of 'johns'. This allows for Zito to squeeze some full frontal nudity into a film that is already full to the brim with sleaze.

It is fair to say that the plot offers nothing new to the genre, and that the pace is rather sluggish at times, but the run-time is fairly short, so boredom shouldn't be a problem. Zito would go on to make slasher Rosemary's Killer (AKA The Prowler) and Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, and while I wouldn't say that Bloodrage is quite as good or as gory (the title is misleading: there's not a great deal of blood) as either of those, it should pass the time nicely enough for those who appreciate sordid exploitative trash from the early-'80s.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for the final scene, in which Ryan finally gets his hands on the sicko who killed Beverly - it's hilarious!