February 9th, 2015 (Trip Day 3) - Blood Mania (1970)

Trip Day 3.

On February 7th, my wife and I went on a trip to sunny California. We started in LA, visiting a friend for a couple of days, and over the next week slowly drove up the coast to finish things up in San Francisco. It was rad! But, it made watching a movie every day/writing about it quite difficult. As committed as I am to this thing, I can't justify missing out on a potentially once-in-a-lifetime trip to blog about a terrible indie-slasher, you know? Plus, I think it's wise to occasionally do things with your spouse.

So things will be a little different for the next 11 entries. I managed to watch the movies, but rather than writing about them as I normally do, I'll do a quick little synopsis, a little imdb research, quote some of the reviews (can you do that?) and bounce off of them. Followed up with my general impressions. Okay, thanks!

California is pretty sweet.

Blood Mania

A doctor is caring for an old, wealthy man, along with the help of the rich man's kind of crazy daughter. The daughter really wants to get in the doctor's pants, but the doctor isn't having it. But then, the doctor is blackmailed for some shady procedures he performed in the past. The only way he can get the money? Ask the daughter for it. Her plan? She figures she can kill off her old man, give the doctor the money, and live with him happily ever after. Things, as you may expect, don't go as planned. Somewhere in there is a horror movie.

imdb plot keywords, because they are usually funny:

    inheritance / father / buxom woman / woman undressing / tight blouse

So as you can guess from here, there is a lot of sex and nudity in Blood Mania. It doesn't really feel like softcore porn or anything like that (although it flirts with that sometimes) - the music/inventive camera angles/etc. at least implied to me that they were going for a little something more than just "a lot of nudity." Although I'm sure "a lot of nudity" was probably on the checklist somewhere...

Reviews:

Not as much a horror movie (..considering the title) as a trashy soap opera
     -Thanks "Scarecrow-88" via imdb

It's true. In that sense, the title is pretty misleading. While there are a couple of deaths and what not, there isn't an awful lot by way of horror. A smidge of blood here and there, but nothing all that shocking. The sleazy mood is probably the most "horrific" thing about it.

I have to say it's a lot of fun. Not in the traditional sense of the word "fun," but in the sense someone who enjoys seeing movies that are unusual and finding something new and unique
     -Thanks "vaultonburg" via imdb

They certainly don't make them like Blood Mania any more. Even though it was still probably just thrown together to make a buck, there is at least some attempts here at doing something interesting. It's got a very unique, drugged-out vibe to it a lot of the time. It's an interesting piece of schlock filmmaking.

this is still the sort of delightfully oddball Seventies hokum that amuses me to no end
     -Thanks "lonchaney20" via imdb

I too found myself very amused, once I got over my disappointment that I wasn't getting a Herschell Gordon Lewis type splatter film. A lot of the reviews were hating on it, calling it slow and boring... and it certainly isn't a fast (or even well) paced film. But once you get in the mood and accept what they are going for (a sleazy soap with some psychedelic music/shots), it's got a certain je ne sais quoi that just worked for me.

Final Thoughts:

Good times. Worth watching if you're into the trippy/sleazy 70's films.