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BloodMania – Canada, 2017: updated with HORRORPEDIA review

By HORRORPEDIA on 13 January, 2016 • ( 0 )

Herschell Gordon Lewis’ BloodMania aka BloodMania is a 2017 Canadian horror anthology film directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast; Two Thousand Maniacs!; The Wizard of Gore); The Gore Gore Girls) [Gory Story, The Night Hag segments], Kevin Littlelight [segment GOREgeous] and Melanie Reinboldt [segment: Attack of Conscience] for Diabolique Films.

The screenplay is by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Kevin Littlelight, James Saito, Justin Sane and Bob Schultz.

Review:

BloodMania is a four-piece anthology that dips into the deranged and demented world of the grisly and distorted. Without much storyline to any of the shorts, we are first treated to a young man holding a woman hostage before going on the run. Needless to say, it gets bloody quite quickly and there is more than enough squeamish gore to entice the true horror fanatic into watching this craziness.

A tale involving a burnt out manager of an all-girl rock group who just enjoys the kill is sure to make you uneasy. Stuart Bentley does an awesome job at being completely and unattractively repugnant while savagely gutting his victims.

My favourite chronicle is the beginning portion of the “thing” that lives in a household vent. There is an older couple, amply named Stanley and Helen, who continue to argue as a laugh track chimes in the background. Each comment from their snarky mouths is reminiscent of The Ropers. Similarly to the Rodney Dangerfield scene in Natural Born Killers, the danger looms as the humour prevails, all the while being bloody fun to watch. Although that incident is short lived, there is promise in the remainder of the story as a new family of four move into the doomed house only to encounter paranoid dread.

A few trite issues linger with some apparently amateurish special effect kills, although they supposedly blend into the old sub-genre of quirky comedic repulsion that Herschell Gordon Lewis helped create.

BloodMania is a trippy, campy adventure into a tasteless creator’s mind. Comparable to the vulgar genius of John Waters (who happens to be a huge Lewis fan!), expect a great deal of confusion, hokeyness and displaced dialogue that does not necessarily mesh into the theme.

Will this change your life? Not at all and for some, it could even be forgettable. That said, accept it for what it is: a low budget, gore-infested farce meant to make you laugh.

Meredith Brown, HORRORPEDIA

Other reviews:

“Whilst each story differs in context, almost all contain a variety of OTT gore sequences, be it a crazed serial killer being flattened by a steamroller, or an old hag dissolved in chemical cleaners. In keeping with the director’s heritage, the effects are gooey, completely gratuitous and of course shown fully uncut. Oddly there are quite a few rather iffy CGI blood additions which don’t make anywhere near the impact the prosthetic effects do…” Beyond the Gore

” …a perfect farewell movie for the man who has become known as the “Godfather of Gore”, as it doesn’t just focus on the gore content of his filmmaking ways but also on the comic aspects, the over-the-top ideas, and the occasional nonsense moments. And while gore movies as such might be a dime a dozen these days, only few are as much fun to watch (in a party movie sort of way) as this one.” Mike Haberfelner, Search My Trash

“It’s a loveable mess from grue-soaked start to bloody maniacal finish and sees so fit cause to disguise such. There’s precious little plot or suspense, but the characters painted are more than colorful. Moreover, they die pretty for the most part and, with 18 gallons of gush juice swimming the screen like sanguine soda, it provides no shortage of light refreshment.” Richard Charles Stevens, Keeper of the Crimson Quill [click link to see lots of images from BloodMania]

” …interesting to see that BloodMania was created more as a horror-comedy film than an attempt at being legitimately scary. The comedy comes in the form of dry and sarcastic humor, gag humor, and the nonstop gore that pops up out of nowhere. This, of course, is also fueled by some cringe-worthy acting that makes the whole thing slightly more humorous.” Horror Society