The Incredible Torture Show

Bloodsucking Freaks (1976)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Joel M. Reed's notorious exploitation flick about an off, off Broadway show being hosted by Sardu (Seamus O'Brien), which advertises "torture" but it is in fact real torture. Sardu and his dwarf assistant Ralphus (Luis De Jesus) keeps a group of women chained up with the sole purpose of killing them on stage. Sardu eventually decides to kidnap a ballerina (Natasha Di Natalie) so that he can impress (and kill) a critic who sees him as trash. Soon her football star boyfriend (Niles McMaster) and a crooked detective (Dan Fauci) are trying to find out what's really going on.

Also known as THE INCREDIBLE TORTURE SHOW, this film became best known under the BLOODSUCKING FREAKS title and there's no question that it's quite vile, disgusting, sexist, revolting and just about every other negative word you can think of. With that said, there's something so beautifully bizarre and weird with this picture that, if you can stomach it, you can't help but have some dirty fun with it. Yes, technically speaking there's really nothing impressive here and you could bash some of the bad acting and poor effects but why hate? Yes, this is an extremely low-budget movie and we could nitpick it to death but you can't get over the fact that this thing picks up new fans each and every year.

I think what makes this film work so well is the simple fact that it's downright bizarre. It almost seems like a group of friends just got together to make a movie and decided to come up with the craziest situations they could think of. There are numerous torture sequences here, which are so over-the-top that you can't help but laugh at them. Unlike many exploitation films, this one here is shockingly not mean- spirited and this here is another reason it works. This actually plays quite well as a black comedy and there's no doubt that you'll be laughing at how silly some of the stuff is. Just take a look at the cannibal women living in the basement. Watch the "doctor" scene and the brain drilling. Just the way this scene plays out is meant to make your stomach sick and you to laugh at how crazy it actually is.

The film will always be remembered for how crazy it is and there's no doubt that the violence and gore is so over-the-top that you often can't believe what you're watching. The non-stop nudity is another thing the film is notorious for and when you combine all of this stuff it's easy to see why it earned (and deserved) the X-rating. It should also be noted at how fun the cast is. Seamus O'Brien, who was murdered shortly after the film was released, is simply charming in the lead role and De Jesus is also a blast as the assistant. Fauci is also entertaining in the role of the crooked detective and especially the wonderful way he delivers the lines.

BLOODSUCKING FREAKS certainly isn't going to be a movie for everyone. In fact, the overwhelming majority are going to be highly offended and disgusted by it, which is a good thing if you're a fan of exploitation. Any movie that continues to shock nearly forty-years after it was made means that it was done correctly.

Anyone who takes this film seriously should be punished in the same style as the victims in this movie. A black-humor, and a funny one at that. You will laugh your ass off when you see some of the more absurd scenes in this movie. Extremely campy, and slow moving at times, but a perfect 70's horror film to watch when it's raining outside and the kids aren't home.

Bloodsucking Freaks is genuinely disgusting, but it's hard to say it's absolute trash, because it's so obvious that everything is done in a tongue in cheek way. It's as much a satire on the theatre world as it is a grimy, gory exploitation film.

The premise of the film is that the head of an experimental theatre group named Sardu is miffed that his torture stage show has been panned by a powerful critic so he kidnaps the critic, a ballet dancer, and a few other vixens and tortures them.

The entire film is absolutely ridiculous, but you'll recognize a few actors from the film Alice, Sweet Alice and the gore effects manage to be both impressive and hokey at the same time. It's not must see entertainment, but there are worse movies out there.

Blood Sucking Freaks is often considered an exploitation classic, and is one of the select few Troma films to receive a reputation anything like that. It's not hard to see why this film is so well revered among fans of wayward cinema - the gore is disgusting, the torture scenes are extended and make for highly unpleasant viewing and there's an extremely misogynistic tone running throughout the film; something that is very popular with many fans of this sort of cinema. I definitely consider myself an exploitation fan, but I'm only going to rate this film as a must see for people like me; as in it's own right, Blood Sucking Freaks really isn't all that good. The film reminded me a lot of a HG Lewis movie, and the plot seems to take some influence from the "classic", The Wizard of Gore, as it follows a stage act. The stage act here concerns S&M and torture, and the "magician" at the centre achieves his realistic effects through actually killing his actors on stage while his crowd watch. Furthermore, the girls are put to use again for his own sick pleasure, and he has a cage full of rabid, meat-eating naked women in his basement...

The main problem with this film as far as I'm concerned is that it gets too caught up in the sadistic acts and the plot doesn't move fast enough, so after a while it starts to get boring. Director Joel M. Reed clearly has an eye for nasty torture, however, as this film features some of the sickest sequences I've ever seen; chief among them being the guillotine scene, and the part where someone drills a hole in someone's head and proceeds to suck out their brains with a straw! Seamus O'Brien is the lead actor, and it's not surprising that this was one of only two roles for him. His acting is campy and silly, and I really couldn't see him fitting into any other kind of film...which is both praise and a criticism. The locations and special effects all look very cheap, and it's clear that this film was shot on a very low budget; but this grittiness creates a very unclean atmosphere, which helps the film overall as it bodes very well with the nastiness of the action on display. Overall, Blood Sucking Freaks isn't exactly a classic film for my money - but it is mandatory viewing for exploit fans.

The term "torture porn" came into vogue some years ago, referring to movies deemed to have no value, purpose, or anything to offer, other than shocking violence / gore. It's a bit humorous that many people act as if this were some new phenomenon.

BLOODSUCKING FREAKS stands as part of a tradition started by the likes of Herschell Gordon Lewis in the early 1960's. Basically, these are true, updated Grand Guignol theater presentations on film. Grand Guignol didn't rely heavily on plot, but on pure shock. This movie does what it sets out to do. It's violent, vile, and visceral, much like LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET, though with decidedly less structure or story line. It does have a wicked sense of humor to -somewhat- offset the senseless, grisly acts.

If you are averse to cannibalism, dismemberment, decapitation, degrading female nudity, etc., you might find this quite disturbing. However, if the thought of a mad doctor drinking someone's brains through a straw intrigues you, then this is your movie! Is it art? Is it pointless rubbish? Is it dangerous? Well, perhaps it's none or all of these things. One thing is certain, it's not easily forgotten...