Mad Jake - No Caminho da Morte

This is an entertaining film. It's kind of like a cross between Deliverance and Nightmare on Elm Street. It's hard to find but if you're a "B" horror fan you'll dig it. The real treat is the barn and the gadgets that the film makers came up with to illustrate the "salvage" operation. I wish we could see more of that. There's a surprising cameo by Evander Hollyfield (with ear complete - a little ironic given the subject of the film).

I'd never heard of this movie, so I wasn't expecting much, but I found it to be very entertaining.

A muscle car with a spike-plate on the front of it runs down a just-married couple in their car. They're picked up by a tow truck, and taken to a salvage yard that is more interested in them than their car.

The hick family of three behind the salvage yard takes an interest in a young woman in a wheelchair who is taking part in a beauty pageant. She's traveling with her parents and younger brother in an RV. Their RV gets sabotaged so that a wheel comes off, and a tow truck is ready to pick them up....

The young woman is a bit hard to take, but when she's yelling at her family not to do things, she's invariably right. She's a strong character. John Saxon does a good job as the father. The mother and brother don't have much to do.

The hick family is more interesting than I expected. The father is a Christian fanatic who has made up his own code of morality. Upset at the death of his wife at some point in the past for lack of a heart donor, he's recognized a niche that can be filled. Though a hick, he is a mad genius. He's also largely polite and smiling, like Farmer Vincent in Motel Hell.

There's an odd cameo by boxer Evander Holyfield at a carnival where people can try to beat him in the ring while he's blindfolded. Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian, Mr. Hand in Fast TImes at Ridgmont High) also has a small role, but his serves the plot more.

Well, In the B movie sense anyway. It is greatly entertaining. If Hiram doesn't keep you laughing throughout this movie then you are living a sad life. It even has John Saxon in it, which some will recognize as the father in "A Nightmare on Elm Street" It has some decent acting (although The main character's (April) voice is a little annoying.) Ok effects, and a whole lotta laughs. If you are on a B movie hunt. Pick this one up!

Crazy & obscure little early 90's horror gem, this "Mad Jake" (a.k.a. "Blood Salvage). It's definitely better than I expected although severely lacking originality and a little too long for its own good. Tucker Johnston's script almost seems to be a tribute to Tobe Hooper's earliest horror classics, with a family of demented rednecks terrorizing innocent road travelers ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") whilst their pet-alligator (remember "Death Trap"?) carelessly wanders around the estate for no real reason. Father Jake is a genius yet totally deranged surgeon/religion freak who, with the help of his two sons Hiram and Roy, removes the healthy organs of innocent people and sells them to a sleazy elderly guy on the black market. Pretending to own a towing-service, Jake picks up the happy Evans family on their way home from a beauty contest where the gorgeous but crippled daughter April *almost* won. He takes an interest in April, as he thinks he can cure her damaged spine, but the young girl is tougher than she looks and fights back. "Mad Jake" contains quite a lot of grisly images, as these weirdos keep all their victims hanging more dead then alive in a barn, and April's desperate attempts to escape result in the occasional flashes of sheer suspense. The villain-characters are rather interesting, especially the oldest son Hiram who wears shirts of Lynyrd Skynyrd and claims all women are dirty whores. He also drives a truck with nasty spikes attached to the front and spontaneously starts fights with heavyweight boxing champions (a cameo by Evander Holyfield). So, you see, there's even a fair share of effective humor in this sadly forgotten horror movie! The acting performances are more than adequate with enthusiast lead players and respectable names in the supportive cast. John Saxon, a personal favorite of mine, stars as April's loving father and Ray Walston briefly appears as the organ dealer, eerily dressed in black. Highly recommended to fans of solid B-horror, if you can find it somewhere.

"Helping people is my business". Jake is completely… MAD! So are his two sons. The older son (whose animated facials and yokel dialogue delivery will always have you in stitches) drives a Torino with spikes at the front bumper. This is used to smash and knock off innocent people from the road, so his daddy Jake can turn up with his tow truck to help them out. However he is actually there to help himself to their fresh, healthy body organs, so he can sell them on the black market to a travelling salesman (a terrifically edgy Ray Walston). Yep this southern religious fanatic is just not a tow-trucker driver, but a surgeon at trade… a rough one too. But he has his eyes set on a beautiful young crippled teenager who he believes he can cure, as she and her family are returning home from a beauty pageant when they encounter vehicle trouble. Guess who is on the spot to help them out. "Mad Jake" aka "Blood Salvage" is a sickly twisted and insane backwoods horror outing with plenty of pitch-black tongue-in-cheek humour and the story/visuals really do wear its influences proudly. What came to mind are Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Eaten Alive", especially for the use of a hungry alligator roaming Jake's property. Also "Motel Hell" and "Slaughterhouse". Still this little on-the-cheap b-picture is a simple mish-mash, made much more the merrier for its wacky performances (great villain performances -- Danny Nelson), in-jokes (one regarding Elvis' whereabouts and cameo by Evander Holyfield), nasty surprises/images and of course a horror favourite the always commendable John Saxon. The suspense is certainly sustained in patches and a definite feel of helplessness feels the air when the young, if totally obnoxious handicapped girl (played with girt by Lori Birdsong) finds herself at the mercy of Jake and his sons (well not so the bulky, dim-witted one). It probably goes on for a little too long, but the encounters were certainly amusing (can't get enough of roof hitting with a broomstick) and the direction surefooted in installing a secluded atmosphere. The music score did become grating at times. One thing though don't you just hate it when the video / DVD synopsis spoils certain twists… even if it's typically foreseeable. Daft, but oddly fun.