BlueBlood

Two questions remain unanswered after finishing "Blue Blood". What the hell is it? And why was it ever made? Now, I don't know what other people seek in movies, but to me those answers are crucial. Initially, I was quite excited - and mildly surprised - to find this title on Netflix. A psychedelic British horror/cult movie from 1974 and starring one of my all-time favorite actors (Oliver Reed) is an unusual find in their streaming offer, to say the least. "Blue Blood" turns out a massive disappointment, because the storyline is thin & senseless, the whole thing is boring beyond words, and Reed does not only act bizarre, but he also talks bizarrely.

The story - or lack thereof - entirely takes place in a massive mansion on a large country estate that is also a sort of zoo/safari park. The owner is a Lord (Derek Jacobi) who's only interested in having sons to continue the family legacy, and the most powerful person in the house is the head servant Tom (Oliver Reed). Tom uses drugs and black magic to manipulate everyone on the estate, also including the Lord's wife and mistress, and the newly arrived well-mannered German nanny.

Sounds interesting, and I'm convinced it could have been with a more gifted director and a slightly more elaborated script, but it's just slow, uneventful, dull, and irritating. Oliver Reed is the type of actor who gave stellar performances when he himself believed the film was great ("The Devils", "Revolver"), but when he didn't like it - like clearly the case here - he is arrogant and passive.

Now that I have reviewed approximately 5,500 horror & cult movies, I must admit I've had a few minor panic attacks about "running out". Not running out of titles to watch, because there are literally thousands of horror titles out there and new ones are being released on an almost daily basis. No, I'm worried about running out of GOOD movies from my favorite decades: the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Lately, when discovering obscure titles from these eras, they all turn out to be major disappointments. Like "Blue Blood", in fact.

This one really BOMBED! After watching most of Reed's films and his horror films being my most favorite I decided to watch this flop. What a big disappointment this was. Reed stars as a snobbish butler with an accent that changes like a bad ventriloquist dummy that is supposed to be the leader of a Satanic cult gathered in the mansion of it's rich owner with two bratty kids that have to be looked after by a strange and dumb maid because his wife is to busy singing and he's to busy sleeping with his girlfriend on the side and meanwhile the butler sends strange images to the maid and owner of Reed in the worst makeup job I have ever seen but what makes him look worse is the room in which he practices his worship is all red and you can barely see him anyway. This movie isn't at all Satanic in any way except for the few glimpses of Reed tormenting people and he gets blamed for all the misuse of the children and the things that go on with the house. This movie is boring from beginning to end, very slow dialogue and false advertisement of the point of the title. This movie isn't even a horror movie, it's a boring drama! Avoid it! Watch "Burnt Offerings" and "The Brood" thats Reeds strangest and his best in horror.

My, but this is a howler.... Oliver Reed is the singularly nasty "Tom", butler to the suitably wimpish "Lord Gregory" (Derek Jacobi). In addition, I hope to stop us all dying from boredom, "Tom" is also the grand wizard (?) of a Satanic cult that practices it's devilish antics in the stately pile of his unwitting host (aptly filmed at Longleat House - home of the late Marquess of Bath - he of the "wifelets"). Anyway, what ensues is a sort of dirty "Downton Abbey". Just about everyone sleeps with the other; the cluttered plot is preposterous and both Reed (I hope) and Jacobi (I trust) had their tongues firmly in their cheeks as this nonsense trundles on for what seemed like an interminable 90 minutes. Some lovely Paisley pattern clothing - if that's your thing, but I'm afraid this is amongst the worst British films that I have ever sat through.

An outstanding acting by the good old and never enough recognized Derek Jacobi and of course, Ollie Reed that here makes the perfect butler, stiff, stone-faced, confident and knowledgeable. I would've welcomed subtitles when he spoke Geordie dialect though. The setting is sublime and the environs perfect for a bunch of lunatics trying to fit in the social expectations of the time. We even get a most wonderful song to a nanny! If you are a nanny you will be proud of this beautiful rendering. As always British use in their films sophisticated cars that I very much enjoy seeing. All in all another masterpiece of British film making even if the Director only started (and ended) his career with this film.

As this film opens German nanny Beate arrives at a stately home. She is there to look after the children of its owner, a lord named Gregory. It soon becomes clear that Gregory has a somewhat degenerate lifestyle; he is desperate to have a choice of sons to inherit his home and is keen that they have a variety of mothers. It also becomes clear that while Gregory may own the house it is run by Tom, his butler. As the film progresses Tom's malevolent control of the house only increases.

This is a distinctly strange film. It is billed as horror but it isn't gory nor is there anything really scary. It is however unsettling at times. It is filmed at Longleat, a great location that really adds to the film... much use is made of both the house and the attached safari park, even if the latter is only shown so we can see scenes of lions eating large slabs of meat. Knowing that Longleat was at the time owned by the Seventh Marquis of Bath, who wrote the book on which the film is based, one can't help thinking the 'degenerate' Gregory was actually a toned down version of the real owner... a man famed for his seventy plus 'wifelets'! The story is a bit slow to get started and when it does it still feels a bit of a mess. The main cast have certainly been better in other films although Oliver Reid is suitably menacing as Tom, despite his strange accent. The low budget shows but doesn't really spoil the film. The occult elements of the film are rather odd; mostly limited to red tinted visions seen by those around Tom. Overall I wouldn't call this a must see but it is an interesting curiosity.