Dream slayer

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Blood Song; before launching into my critique, here's a breakdown of my ratings:

Story - 1.00 Direction - 1.25 Pace - 1.00 Acting - 1.25 Enjoyment - 1.00

TOTAL - 5.50 out of 10

Here is another one of those stories that hold so many opportunities, but the writers fail to make use of them. Even with the reduced scope, the story isn't too terrible. It is pretty much your psycho who escapes from the asylum and starts a slaying splurge narrative. But there are some respectable elements in the story. The relationship between the father and daughter in the film is one instance. The pair don't get along. Theirs is a love-hate relationship - they love to hate each other. But when we learn the cause of their rift, everything becomes clear. The poor old mother has to be the referee to their angry bouts of word-slinging. This kinship is one of the elements that deserved more attention from the writers. Just as is the connection between the daughter and the psycho killer. It's touched upon early that she received a blood transfusion after an automobile accident. The rare blood type came from...yeah, you guessed it, the asylum. So does she have the slasher's blood running through her veins? We never get that clarification. It could have added so much more to the story.

Levi, however, does a decent job of shooting the script. The few changes in camera angles and lighting place it above average, though not far above. It would have been ideal if he could have varied the tempo some. The single pace is fast enough to keep your attention on the screen, but adding a mix of pacing would have helped create more tension and excitement. There may even be something you recognise if you're an avid watcher of horror films. When Marion takes a walk along the beach, she ends up at the bay featured in The Howling - shame the werewolves burnt up a year before she could have used their help.

Here's another reason the writers missed opportunities was so annoying. They had a reputable cast to perform their work, yet another waste. All of the performers are perfect in their roles. A couple even goes the extra mile. Donna Wilkes must have used a cane to help her walk at some time because when the doctor removes her leg brace, she correctly utilises the walking stick. It's a small thing, but these slight issues help a person to believe. But the actor who really goes the extra mile is Frankie Avalon. At the film's start, Psycho Paul isn't much to write home about. He's just an average bloke who gets annoyed whenever anyone tries to take his daddy-made flute from him. Shame he only knows one song. Though by the picture's climax, Psycho Paul is having fun - and it's kinda contagious.

If you like your slashers, then Blood Song may be worthy of your attention. Though it's run-of-the-mill genre fair, I found it an enjoyable film. Therefore, if you've exhausted your slash and dash library, feel free to check out Blood Song - it's okay for a quickie watch.

Please feel free to visit my Absolute Horror and Killer Thriller Chiller lists to see where I ranked Blood Song.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Honestly,I'm shocked no one has posted that headline yet,it's so obvious!I've seen this movie,and it's pretty bad!It should be noted that except for his occasional reunions with Annette,this is Avalon's ONLY acting performance since "Grease" Sad,when you consider he started his acting career with a few A pictures["The Alamo" & "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"]and then degenerated into the AI Beach films! Not a defense of him or this film,just a witty comment!

Bloodsong (a.k.a. Dream Slayer) is a rare and almost totally forgotten horror trash flick made during the 1980s' boom of slasher films. Don't get me wrong, though. I say trash in a good way; defining the genre rather than the quality. Because, in quality this movie is quite mediocre and, actually, not at all that bad as some would make it out to be. It's sleazy, but by no means a sleaze flick. It's violent only to and extent. It's bloody, but not too much. And, although it was not a t.v. movie, it sometimes has the feel of one. On top of all this mediocrity, there are some assets to Bloodsong. The acting and storyline are pretty good, there's plenty of cheap 80s style and substance, and it's the only film in which you can see former teen heart throb Frankie Avalon play a hatchet wielding psycho.

Yes, you heard right. Frankie stars as Paul Foley, an escaped and homicidal mental patient, who prior to his liberation, supplied blood to a critically injured teenage girl brought to his hospital after a car wreck. The girl, Marion (played by Donna Wilkes), crippled but on her way to recovery at home, starts to have horrible visions of death both in dreams and awake. In other words, Paul's blood seems to have connected his mind to hers, making Marion an unwilling mental witness to his killing spree in which the murders always start off with him hauntingly playing a flute (hence, the title Bloodsong). Needless to say, it is inevitable that their paths will cross and it won't be nice.

Although far from a classic, Bloodsong is pretty entertaining and not a complete waste of time. The killings are semi-graphic but, otherwise, fully slasher film certified. Avalon surprisingly creates a creepy and menacing character. Another plus is that the plot is embellished by the fact that poor disabled Marion has a father who is an abusive alcoholic who makes her out to be a slut and gives her hell every chance he gets. That sub-story is worthy of the trashiest Lifetime movie of the week. If I had to make a comparison, I'd say this film is a mix between John Carpenter's Halloween (only much cheaper and not on Halloween) and William Lustig's Maniac (only toned down and a lot less bloody). So, mediocrity aside, Bloodsong is worth at least one view by all 80s slasher aficionados. Frankie would appreciate it.

Got this in a double feature movie pack the other being "Mausoleum". I am surprised to see this one has the higher score of the two movies as I thought that one was more entertaining though not necessarily a good movie in its own right. This movie starts out showing a boy who witnesses his father killing his mom and her lover and then himself. Well this kind of makes him mental and suffice to say he will grow up to be our killer. They do not really try to hide who he is during the movie as you see him fairly early in the picture. Well a girl with a bad leg sees visions of him doing his killings and he soon goes after her after she witnesses him disposing of one of his victims. There are a couple of good kills in this one, but for the most part the film is rather slow and a lot of times there is not a lot going on. The film will focus on the girl and her relationships with her father and her boyfriend then cut to a scene from time to time of the mental dude killing someone. Then after she sees him face to face the film is just him stalking her before finally going after her in a very prolonged scene. Just not all that entertaining. The psychic link she shares with the killer almost seems pointless after the initial scenes of her seeing visions of his killing and really added no new dimension to the film other than she should have been a bit more ready for him than she was. So all in all have to say this song had no rhythm and runs way to long at the end. I kept thinking to myself near the end "Shouldn't this be over?"

I was an assistant on this film. The staff was far from "un-professional" it is just in this business extras are not coddled. It was a fast paced, gotta get it right, no time for "pretty pleases". It is not the best horror flick but it has some great scenes as previous posted pointed out. Most extras and townsfolk enjoyed the film shooting and enjoyed the attention. We were in a great little Coos Bay hide away...fun little town. North Bend was great too! Lenny Montana - as big as he is - was the nicest and most gentle people I've met. It was odd seeing Frankie Avalon as a murdered. Still wickedly handsome. Low budget - blood, horror, fun story theme. It is great that it was repackaged as part of the double feature with Mausoleum.