Le jardin de la terreur

God's Bloody Acre was for years one of those OOP's that exploitation fans were searching for. In 2010 it finally had it's official DVD release. Still, it's low on everything but somehow you keep watching this hixploitation.

As I stated in the summary it is incorrect in so many places. It's made in an era were free sex was normal and people were cheating on each other the whole time. You can easily spot it here when David is telling his girlfriend he's going for a trip, were he finally meet another girl and is having sex with her. Not only that, there's another part were a girl is being hit by her boyfriend as if that was a normal case back then. It's also the era of not wearing bra's which shows a few time throughout this flick.

As for the flick itself it's really slow and doesn't have anything to offer towards the horror were it was filed under. There's almost no blood to spot and when the horror comes in, towards the end of the flick, it's filmed without extra lighting and it's way too dark. A must see is the part were David quit his job. He's somewhere else with his mind and as effect they used echo on the voice. It really becomes weird with that effect and the use of wide angle zoomed in shots made it really weird to watch.

You don't watch this for acting but just for the exploitation. It offers some weird shots as one's throat is being slashed just have a look at the girl her eyes, it's the same girl being raped before, watch her tongue while being raped. Weird acting.

People collecting exploitation and especially the hixploitation this is a must have. People thinking that this is a classic horror forget it. No gore and almost no blood to spot. The typical breast nudity and the southern accents.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Three redneck brothers get ticked off when a work crew starts clearing trees near the patch of land they call home. Through an accident they end up killing one of the crew and get real paranoid (the crew boss doesn't seem to mind so much). This is bad news for the two couples (one old, one young) who have both found their way to this neck of the woods. Pretty good regional (Florida) hicksploitation flick that seems to be throwing in some social commentary as well. Lead Wayne Crawford (who also produced and help write) plays a passive guy who quits his job designing machines of war who suddenly finds himself in a situation where he has to defend himself. Not too subtle, but it works. It definitely has some pacing issues though as it seemed to take forever for all the leads to finally meet up. The big brother redneck looked so familiar but I couldn't place him. Looked him up afterward and it is William Kerwin from BLOOD FEAST! Totally didn't recognize him because he wasn't in a suit with his hair slicked back.

Lookin' for a little mean-spirited 70's Hixploitation? Same here. How about a little mean-spirited 70's Hixploitation which features only the most unlikeable of characters, along with about 0% comic-relief? Well, here it is. The most useful thing Harry Kerwin ever did. Welcome to God's Bloody Acre. Harry Kerwin and his equally useful brother, William (Thomas Wood) have had a hand in the making of everything from Two Thousand Maniacs, to Flesh Feast, to Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreamdul Things. The brothers Kerwin are the heart & soul of old school Florida Exploitation. God's Bloody Acre is about three mountain men, or hicks, or whatever the hell. The point is, they're brothers, and they've been livin' out in "God knows where" (the woods) for God knows how long. Livin' in a tee pee, livin' off the land. avoiding any and all human contact. And they're content doing so. All of this is about to change. The brothers are all ornery because a construction company has begun tearing apart their yard, to make way for a camping site. No reason to get mad enough to kill. I mean, it's not like they're gonna be building a mall. But too late. The more enthusiastic one figures now would be a good time to start killing construction workers. Meanwhile, we got a couple other stories that keep popping up. Neither of which are as entertaining, or likable. God's Bloody Acre is a racist, sexist, dysfunctional little gem of a movie, and I'm proud it's a part of my collection. Yet, I'm not surprised it took until 2010 for this one to get the official DVD treatment. But what I didn't expect was for every copy of this film to be recalled shortly after it was released. I have no idea. I'll be honest. There ain't a whole lot to love about this one, but it ain't all that bad, especially if you're not hard to please. And if you're looking for one of the last glimpses of vintage Florida Exploitation, have at it, hoss. 7/10

God's Bloody Acre (1975)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Really bizarre backwoods "horror" film has three mountain men walking around in their woods when they come across a construction crew. The crew are tearing down the woods so that a camping spot can be made for tourists. This here sets off the mountain men and soon enough murder happens. Also on hand are a fighting married couple who end up trying to stay at the location and soon they too are dragged into the battle.

GOD'S BLOODY ACRE is a film that I'm sure the filmmakers meant well with but the end result is just a giant and boring mess. The film was obviously meant to try and cash-in on the success of movies like DELIVERANCE as we're taken into the "deep woods" of Florida where these mountain men must resort to violence and rape to defend their land. This film might have meant to be something serious but it's awful direction, poor acting and laughable plot makes it rather hard to sit through.

The film seemed confused as to what it wanted to be. It seems that it was going for the drive-in/exploitation crowd, which is fine. The filmmakers through in some brief nudity here and there as well as a couple death scenes but there's nothing here that makes the film stand out. This type of film was rather common back in the day so without anything fresh or original here you're really not left with much. The rape scene happens out of nowhere and features the woman beginning to "enjoy" it and I'm sure this here is something that will leave several people upset.

In all honesty, the film is so poorly made and so boring that it would be rather silly to get offended by it. The biggest problem with the film is the fact that none of the story-lines are interesting and I'd argue that the characters are just as boring. I'm guessing the film wanted to send a message that nature should be left alone but are these three murderers and rapists the "heroes?"

A trio of separatist hillbillies devise a plan to halt the development of a campsite in their deep-woods homestead. What begins as a harmless scheme to scare "the city folks" away quickly turns deadly.

There's little question that GOD'S BLOODY ACRE is a product of loose-change funding and a three-day-weekend shooting schedule. Despite the transparencies of an indifferently overseen production, however, there's good potential for shameful gratification in this frowzy little regional exploitation quickie. The first half hour is a plodding bore, but if you can get past that, the story does eventually grease the wheels and keep a steady beat(putting forward one of the most drawn-out, strangely choreographed fight scenes I've ever witnessed).

This is a lazy concoction from folks who have done far better work(see: SOMETIMES AUNT MARTHA DOES DREADFUL THINGS), but it does have a certain something...just not a whole lot of it.

5/10