User:Paleface Jack/Blood Freak

Blood Freak
Directed by	Brad F. Grinter
Written by	Brad F. Grinter Steve Hawkes
Produced by	Brad F. Grinter Steve Hawkes
Starring	Steve Hawkes Dana Cullivan Heather Hughes Bob Currier
Cinematography	Ron N. Sill
Edited by	Gil Ward
Music by	Gil Ward
Production company	Sampson Motion Picture Production Company
Distributed by	Variety Films
Release dates	February 11, 1973 (1973-02-11) (Charlotte, North Carolina)  ()
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000

Blood Freak (also known as Blood Freaks) is a 1973 American horror film directed by Brad F. Grinter and starring Steve Hawkes, Dana Cullivan, Heather Hughes, and Bob Currier.

Plot

While riding down the highway on his motorbike, Vietnam veteran Herschell comes across a young Christian girl named Angel, whose car has broken down. After helping fix her vehicle, Herschell rides back to her home, where her sister, Anne, and many local friends of hers are smoking marijuana. Taking an instant liking to Herschell, Anne attempts to entice him to join them, but he refuses, warned by Angel about them. Not to be dissuaded, Anne continues her efforts to seduce him much to Herschell's discomfort. Currently, without a job, Herschell is delighted when he is offered an opportunity to work at a local turkey farm, with Angel letting Herschell stay with them until he gets back on his feet. Whilst cleaning the girls' pool, Anne encourages Herschell to smoke a joint; he does, with Anne having sex while high. Herschell later discovers that he has become addicted to marijuana after experiencing withdrawal.

Arriving at the farm, Herschell meets two scientists who are experimenting by testing certain chemicals on turkey meat. Herschell agrees to participate in a test by eating some of the turkey meat; to convince him to agree, the scientists bribe him with more marijuana. After eating the whole turkey, he passes out on the farm. He suffers a seizure, and the two scientists later find him, and, worried about being investigated about the possible death of Herschell, they dump his body in the woodlands. But Herschell is not dead—he wakes up to find he has a giant turkey's head in place of his own head. He is also still addicted to drugs, but instead of smoking marijuana, he now craves the blood of other addicts.

He comes to Anne for help, and at first, she agrees. However, after Herschell kills three people to appease his habit, Anne finally appeals to two friends to stop Herschell by beheading him with a machete. Just as the turkey-headed Herschell is killed, the action jumps back to Herschell again, waking up in the woods—the entire sequence in which Herschell has a turkey head was only a hallucination. He is discovered by the owner of the turkey farm, who contacts Angel at the rehab center where she volunteers. Angel comes to collect Herschell and, after urging him to pray to God for assistance, takes him to the center to recover from his addiction. At the film's end, Herschell is reunited with a joyous Anne.

Cast

• Steve Hawkes as Herschell
• Dana Cullivan as Ann
• Heather Hughes as Angel
• Bob Currier
• Anne Shearin
• Linda Past
• Debbie Smith
• Sandy Kneelen
• Domink Grutta
• Randy Grinter

Production

Blood Freak was written, produced, and directed by Brad F. Grinter in his third directorial effort. A former actor-turned-director, Grinter had originally started out as an actor in minor roles in B movies such as Scream, Baby, Scream (1969), before making his directorial debut in 1970 with the splatter film Flesh Feast, which starred Veronica Lake in her final film role.

• https://www.tarzanmovieguide.com/hawkes.htm

Release

• http://bleedingskull.com/bleeding-skull-50-the-best-something-weird-horror-films2/
• https://screenanarchy.com/2012/08/frances-etrange-festival-rolls-out-2012-titles.html

Home media

Sampson Motion Picture Production Company (United States, 1972)(theatrical)

Clamil Productions (United States, 1975)(R-rated version, theatrical)

Vídeo Dimas (Spain, 1987)(video)

Colombus (France, 1988)(VHS)

Midnite Movies (Netherlands, 1998)(VHS)

Something Weird Video (SWV) (United States, 2002)(special edition, DVD)

Something Weird Video (SWV) (United States, 2002)(VHS)

Something Weird Video (SWV) (United States, 2004)(DVD)

A.V.L. Production (France)(VHS)

Regal Video (United States)(VHS)

Simitar Entertainment (United States)(VHS)

Video Treasures (United States)(VHS)

Reception

• https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/1999-09-10/blood-freak/
• https://www.fangoria.com/original/image-entertainment-horrors-dve-review/
• https://morbidlybeautiful.com/daily-dig-blood-freak-1972/
• https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/saturday-night-at-the-movies-25/

Legacy

• https://people.com/movies/the-13-worst-horror-movie-monsters-of-all-time/
• https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/747824-turkey-terror-blood-freak-greatest-thanksgiving-film-ever
• https://www.grunge.com/49377/hilarious-low-budget-films-ever/

Sources

Books

• Albright, Brian (November 7, 2012). Regional Horror Films, 1958-1990: A State-by-State Guide with Interviews. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-7227-7.
• Alderson, Doug (November 2, 2020). A New Guide to Old Florida Attractions: From Mermaids to Singing Towers. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-6833-4087-4.
• Boggs, Johnny (September 6, 2013). Billy the Kid on Film, 1911-2012. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-0335-3.
• Bowker, R. (1989). Variety's Complete Home Video Directory. Variety.
• Cato, Nick (August 3, 2020). Suburban Grindhouse: From Staten Island to Times Square and all the Sleaze Between. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-1-9093-9467-4.
• Chirico, Millie; Murry, Quatoyiah (October 25, 2022). TCM Underground: 50 Must-See Films from the World of Classic Cult and Late-Night Cinema. Running Press. ISBN 978-0-7624-8001-2.
• Curry, Christopher; Curry, John (1999). A Taste of Blood: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Creation Books. ISBN 978-1-8715-9291-7.
• Hollis, Tim (2006). Glass Bottom Boats & Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3266-6.
• Hunter, Jack (2003). Search and Destroy. Creation Books. ISBN 978-1-8715-9299-3.
• Jones, Stephen (2000). The Essential Monster Movie Guide: A Century of Creature Features on Film, TV, and Video. Billboard Books. ISBN 978-0-8230-7936-0.
• Kane, Joe (2000). The Phantom of the Movies' Videoscope: The Ultimate Guide to the Latest, Greatest, and Weirdest Genre Videos. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3149-5.
• Klewer, Detlef (2007). Die Kinder der Nacht: Vampire in Film und Literatur (in German). Germany: Lang. ISBN 978-3-6315-6604-6.
• Martin, Mick; Porter, Marsha (1996). Video Movie Guide 1995. Random House. ISBN 978-0-3453-9196-4.
• Puchalski, Steven (2002). Slimetime: A Guide to Sleazy, Mindless Movies. Critical Vision. ISBN 978-1-9004-8621-7.
• Quarles, Mike (July 21, 2010). Down and Dirty: Hollywood's Exploitation Filmmakers and Their Movies. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-6257-5.
• Sargeant, Jack; Watson, Stephanie (1999). Lost Highways: An Illustrated History of Road Movies. Creation Books. ISBN 978-1-8715-9268-9.
• Senn, Bryan (March 26, 2015). A Year of Fear: A Day-by-Day Guide to 366 Horror Films. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-1090-0.
• Senn, Bryan (March 5, 2019). "Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills!": Horror and Science Fiction Double Features, 1955-1974. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-6894-9.
• Shelley, Peter (2009). Grande Dame Guignol Cinema: A History of Hag Horror from Baby Jane to Mother. McFarland & Company. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-7864-4569-1.
• Stidworthy, David (February 26, 2003). High on the Hogs: A Biker Filmography. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1418-5.
• Stine, Scott Aaron (November 20, 2015). The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1960s and 1970s. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-9140-7.
• Thrower, Stephen (July 24, 2007). Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents. FAB Press. ISBN 978-1-903254-52-3.
• Weiner, David; Gale, Thomson (1991). Video Hound's Golden Movie Retriever, 1991. Visible Ink. ISBN 978-0-8103-9404-9.
• Willis, Donald (1982). Horror and Science Fiction Films II. Vol. 2. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1517-9.

Periodicals

• https://books.google.com/books?id=SoyGAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Blood+Freak%22+(1971)&dq=%22Blood+Freak%22+(1971)&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhvPm1qPuAAxWyODQIHa13AKQ4KBDoAXoECAkQAg
• n.a. (February 11, 1973). "Now Playing:The Blood Freak". The Charlotte Observer. p. 104. Retrieved August 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com (subscription required).

Further reading

• Davies, Clive (March 6, 2015). Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won’t Write About. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-1-9093-9406-3.
• Hill, Rob (2017). The Bad Movie Bible. Art of Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-0-9932-4077-5.
• Newman, Kim (May 1, 2018). Kim Newman's Video Dungeon. Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-7856-5747-4.

External links

• Blood Freak at AllMovie
• Blood Freak at IMDb
• Blood Freak at Rotten Tomatoes
• Blood Freak at the TCM Movie Database