Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat DVD Review

Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat (2002)

By: David Michael Brown on May 19, 2005

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Umbrella Entertainment (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 1.85:1 (Non-anamorphic). English DD 2.0. 89 minutes

The Movie

Cover Art

Credits

Director: Herschel Gordon Lewis
Starring:John McConnell, Mark MC Lachlan, Melissa Morgan
Screenplay:W. Boyd Ford
Country: USA
AKA: Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat

The Godfather of Gore is back with a vengeance. As we all know from the pages of this site his films are being released again on DVD to great effect, hell The Gore Gore Girls even got banned; it seems only natural that all this interest in Lewis's career would inspire him to get back behind the camera again. Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat is the sequel to Blood Feast; arguably the worlds first gore film. His films are an extraordinary mix of low budget thrills, gore and titillation; the kind of films that revelled in the era of drive-ins and New York's 42nd Street dives. Watching them now on DVD in the comfort of ones own home the viewing experience is different but the films still maintain their power to revolt, amuse and confound in equal measure.

The story is basically exactly the same; Faud Ramses's grandson Faud Ramses the Third reopens the family deli and once again prepares a feast to please his Egyptian goddess. He cuts and carves his way through the local cheerleaders preparing a smorgasbord of cannibalistic delights for a wedding celebration.The Gore is even more over the top but despite the advances in special effects Lewis still has his actors rolling around in offal. Arms are thrust into mincing machines, brains are spooned out, eyes are pulled out; its gruesome stuff but as with his Sixties and Seventies output it's so over the top you can't help but laugh.

The score is far better than the first film, the cheesy ominous tones of the original are replaced by surf guitar and samples The oft repeated Satan Satan Satan sample from The Butthole Surfer's Satan Stole my Teddy Bear will be familiar to fans of UK dance troupe Orbital as it also opens their track Satan.

The films climatic wedding sequence features guest appearances by the films producer and sleaze legend extraordinaire Dave. F. Friedman and the Prince of Puke John Waters. The film even takes a dig at Sex in the City when a victim is more worried about getting blood on their Manolo Blahniks than dieing.

The performances, production values and dialogue are better than you would expect while never pushing the limits of the medium. It's a fun for all gore film that doesn't apologise for what it is.

Video

The feature looks surprisingly good for such a low budget piece of trash. The print is colourful and clear, the garish palette of blood reds are vibrant. It looks far better than it deserves to!

Audio

The stereo track is fine, nothing to shout about. Free of hiss and distortion, it does the job.

Extra Features

"On the Set with Herschell Gordon Lewis" is exactly as it sounds; the camera follows the director as he deals with his young cast and crew. "Behind the Scenes" focus's on the cast and crew as many of them are making their first ever movie. "Behind the Gore," an indepth look at two of the films major gore scenes features some grisly footage using multi angle techniques. A handful of deleted scenes don't really add much to the film but work as part of this comprehensive disc. You'll probably only watch them once though.

The theatrical trailer features an introduction by Lewis and includes the fantastic line "I don't need you to serve appetisers, I need you to be appetisers!" As always we finish off with a selection of trailers for Umbrellas other horror releases under the moniker "More Gore" including Burial Ground, Zombie Holocaust and Zombie Flesheaters.

The Verdict

The film will never achieve the notoriety of the original Blood Feast, too much celluloid blood has been spilled since those heady days and the world, in particular Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Films, has caught up with Lewis. As an over the top gory spoof of his earlier work the film is bloody good fun. Those expecting a serious horror film will be left wanting but if you've watched any of his previous films you definitely will not be expecting that. It's great to see an old master back with a vengeance.