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 |
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| 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. |
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