Blood Rage

Blood Rage (1987)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Terry commits a brutal murder at a drive-in but blames it on his twin Todd who is sent to a mental hospital. Flash forward ten years and Todd has broken out of the hospital and returns home where more bodies begin to pile up.

BLOOD RAGE was filmed in 1983 but it sat on a shelf for four years before it was finally released without too much fan fare. The film was pretty much forgotten but over the years it has gained a rather large cult following and it's not too hard to see why. Even though I thought the film was pretty bad, there's no question that it contains some rather campy moments at times and the gore level is quite high.

I think it's the gore that most people are going to be coming to the film for. The special effects aren't the greatest thing around and they certainly don't compare to the work of Tom Savini but they certainly have an appeal. It doesn't matter what happens to the victim you're going to see a ton of blood come flowing out. So if they're stabbed, shot or chopped...prepare for blood. There are some creative kills throughout including one poor woman who gets cut in half and another man who loses his head.

The biggest problem with the film is pretty much everything else. The movie is available in three different cuts but I went with the original VHS version that clocks in at 82 minutes. Those 82 minutes feel triple that time because this thing drags so often. Whenever someone isn't getting killed off we're basically watching some pretty poor acting in a rather bad story without much going for it. There's no mystery, no suspense, no humor and not much of anything.

Again, BLOOD RAGE is going to be remembered for its gore and I'd still recommend slasher fans check it out for this reason alone.