User reviews

The opening scene presents a gruesome hammer-murder of a prostitute and her customer in an unusual killer's POV (point of view) camera shot. Right after, an attractive young woman – Ellie Masters (Melody Patterson) – awakes from a nightmare and screams. She is the daughter of the murdered woman. Very soon, as she is without parents, Ellie is sent to an orphanage run by twisted Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame) and creepy handyman Tom Kredge (Len Lesser). They have the knack for capturing fugitives and keeping them in deep freeze, after they are dispatched by Kredge.

Detective Calvin Carruthers (Vic Payback) supposedly wants to help Ellie. His motives are morally ambiguous, to say the least. Another strange dude is Mr. Mullins (Milton Selzer), a social worker who enjoys the favors from Mrs. Deere for looking the other way. A teen-aged girl is tied up in the attic and deprived of water for not folding her napkin. Meanwhile there is a strange dude with a chilling mask lurking about the place. What does he want? Does he want to kill Ellie, thinking that she saw him murder her mother, whom Ellie despised? Rapes and killings abound. So yes, it's a sick movie all-around, but quite interesting. Logic is left outside the door, but the ending is a real grabber.

In short, this is a trash-lovers delight, with nary a sympathetic character. It was filmed by American International Pictures. Gloria Grahame was an actress from the 1940s to the 1980s; some of her movies are "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952), and "Oklahoma" (1955). Melody Patterson had starred in the TV sitcom "F Troop" in 1965-1967. Len Lesser was featured in both movies and in TV, such as "Seinfeld." Vic Payback was in both the movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974), and in the TV version, "Alice." Milton Selzer was more known for his TV appearances than film.

Yes the "original" idea that opens Halloween has to come from on of the opening shots of this film. It's a hammer being carried through the house instead of a knife but it's very very close.

That said Halloween is a much better movie, which goes almost without saying. But this does have a lurid feeling and a warped ending. It's that modest to low budget grunge of the 70's that oozes sleaze and danger.

Unfortunately the plot here borrows from obvious sources as it goes along which dampens the more original aspects. Tayback fans from his nice guy TV star role will be shocked, or may want to be by seeing him here.

Still warts and all this film has its memorable moments especially for fans of the era.

This was a film that made a lot of it's publicity on the fact that it featured brutal hammer murders and that the film was rated GP which was like PG at the time.

After seeing the murders, you really have a hard time thinking that anyone could give this anything but an R!!

I've tried to find information about this that could put some light on the matter like perhaps a tamer cut was shown to the rating board and than another version was released... but i never did find such information.

I guess a DVD with features and commentaries would be really welcomed.....PLEASE before everybody involved with this film is DEAD!!!!!

Anyway,first comes the murders....than comes about 20 minutes of dull time but after that, the whole thing becomes really interesting.

i'm only giving it a 5 because i dislike gore and it lacks sex appeal but i liked most of it... the suspense,the mystery and the surprise revelations at the end.The film doesn't contain any nudity even though it touches on subjects such as attempted rape or incest.it doesn't contain any real bad language either unless you are offended by words like hell or bitch!!

Blood and Lace (1971)

Even for a horror movie depending on camp to survive this one is bad. I really wanted to see what Gloria Grahame was up to late in her career, and I suppose in a way she's one of the best part of the movie, but even she was a disappointment--in her case not campy enough. Give Bette Davis a bow for knowing how to let it rip. The plot circles around a barely sketched out orphanage where funny stuff with dead bodies is going on in the meat cooler.

Are we surprised that this is the director's only movie? No, we're more surprised that Grahame got roped into it. She's only 48 here, and yet she seems to have become prematurely stiff and timid. This is well past her prime as an actress (it didn't help that she had botched plastic surgery in the 1950s that left her upper lip paralyzed), but she did later act in in another ten movies, and in lots of television, and if none of it is terrific, this is downright awful. Let's just call it a fluke, a forgettable movie with a thin plot and bad filming and mediocre acting. I wouldn't waste any time with it. Said and done.

"The Baby" from 1973 kind of takes the cake for the most twisted movie to ever get a PG rating (that this viewer has seen, anyway). But "Blood and Lace" would have to rank as a strong contender for that title. Its final revelations elevate it (or lower it, depending on your sensibilities) to something truly special.

It can boast a stylish opening murder set piece. Done mostly from the killers' perspective (with some cuts here and there), it actually predates sequences from both "Black Christmas" and "Halloween". It's got a cast of familiar faces, with the lovely Melody Patterson of 'F Troop' starring, screen legend / Oscar winner Gloria Grahame as a nasty antagonist, Len Lesser (Uncle Leo from 'Seinfeld') as her handyman / henchman, Vic Tayback (Mel from 'Alice') as police detective Calvin Carruthers, and TV veteran Milton Selzer as a social worker.

Ellie Masters (Patterson) is a teen whose mother, the extremely busy town whore, is murdered along with one of her johns. So Ellie is shipped off by Mr. Mullins (Selzer) to an orphanage, a den of corruption where uncooperative kids meet cruel fates. And not only will Ellie yearn to escape, she'll fall in lust with hunky resident Walter (Ronald Taft, "Night of the Witches"), compete with Lolita-like character Bunch (Terri Messina, "Single Room Furnished"), and a mysterious goon in a hideous mask will prowl around the premises.

Some buffs may cringe seeing Ms. Grahame in this kind of exploitation fare, but she does a solid job. Lesser, Tayback, and Selzer are all good as well. Patterson and Messina, despite clearly being substantially older than their characters, are appealing. That's a young Dennis Christopher ("Breaking Away", "Django Unchained") as orphanage resident Pete, and none other than June Foray can be heard as the voice of Ellie in her first scene in the hospital.

Strikingly violent, definitely melodramatic, and offbeat enough to be amusing, "Blood and Lace" is a shocker that ought to satisfy curiosity seekers.

Seven out of 10.

I give this a solid 7. Didn't see the film until it was released on BLURAY.

The print I saw was excellent, with decent sound. I have read various reviews all over the place.

For a movie supposedly made for $200,000 USD 1971 ($1,238,814.07 today) it is a stellar showcase of both creativity and using well held traditional production techniques, mixed in with really off the wall but effective tricks, some taken from other movies, some movies taken from this. The sound effects aren't as cheesy in most cases as I assumed since taken from older libraries, the crickets loop at the start were probably the most heard effect ever, have heard that in TV shows, movies and cartoons. The opening title , credits is a classic gothic german font, kinda cool. I was unfamiliar with Wranger Jane, but knowing the story of her career, this appears to be a bad turn in her history, degraded her. She is a presence on screen, but no match for someone like Vic Tayback (Calvin). The lighting at times is very flattering to her, and sometimes terrible. Her character's (Ellie Masters) entire back story is basically tragedy. I was surprised again with some production details like quality , but basic camera work, showing they probably hired union guys who have done a million TV shows. This does not look rookie, just lower budget. The actors chosen are great and are what hold this interesting 'prototype' slasher film together, but I find it more psychological than slasher.

leading lady is 22 and she looks it I cannot complain about "Blood and Lace" because it's a cheesy horror film--it unabashedly is and sometimes this sort of movie is fun to watch. My complaint is that although the setup for the film is great, the ending was just plain awful.

The film begins with a woman and her lover being bludgeoned with a hammer and then the house begin set ablaze. Yes, there is lots of blood, but because it's done so slowly and ineptly, it's really not that tough a scene to watch. Next, the dead woman's teenage daughter is taken by a cop (Vic Tayback) to social services. The caseworker (Milton Seltzer) is a very hands-off guy--and he puts her in a home for orphans run by a deranged lady (Gloria Graham). She and her nutty assistant are killing off teens and shoving them in a freezer--and our little orphan might just be next.

Now the above description, for a cheesy horror film, is GREAT. So what's the problem? Well, the ending looks like it was just tacked on, as Tayback returns and then gives a LONG and rather inept exposition to explain everything that has happened in the film. And, to make it worse, he then drops a really weird bombshell. What is it? See the film...I'd hate to ruin this surprise that comes completely from left field!! Overall, this is a rather bad film I wanted to like. Mostly because the ending was just stupid and incomplete. See it for yourself and let me know what you think about the ending....it is quite SPECIAL.

And, by the way, if you think 'that teenager looks awfully old', you are right--the 'teen' was 22.

It's hard to imagine that a film as twisted and perverted as Blood and Lace managed to get a GP rating at the time (a 70's equivalent of a PG). It might not be the goriest movie of all time, but there's definitely some blood on display and the entire story itself isn't one for the kiddos.

A teenager is orphaned after someone murders her mother with a hammer (in a POV scene that looks a lot like the openings of both Black Christmas and Halloween) and sets the house on fire. She ends up being sent to a home for older orphans that's run by a shifty middle aged woman who's only in it for the money. There's also a weird cop and a creepy handyman who goes around with a weird mask and hammer and kills any kids who try to escape.

Blood and Lace is pure melodramatic garbage and it seems to be pretty aware of this and everyone looks like they're having a blast. Former big screen goddess Gloria Grahame chews the scenery as the wicked headmistress of the orphanage and Alice's Vic Talback gets a juicy role as a cop.

"Blood And Lace" is best described as a demented "Grimm Fairy Tale". After her prostitute mother is murdered, teen aged Ellie Masters (Melody Patterson) is sent to an isolated orphanage run by Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame) and her handyman (Len Lesser, now known as Uncle Lou on "Seinfeld"). Taking an avid interest in her welfare is detective Calvin Carruthers (Vic Tayback, Mel from the "Alice" TV series). Taking almost no interest at all, is social worker Harold Mullins (Milton Selzer) who is completely under Mrs. Deere's thumb, or, as Lesser puts it "under her skirt". Lots of unpleasant surprises are in store for Our Heroine, not the least of which is the fact that Mrs. Deere and her handyman are both brutal sadists, who run the orphanage like a concentration camp. The film shows it's obviously low budget only too well, but it really doesn't matter. The script is very clever, Grahame is excellent as usual, and Patterson (of TV's "F Troop" fame), is appealing. The supporting players are all good, including a young Dennis Christopher, as one of the "inmates". Definitely ahead of it's time, "Blood And Lace" holds up remarkably well.

Blood and Lace somehow escaped the MPAA with a GP (modern day PG) and it's hard to understand why. While they're are definitely far more graphic horror films out there, the story and general vibe of Blood and Lace are so grimy, downbeat, and trashy that it deserves an R.

Gloria Grahame runs an orphanage for unwanted teens and she kills any of them who try to escape so that she can continue to collect the checks she gets for each body. Even weirder, she doesn't think they're really dead if she puts them in the freezer because she thinks they can be brought back to life at some point.

Blood and Lace opens with a vicious, if not particularly well-executed, double murder by claw hammer, the build up to the killings making use of POV shots of the type found in many a subsequent slasher movie. Unfortunately, mean-spirited kills and innovative direction are in short supply after this promising opening, the film settling into routine horror mystery mode, as troubled orphan Ellie Masters (Melody Patterson) explores strange happenings at the Youth Home run by Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame) and her hired hand Tom Kredge (Len Lesser).

With her prostitute mother one of the victims in the opening scene, Ellie -- still a minor (although she looks plenty grown up to me) -- is sent to Mrs. Deere's establishment, where, unbeknownst to the authorities, runaways are dealt with in a very severe manner: they're killed and shoved in the meat locker. As Ellie plans to make her escape, a mysterious figure in a mask and brandishing a hammer stalks the building.

The bulk of this film revolves around the mistreatment of the youths at the hands of Mrs. Deere and Tom Kredge, which really isn't all that disturbing, and Ellie vying for the attention of young stud Walter (Ron Taft), her rival being 16-year-old strumpet Bunch (Terri Messina), all of which proves rather mundane. After lots of mild peril, the film closes with not one, but two twists. The first didn't come as much of a surprise to me: I had guessed the identity of Ellie's mother's killer about halfway through. The second twist is much better because it is so deviant -- I won't spoil it for you, because it's the best part of the film.

This is a weird and rather gruesome horror film from the early 1970's. Melody Patterson's mother, a prostitute, is murdered in bed with one of her customers. Melody is sent to live at an orphanage run by the great Gloria Grahame where something very strange is going on. She has to contend with the possibility that the murderer is coming after her and the fact that the people running the orphanage are covering up mistreatment of their charges as well as other, worse things.

The scare scenes in the film are effective, especially the opening scene of the hammer murder of the mother. The film is helped along by the presence of a number of familiar faces, including, in addition to Melody Patterson and Gloria Grahame, Vic Tayback as a policeman, Len Lesser as the orphanage's handyman (he's very handy), and Milton Selzer as the orphanage inspector. The film also has a sense of humor about itself and you will find a couple of (intended) chuckles.

The film is topped by a weird "twist" ending that you will never see coming. In all, this is a very entertaining 70's horror flick and shouldn't be missed if you get the chance to see it.

After her mother and her lover are brutally murdered, a teenage orphan is sent to a group home run by a cruel middle aged woman who's under the misguided impression that, if you kill someone and freeze their bodies, there will come a time when they'll be able to unfreeze them and restore them back to life. If anyone misbehaves or tries to run away, this woman will send her handyman after them with a hammer.

Blood and Lace doesn't get talked about very often and that's surprising since the story itself is one of the sickest and most depraved things I've ever heard told on screen even if it's not the goriest or most brazenly exploitative. Gloria Grahame seems to be having a good time playing a wicked woman even as the film meanders a bit to it's incredibly bleak and trashy conclusion.

Great premise. Troubled teen goes to group home that mistreats children. Disappointingly, the movie has so many scenes that lack realism and common sense that the movie is totally unbelievable. The overriding discrepancy occurs when our heroine, Ellie, finds a girl tied up in the attic who is thirsty and starving. But when she has a chance to tell her detective friend who can help her, Ellie neglects to report that a girl is dying in the attic. This, in spite of the fact that she is rebellious, unhappy, and wants to leave. Instead, she tells the cop she is sure there have been many runaways! That scene alone ruined the movie for me, but there were other discrepancies. For example, after the custodian chops off a runaway's hand, he keeps it in a visible suitcase in a room that the kids have to clean. Also, when the woman who runs the group home finds out about an inspection, she moves 3 dead bodies covered in sheets from a walk-in freezer in order to find a better hiding spot. Of course, an unlocked room is the best spot! The 3 dead kids with dead-white complexion, bleeding gashes, and bloody sheets are laid on beds and not even covered! At one point, our main character, Ellie, walks into this room and proceeds to question the dead corpses; never realizing that they are bloodied stiffs! In another hole in logic, some of the kids during the dinner-table scene speak of the place as if it wasn't so bad. This, in spite of 3 missing "runaways" and hello! ... a girl tied up in the attic! You would think at least one of them would have been close enough to care what happened to the 3 "runaways" or the poor sod in the attic! Of comical value, most of the "kids" in the home are well into their 20's and at the time of the movie, the character Bunch, who was supposed to be 16, was actually 24! Finally, the monster at the end of the movie looks like a guy with a rubber mask over his head. Not scary, just laughable. In conclusion, while some of the acting, the production, and the premise are good, the movie is burdened and ruined by a dumb and totally unbelievable script. 4.5 out of 10

After her prostitute mother and her john are beaten to death while they are asleep in bed, teen-aged Ellie Masters (Melody Patterson) is sent to an isolated orphanage run by Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame) and her handyman (Len Lesser).

While Melody Patterson is known for being Wrangler Jane in "F Troop", she will now forever be branded in my mind as Ellie Masters. I found this film to be far better than the ratings people assign to it, and Patterson was an excellent choice as the film's star (why she no longer acts is a mystery to me).

Perhaps most interesting, from a historical standpoint, is this film's impact on the slasher subgenre. I generally like to think of "Black Christmas" as the first true slasher film, but there were elements here that had "slasher" written all over them. The film in general is not a slasher film, but the opening scene with the "hammer cam"? Heck, it was very much like the beginning of "Halloween". Coincidence or inspiration?

I saw this at a drive-in when I was 9. All I remember are a few scenes (the ones where the main character Elle is being chased by a guy in a mask) and being scared spitless. Seeing it now, my opinions have changed. It's a pathetic "horror" film about an ophanage run by Gloria Grahame (sad) and dealing with a young, talentless girl Elle who is sent there after her mother, the town tramp, was beaten to death with a hammer (graphically shown). The film has adolescents (actually actors in their 20s) being beaten, tortured, killed, starved, attacked with meat cleavers, raped etc etc. The brutal hammer murder is the opening scene and then it gets worse and worse. There is NOTHING to recommend about this crap. The plot is stupid, all the dialogue is bad and the acting...the less said the better. How did this sickie get by with a GP (now PG) rating? It would get an R now. Worthless. One last thing...a truly repulsive twist ending suggests incest!

Rated GP, that's right. What we now call PG. But you knew that.

A sick little PG as well.

Boarding house for wayward girls and of course the Madam has a dirty little secret or three.

Gloria Grahame was the best actor here. When I found out later she was a previous Oscar winner (for The Bad And The Beautiful) I wasn't surprised. She played the role Joan Collins tried to play for years.

Vic Tayback (Mel from 'Alice') showed he's got some dramatic range. He played the one likable male.

I can't mention the twists at the end. See it for yourself. It's slow going in places, but worth it.

This is an awful . It is not scary. It is very gross. It has awful acting. It also has an awful story line. It not a good movie at all. Do not see it. It is awful. If you want to get scared See the original Friday the 13th from 1980. Do not see this.

Someone has killed her mother, and set fire to her house. Ellie is later sent to an orphanage where there are more sinister things going on in there. Ellie(Melody Patterson) is very troubled because her mother is a prostitute and the man who was with her is one of her "johns". The murder weapon is a hammer. In the orphanage, it's no better. Most of the orphans there tends to run away, most of them don't even make it out. One orphan decided to run away. Only to lose his hand. And more. At the orphanage, Ellie meets Bunch(Terri Messina), who became a rival of Ellie. Since Ellie is older, she would take interest in Walter, Mrs. Deere's helper. Most orphanages are usually helpful for the children. This one is another story. The case worker would send a detective named Calvin Carruthers(Vic Tayback) to check on Ellie. Since he's closer to her than anyone else, it would make him her guardian angel. Since there are only a few deadly weapons in the film. A hammer and a cleaver. This movie was more fun than a letdown. This is a low budget horror movie, but it was made very effective for the viewers. 2 out of 5 stars.

An early entry to the art of the slasher business - not too bad but nothing really good. Also the level of horror and gore is a rather low one on the horror-o-meter. What I like most is the now nostalgic 70s B movie style Blood and Lace got production and cam wise. Some of the ladies are beautiful to look at too. Recommended only to those lost souls who want their research on the matter to be of excessive nature.