BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL U CAN EAT

(A.k.a. BLOOD FEAST 2: BUFFET OF BLOOD)

Originally released in a lacklustre, full-frame version on UK DVD in 2006, Herschell Gordon Lewis' belated sequel to his seminal 1963 flick BLOOD FEAST finally gets a credible release on British soils ... Okay, so here's the first part of the review - a synopsis and opinions on the film, as adapted shamelessly from my original review of the Shriek Show R1 DVD of a few years back:

The story couldn't be simpler. Fuad Ramses (J P Delahoussaye) - the grandson of the original FEAST's killer - moves into his grandfather's catering shop (Fuad Ramses' Exotic Catering) and swiftly becomes possessed by the statue of Ancient Egyptian Goddess Ishtar, compelling him to murder and mutilate a bevy of beautiful young women.

There's a suspicious cop - Detective Myers (Mark McLachlan) - lurking around Ramses, convinced that he is the killer. Myers is getting married shortly to the demure Tiffany (Toni Wynne) and his snooty mother-in-law has hired Ramses to cater for the wedding reception.

Hmm - it's almost as if the original BLOOD FEAST never existed?!

Not that a lack of originality matters. What BLOOD FEAST 2 may lack in brains, it more than makes up for with blood and guts galore.

The opening pre-credits sequence sets the scene as two drunken transients rake around the bins in an alley, looking for food. They find a dead cat and enthuse over how they're going to cook it, before both become mesmerised by the red glow emanating from Ishtar, through the gap beneath the door of the shop's back entrance. Both men become possessed, cackling insanely as one pulls his friend's intestines out; the other smashes a bottle and rams the broken glass into his buddy's neck.

Played as much for laughs as it is for gross-out thrills, this opening salvo is pretty much indicative of what's to follow. Only, the gore gets considerably more gruesome as Ramses rips apart nubile young women with convincing relish …

The script by W Boyd Ford has its moments of genuine wit, and is ably assisted by a cast full of knowingly OTT performers. It also whizzes along at an agreeable pace, with plenty of keenly timed forays into gore territory. All of which helps keep the tone and feel of this film in line with its classic predecessor.

But were BLOOD FEAST 2 just a carbon copy of the original, it would be a pointless exercise. Instead, director Lewis has fun with the joys that making a B-movie in 2002 can provide:

For one, the budget has certainly improved and the technical sheen of the film is very polished indeed. Then there's the gore FX, which range from the deliciously depraved (corkscrew in the ear) to the lame (very fake eye-gouging). While thankfully free from CGI interference, it's nice to report that Joe Gastro has afforded Herschell fans with the best FX yet to grace one of the Godfather Of Gore's films. The quotient of nudity is not to be sniffed at either - or the calibre of young, toned beauties lining up to be slaughtered in lingering, sick style. Very nice!

Special mention must also go to Southern Culture On The Skids, whose garage/surf/punk sounds complement these wacky proceedings perfectly. They lend a contemporary edge to the film, and succeed in adding a fun atmosphere - unlike all these misguided Hollywood horror films of present that seem to think featuring nu-metal on their soundtrack will make them more scary (nope, just dated).

My one reservation with BLOOD FEAST 2 is the heavy-handed use of comedy in the occasional scene. Black humour is fine - and works well in many of Lewis' films. But there are a couple of painfully broad comedic scenes in BLOOD FEAST 2 that are so cringe-inducing you'd be mistaken for thinking you were watching a Troma film: the impromptu weather report that breaks the film's pace midway through, for example; or the corpse that keeps turning up in various scenes, ignored by all of the actors … For the large part though, Lewis finds a healthy balance between the humour and gore. Just when you think the comedy is going to bog down the film, Lewis pulls a straight-faced gore scene out of the bag - every time.

But don't let me make you think this is all childish giggles. BLOOD FEAST 2 is a fun, fast-paced film with a huge amount of respect for genre fans. The little asides to the original FEAST work well (Ramses accidentally stabbing himself in the leg, thus inheriting the family limp; the fact that Myers is the son of the cop from the original).

The film certainly has potential to become a cult item - it's mix of sexually precocious females, obscene gore, 60's-esque music and memorably oddball characters ensures it will never cross over and find mass mainstream appeal ...

BLOOD FEAST 2 is presented here in non-anamorphic 1.85:1. Although images are generally sharp with little grain and reasonably bright compositions, colours and blacks are a little too strongly rendered throughout. The transfer overall is on a par with that offered on the original R1 Shriek Show releases. In other words, not the best.

Is it uncut? Yes, I believe so. The confusion lies in the fact that Shriek Show released three versions of Blood Feast 2 onto Region 1 DVD in 2003: a heavily cut R-rated version, an unrated version - "uncut with extra gore", and a 2-disc Special Edition that claimed to feature a "producer's extended cut".

The extended cut turned out to be identical to the uncut/unrated version. Which is what you get here - 99 minutes and 25 seconds of ultra-gory fun. This is NOT the crappy R-rated version that people suffered when buying Shriek Show's "Cannibal Lunchbox" boxset, which seemingly rehashed unsold copies of the R-rated version onto consumers (after the uncut version went out of print quickly in America) ...

English 2.0 audio is clean and problem-free throughout.

An animated main menu page that delights in wallowing in the film's gorier excesses leads into a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 12 chapters.

Extras begin with the highly involving new 20-minute featurette "Gore Gourmet", which includes an interview with Lewis discussing both FEAST films, alongside new onscreen gushings from Antony Timpone, Jeremy Kasten (director of the flawed but interesting THE WIZARD OF GORE remake) and Troma's Lloyd Kaufman. It's a good watch, although long-term fans of Lewis' work will be hard-pushed to come away with anything new.

Next up is the 4-minute documentary "Behind The Gore". As the title suggests, this is 4 minutes of handheld on-set footage illustrating the relaxed nature of the shoot. And the gallons of blood that were employed, naturally.

"Behind The Scenes" is a more worthy 12-minute proposition, offering brief interviews with cast and crew members plus some great glimpses of the wonderful Mr Lewis at his day job.

"On The Set" is 4 more minutes' opportunity to get closer to Lewis at his job, albeit filmed on murky video.

10 minutes of non-anamorphic deleted scenes round out the disc extras.

The extra features have all been released before, both on the deleted 2-disc Region 1 release and the previous Arrow Region 2 release.

The keepcase packaging has the added allure of housing double-sided cover artwork. Inside the case, you'll find a fold-out poster and a booklet with liner notes.

BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL U CAN EAT remains an enormously enjoyable celebration of gore, tits and hammy comedy performances. It's unapologetic fun and gets a decent DVD release from Arrow.

This should whet fans' appetite for Lewis' latest film THE UH-OH SHOW nicely ...

Review by Stu Willis