Blood Sucking Freaks
Encyclopedia
Blood Sucking Freaks is a 1976 horror
-exploitation film
. Shot under the title Sardu: Master of the Screaming Virgins, it was retitled The Incredible Torture Show during its original theatrical run.
Film distributor
Troma Entertainment
retitled the film Blood Sucking Freaks (sometimes spelled Bloodsucking Freaks) upon their acquisition of it. The film is based on Herschell Gordon Lewis
’ Wizard of Gore.
-style theatre run by Master Sardu and his midget
assistant, Ralphus. In keeping with the Grand Guignol-style, the theatre puts on grotesque shows about torture and murder. What neither the audiences nor the critics know is that the shows are not staged but real. Moreover the naked women who appear to be tortured, dismembered and even killed during the performances are not actresses but kidnapped victims who are made into slaves.
Theatre critic, Creasy Silo, incurs Sardu's wrath by mocking his pretensions of art. Sardu responds by kidnapping and torturing Silo in the hopes that he will give the show a positive review, and by kidnapping ballerina
Natasha DeNatalie in order to force her to participate in shows and thereby lend the shows an increased level of artistic legitimacy. This leads to the second major plotline of the film, in which Natasha's football-player boyfriend Tom Maverick and corrupt policeman Detective John Tucci try to find Natasha and unravel the mystery of Sardu's operation.
As the film progresses, we learn that Sardu is involved in white slavery
and keeps a group of naked, almost feral, women in a cage in the basement of the theatre. The film intercuts between scenes of Tom Maverick and Detective Tucci attempting to find Natasha DeNatalie and scenes of Sardu and Ralphus torturing their captives and attempting to brainwash DeNatalie and Silo so that they will participate in the theater productions. As is common in the genre, the film ends with Sardu getting his comeuppance at the hands of his former captives.
status due to its ability to slip between being a serious horror film with sexual overtones, and a campy send-up of slasher film
s that were beginning to become horror film standards, evidenced by John Carpenter
's Halloween
.
crushed by a vise
, the amputation
of a wrist by a bone saw, the amputation
of fingers by a meat cleaver, electro-shock, suspension, the extraction of teeth, the portrayal of an electric drill through a skull with the brains sucked through a straw, the amputation
of feet by a chainsaw
, stretching
on St. Andrew's Cross
, caning
and subsequent decapitation
by guillotine
, as well as brainwashing, whipping, and quartering
.
.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
-exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
. Shot under the title Sardu: Master of the Screaming Virgins, it was retitled The Incredible Torture Show during its original theatrical run.
Film distributor
Film distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce...
retitled the film Blood Sucking Freaks (sometimes spelled Bloodsucking Freaks) upon their acquisition of it. The film is based on Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis is an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter film" subgenre of horror...
’ Wizard of Gore.
Plot
The plot centers on an S&M/Grand GuignolGrand Guignol
Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol — known as the Grand Guignol — was a theatre in the Pigalle area of Paris . From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962 it specialized in naturalistic horror shows...
-style theatre run by Master Sardu and his midget
Midget
A midget is a short person with relatively average bodily proportions in comparison with other human beings. The term is often improperly used to describe a person with the medical condition dwarfism. The two terms are often used synonymously because both terms originate as words defining small...
assistant, Ralphus. In keeping with the Grand Guignol-style, the theatre puts on grotesque shows about torture and murder. What neither the audiences nor the critics know is that the shows are not staged but real. Moreover the naked women who appear to be tortured, dismembered and even killed during the performances are not actresses but kidnapped victims who are made into slaves.
Theatre critic, Creasy Silo, incurs Sardu's wrath by mocking his pretensions of art. Sardu responds by kidnapping and torturing Silo in the hopes that he will give the show a positive review, and by kidnapping ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
Natasha DeNatalie in order to force her to participate in shows and thereby lend the shows an increased level of artistic legitimacy. This leads to the second major plotline of the film, in which Natasha's football-player boyfriend Tom Maverick and corrupt policeman Detective John Tucci try to find Natasha and unravel the mystery of Sardu's operation.
As the film progresses, we learn that Sardu is involved in white slavery
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
and keeps a group of naked, almost feral, women in a cage in the basement of the theatre. The film intercuts between scenes of Tom Maverick and Detective Tucci attempting to find Natasha DeNatalie and scenes of Sardu and Ralphus torturing their captives and attempting to brainwash DeNatalie and Silo so that they will participate in the theater productions. As is common in the genre, the film ends with Sardu getting his comeuppance at the hands of his former captives.
Themes
Blood Sucking Freaks would go on to achieve relative cult-classicCult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
status due to its ability to slip between being a serious horror film with sexual overtones, and a campy send-up of slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
s that were beginning to become horror film standards, evidenced by John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
's Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
.
Depictions of Violence
Some of the torture methods depicted fictionally in the film include the use of thumb screws, a skullHuman skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
crushed by a vise
Vise
Vise may refer to:* Miami Vise, a defunct AFL team* Vise , a mechanical screw apparatus* Vise , an architectural element* Venus In-Situ Explorer * The Vise, TV show* Visé, BelgiumPeople with the surname Vise:...
, the amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
of a wrist by a bone saw, the amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
of fingers by a meat cleaver, electro-shock, suspension, the extraction of teeth, the portrayal of an electric drill through a skull with the brains sucked through a straw, the amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
of feet by a chainsaw
Chainsaw
A chainsaw is a portable mechanical saw, powered by electricity, compressed air, hydraulic power, or most commonly a two-stroke engine...
, stretching
Stretching
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific skeletal muscle is deliberately elongated, often by abduction from the torso, in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and reaffirm comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility and...
on St. Andrew's Cross
Saint Andrew's Cross (BDSM)
The St. Andrew's Cross, Crux decussata, X-cross, X-frame or saltire cross is a common piece of equipment in BDSM dungeons. It typically provides restraining points for ankles, wrists, and waist. When secured to a saltire, the subject is restrained in a standing spreadeagle position.The St...
, caning
Caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
and subsequent decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
by guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
, as well as brainwashing, whipping, and quartering
Quartering
Quartering may refer to:* dividing into four parts:** Hanged, drawn and quartered, quartering as a punishment** Quartering...
.
Reception
It is considered to be one of the most controversial films of all time by Filmsite.orgFilmsite.org
FilmSite.org is a website operated by Tim Dirks since 1996, and owned by AMC since 2008. It contains over 300 reviews of what Dirks judges to be the "greatest films" of all time. In some cases, the review is scene-by-scene. It also contains many other pages offering an introduction to cinema...
.
External links
- Bloodsucking Freaks – at the Troma EntertainmentTroma EntertainmentTroma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974.The company produces low-budget independent movies that play on 1950s horror with elements of farce...
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