Blood Rage (aka Slasher) (1987) **1/2
Blood Rage (aka Slasher) (1987) is not a good film but it sure is a good time. It's filled with every 80s slasher trope imaginable, from fashion—perms, mullets, striped Nike shirts, popped collars—to gore—lopped-off hands, beheadings, bisected bodies, machete stabs—to nudity (apparently women of all ages were super horny in that decade). Blood Rage makes no attempt at any kind of artistry whatsoever—from the flat, garish lighting to the subpar camerawork to skipping any semblance of a backstory or character development (Thanksgiving is very loosely involved, though does provide an amusing, if overused one-liner)—instead favoring and embracing its tastelessness.
The "plot" revolves around two brothers (Todd and Terry), both played in their adult form by Mark Soper, who actually does a decent job of distinguishing between the two in his performance—though his acting isn't particularly great (then again nobody's is in this film). When the two brothers are young and their mom is necking in the car at the drive-in, they wander off and Terry kills some dude for no apparent reason. Terry frames Todd, who gets institutionalized for 10 years, but then he "escapes". Terry continues to kill people and blame it on Todd. We watch as the bodycount racks up.
Blood Rage lacks the genre genius of similar films such as Pieces (1982) or Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), but it does feature some nice kills (via grisly creations by makeup f/x artist Ed French) and it's pretty damn funny. In particular, watching Louise Lasser attempt any sort of a serious performance in that of the alcoholic, frantic mother of Todd/Terry is both hilarious and sad. This is absolutely the exact type of movie that you should watch with a large audience that enjoys this type of sick, tacky, shameless stuff.
The "plot" revolves around two brothers (Todd and Terry), both played in their adult form by Mark Soper, who actually does a decent job of distinguishing between the two in his performance—though his acting isn't particularly great (then again nobody's is in this film). When the two brothers are young and their mom is necking in the car at the drive-in, they wander off and Terry kills some dude for no apparent reason. Terry frames Todd, who gets institutionalized for 10 years, but then he "escapes". Terry continues to kill people and blame it on Todd. We watch as the bodycount racks up.
Blood Rage lacks the genre genius of similar films such as Pieces (1982) or Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), but it does feature some nice kills (via grisly creations by makeup f/x artist Ed French) and it's pretty damn funny. In particular, watching Louise Lasser attempt any sort of a serious performance in that of the alcoholic, frantic mother of Todd/Terry is both hilarious and sad. This is absolutely the exact type of movie that you should watch with a large audience that enjoys this type of sick, tacky, shameless stuff.
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