‘The first movie made for the home video market… Might just scare you to death!’
Blood Cult is a 1985 American slasher horror film directed by Christopher Lewis from a screenplay by Stuart Rosenthal, with additional dialogue by James Vance.
The movie stars Juli Andelman (The Silent Scream), Charles Ellis, James Vance, Bennie Lee McGowan, Peter Hart, David Stice, Fred Graves and Bob Duffield.
Director Christopher Lewis followed this shot-on-video production with The Ripper (starring Tom Savini) the same year, and then a sequel, the imaginatively-titled Revenge, in 1986.
Plot:
A secret society gather to worship the god “Canis” and offer the occasional human sacrifice, but they are eventually challenged by a bookish heroine…
Reviews:
“Utilizing a nine day shooting schedule, director Christopher Lewis tells a by-the-number stalk and slash tale with requisite nods to Halloween and Psycho, but with some gore thrown in for good measure … he’s a bland if capable director who gets some reasonable mileage out of his slasher scenes, but pads out his running time interminably with scenes of characters sitting around and talking.” Daily Grindhouse
“To the film’s credit, there are a few atmospheric scenes, largely because Oklahoma is a naturally atmospheric state. But, for the most part, Blood Cult has a “Grandpa Picked Up a Video Camera And Made A Horror Film” look and feel to it.” HorrorCritic.com
“The opening house sets were great – all lit up perfectly to give off a suburban horror mood … Cheap, but fun. From here onward the acting just takes a dive, and makes room for some of the ugliest people I have ever seen in a horror film. You can only scream so long before we start to realize that your ‘acting’ career starts and ends with Blood Cult.” Oh, the Horror!
“Blood Cult never really manages to find its groove, frankly because it doesn’t even seem to be trying to. It’s almost as if Lewis and company were more concerned with just getting the damn thing made and out there than actually producing something remotely worth watching.” Trash Film Guru
“For the bad sound, sucky plotline, crappy acting and misogyny, there’s some cheesy recompense: the killer uses the decapitated head of one victim to beat her roommate with; severed fingers are found in a salad, and they had the audacity to call the sorority house where the first murder occurs Chi Omega!” Vegan Voorhees
Filming locations:
Tahlequah and Tulsa, Oklahoma
