Blood Diner: Comfort Food Films

Last week I highlighted an old screwball comedy from the 40's. The great thing about comfort food films though is that it means different things to different people. To some it's Julie Andrews singing her heart out on mountain tops, to others it's a guy taking an axe to the head. With that in mind please welcome guest Carl Manes horror blogger of I Like Horror Films.

Howdy folks, Carl here to serve up another dainty dish of delightful comfort food straight from I Like Horror Movies to your brain! I thought we would start this new Horror segment with a touching and thought-provoking tale of two brothers who set off to free their Egyptian goddess Shitar by serving up the locals at the BLOOD DINER!

BLOOD DINER is a campy piece of 80's nostalgia that has still yet to receive an official DVD release in the US. Jackie Kong's homage to the 1963 classic BLOOD FEAST retains all of the absurd plotting and humor found in H.G. Lewis' original, along with some of the most outrageous deaths anyone has ever seen. Talk about comfort foods! Mikey and Georgie serve up deep-fried ladies fingers (quite literally), pouched eyeballs, a delicious veggie burger made from left over organs, and even deep-fry a woman's head. On top of that, a woman is cleaved in half, another takes a stalactite to the face, and a bouncer has his head crushed in by a passing low-rider while everyone looks on and laughs

And to think, this all happens WELL before the actual blood feast used to finally resurrect the monstrous Shitar in the end! It is difficult to describe just how much carnage and bloodshed occurs in the final moments of the film, but between ravenous hoards of club-goes eating one another, a needle-toothed goddess blowing people's heads up with the lightning bolts she shoots from her fingers, and two crazed brothers hacking people to bits, things get a little messy.

Fans of Troma pictures and THE TOXIC AVENGER will be well at home here, but what many people consider to be low-brow toilet humor is surprisingly witty and well-crafted to play on a high level of camp rather than lower itself to B-movie cheese. Carl Crew and Rick Banks are hilarious as the Tutman brothers, and director Jackie Kong creates the perfect balance of laughs and horrific splatter. After being lost for over two-decades since its initial release, Lionsgate has finally secured the rights to the picture, and an authentic US DVD release should be coming out shortly!

This is an 80's classic that every Horror fan must have in their collection, so pack up the kids and head on over to the BLOOD DINER for a gooey good time!

-Carl Manes




Be sure to check out Carl's blog I Like Horror Movies for reviews of more horror films.


And if you'd like to guest post to discuss one of your Comfort Food Films, please let me know.