An egyptian caterer
named Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold) slaughters
people and collects their body parts from
young maidens in order to bring Ishtar,
an ancient goddess of good and evil back
to life.
A woman named Mrs. Dorothy Fremont (Lyn
Bolton) wants to have a dinner party for
her daughter Suzette (Connie Mason) which
gives him a great idea to finish his
ritual in which he hypnotises her to have
an engagement party so he can perform
the ancient rites of summons which hasn't
been performed for 5,000 years, using the
daughter as his final sacrifice.
Suzette's boyfriend Detective Pete
Thornton (William Kerwin) is on the hunt
for this killer that's all over the news
with the police captain Frank (Scott H.
Hall) which leads to more cases and
fret's that he won't be able to get to
Suzette in time.
The first
controversial horror film which offered
the first gorefest in which during this
time period wasn't allowed to be shown to
the public and I believed was given an X
rating and considered adult horror. It
still stands out as quite graphic to
today's standards since it's about
cannibalism. However the blood no looks
fake and you can tell that it's red
paint.
Of course there's an impressive beginning
with a woman going into a bathtub and the
killer buthchering her away which almost
had a similar idea in Psycho
but this was way more gruesome of course.
There's alot of mysterious moments with
this killer too on how he talks to others
about his traditional feasts which seems
to fit well with the story on someone
having a dinner party but it's not what
they're expecting at all. It's not for
everyone who has a strong stomach that's
for sure.
Of course there's a pool party too giving
the film a summer feel to it which looks
like so much fun that you wanna dive in
as well.
Of course there's this killers own cult
ceremony which delivers more shocks with
guts and galore on him placing stuff in a
stew pot as well as whipping someone
which fits the plotline.
Bottom line is the film was pointless but
fun to watch if you're in the mood for a
very cult cheesy horror flick plus it
looks like one of those old fashioned
horror drive-in films which is
entertaining. Basically the story
revolves around a planned dinner party
with a crazed caterer who kills people
and uses their body parts for his
ceremony and about to kill the host for
the party but killing other locals in
between at beaches or a motel. Nothing
much more to this. Believe it or not this
film inspired the trashy 1987 black
comedy Blood Diner.
The acting is in
average shape as lead actor William
Kerwin seems to birng on a nice
charm as a detective and lover to the
main character in the film with his easy
going attitude plus he brings a great
seriousness when a deadly crime is
committed. He seemed to study this role
quite well and comes across quite strong
in his performance.
Mal Arnold certainly had the right
looks to lay a maniac madman in the film
with his crazed expressions as well as
his cold and insane speaking really
getting into a rage as well. He totally
brought his role to life and portrayed a
perfect horror character.
Connie Mason had the beautiful blone
looks which seems to be an attraction to
the film especially a drive-in horror
flick like this one but can she act? Well
she isn't too bad. She knew how to act
like a ditsy type on the film that's for
sure so I give her credit for doing her
best.
Lyn Bolton seems to do well with her
supporting role as her mother with a calm
and pleasant like behavior. She seems to
have that wholesome type of image. She
seemed to bring everything together
nicely with her work in it.
Body parts are
chopped off
Guts and other types of insides are put
in a stew
Many bloody slaughterings
Bloodied bodies are revealed
A scalp is sliced off
Insides are pulled out of a person's
mouth
A decapitated head is revealed
Body parts are revealed
A man is bloodily crushed in a garbage
truck
Yes folks plenty of blood and graphic
gore here
Herschell
Gordon Lewis directs this piece with
plenty of shocking moments but yet making
his work look entertaining. There's a
good shot on bit part actress Sandra
Sinclair running a bath and going in
with a good shot looking up on Mal
Arnold with a knife in the air and a
menacing expression on his face as well
as a good shot on Sinclair screaming
with a shot of blood in the bath water.
There's a nice creepy dialogue with
supporting actress Lyn Bolton
entering a butcher shop and talking to Arnold
about throwing a dinner party for her
daughter with a great close up shot on
him discussing to her about an Egyptian
feast for her with big eyed expression
and cold speaking which looked
convincingly intimidating as well as a
good shot on her looking a bit out of it
as if she's been hypnotised.
There's a nice close up shot and makeout
scene between two bit part actors
performed by Ashlyn Martin and
Gene Courtier at a beach with a good
approach by Arnold limping
towards them as well as raising a blade
in the ari with a great close up shot on Martin
screaming in terror and then a shot on
him throwing down his blade.
There's a good moment with bit part
actress Astrid Olsen walking
outside near her hotel and then Arnold
grabbing her from her room and him being
psysically forceful with his hands on her
face which looked distrurbing to watch on
how it was done.
There's a good camera shot looking down
on Connie Mason and William
Kerwin in their vehicle having a
pleasant conversation and also talking
about the killer on the loose which
seemed quite natural.
There's a good camera shots and
conversations involving Mason
towards supporting actresses Louise
Kamp and Christy Foushee while
having a pool party talking about their
party which looked a bit cheesy but in a
fun way.
There's a corny moment with Arnold
putting body parts and other guts in a
stew type pot and performing a ceremony
with a good shot on Kamp tied up
sobbing as well as good camera shots on
him whipping her which looked almost
convincing that he was actually torturing
her.
There's a nice moment with both Kerwin
and Scott H. Hall entering the
torture room and spotting Kamp bloodied
on a table with a good camera shot moving
sideways on her body.
There's a good twisted scene with Kerwin
and Hall trying to talk to Kamp
bandaged up in a hospital on what went on
with her answering very strangely and
disturbing like.
There's a good moment with Arnold
trying to get Mason to close her
eyes and lie on a counter with her acting
ditzy about it breaking his concentration
on what he wants to do as well as some
good blocking on him raising a blade in
the air when she closes her eyes. Plus
there's a good entrance on Bolton
catching this with a great screaming
reaction.
There's numerous low drum
poundings like a sacrifice is going to
happen. Typical egyptian sounds. Plus
there's lots of great quivering organ
music which you'd hear in an old
fashioned drive-in movie. Plus there's
low trumpet music too. This is of course
composed by the director Lewis.
Mrs.
Dorothy Fremont: Good day, are you
Mr. Ramses? I'm Dorothy Fremont. Well, I
heard about you from a friend of mine,
Annette Dupree. I'm giving a dinner party
in two weeks for my daughter, and Mrs.
Dupree says that you cater to just about
the type of thing I'm looking for. I want
something ususal, something totally
different.
Fuad Ramses: Yes, Mrs. Fremont. I
do cater to unusual affairs. What do you
consider to be unusual?
Mrs. Dorothy Fremont: Oh, I don't
know. What do you recommend?
Fuad Ramses: Have you ever had...
an Egyptian Feast?
[musical fanfare]
Fuad
Ramses: A feast such as this has not been
performed in 5,000 years.
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