Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat review by The Grim Ringler

To fans of low-grade sleaze and horror films, there are a few names that are etched into your soul as sort of twisted pioneers who opened doors in films that have since been taken off the hinges outright. In the upper echelon of these names is famed ‘Godfather of Gore’ Herschell Gordon Lewis, the man that gave us disembowelment, decapitation, impalement, and any number of other gleefully grotesque killings (and all in a bright red hue), who was far better as a ‘pioneer’ than he was a filmmaker. Using sleaze and gore as his calling cards, H.G. Lewis made his name and money with infamous films like Blood Feast, The Wizard of Gore, and 2000 Maniacs, and while his films can never be called ‘good’, they are usually very fun and never fail to entertain. Here we have H.G.’s return to films after a very long absence, and his return is, if nothing else, not that dissimilar to his earlier career.

Set long after the events of the first film (in which a crazed cultist slaughters a series of young women in ever-more gory ways so he, one Fuad Ramses, can create a sacrificial dish for his pet idol Ishtar), young Fuad -Ramses (the first was his grand-pappy) sets up shop in a small store he has inherited from his dead grandfather. New to the area and wanting to open a small catering business and deli, Fuad is immediately be-set by a local detective who is trying to get to the bottom of a strange murder/suicide that happened in the alley behind Fuad’s store. Suspicious from the outset, the detective grills Fuad about the deaths and, when he finds that the young man is new to town, finds he must also fill the guy in on his ghoulish namesake. Chilled after learning that his grandfather was a murderer, Fuad’s mood quickly changes after he makes his first catering deal and his family’s dark secrets are easily forgotten. Forgotten that is until he opens a locked storeroom, which contains the evil idol, and Fuad is under its command instantly and again, a ‘blood feast’ must be prepared. Turning his eye and knives on the bridal party he is to create a wedding feast for, Fuad gets to work on the creation of his feast. All the while the dense detective and his partner are stumped as to who it is that might be brutally murdering these young women, though the detective (Michael Myers, whose partner is Sam Loomis – get it?) still suspects the young Mr. Ramses. But the bodies keep piling up, though sans some precious organs, and the cops are as clueless as ever until Fuad, feast completed, delightfully serves detective Myers and his new bride their friends as the main dishes at their wedding. Sensing something is amiss though, Loomis follows Fuad and Myers’ new mother-in-law (who is as cartoon evil as can be) back to his shop to see if Fuad might not be their killer. Myers, wanting to back up his partner follows Loomis and his new wife follows him and all three make their way to the shop just in time to find Fuad preparing for one final sacrifice to Ishtar, unless that is, they can stop him first.

Leagues away from being a good film, this has cult film written all over it. Which is a good and bad thing. Good in that they know they are not making art here, and that few will have any use for the film outside of the die-hard Lewis fans, so this is made completely with the fans in mind. The acting is hammy, the gore is over-the-top, and the jokes are shot with a shotgun, which misses more than it hits. But, if you can get past the initial shock at how very bad this movie is, it is very fun. You can’t ask for more sleaze, with the centerpiece here being a lingerie party, and you can hardly ask for more gore, which comes hard and fast throughout the film. It’s obvious that this film, if not made for the sheer love of making movies, was made for the love of money, and in this case, that isn’t such a bad thing. When compared with the original, this is at least as good as that, which says more I suppose to the fact that the original ain’t that great (if you want great Lewis look Wizard and Maniacs). But for those that may wonder – there is plenty of nudity and the gore is, while at times cheesy, delightfully grotesque. It’s obvious that the had a lot of fun putting the gore effects together and this easily tops Lewis's other films on that score.

The bad comes into play in that, well, the jokes and gags are so heavy-handed and obvious that you just wish they would have either written a funnier script, or just improved the entire thing outright. And while I do appreciate my fair share of bad movies, movies made to be bad can get tiresome and it feels, at times, like lazy filmmaking.

All in all a very fun movie which fits the bill when it comes to a gore show, though this is a film better watched with friends. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to sit through some of the gags alone. It’s nice to see Lewis in the director’s chair again after so long, but it’s easy to see why he stayed away – he just ain’t that good. I like his style, setting his films up a lot like a staged play, but unless he can come up with better gags or a new and even more audacious take on his stylistic excess, maybe it’s time to call it a career.

…c…




6 out of 10 Jackasses
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