Blood Feast, a 1963 film directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, is an American exploitation film often considered the first "gore" or splatter film. It was produced by David F. Friedman. The screenplay was written by Alison Louise Downe, an actress who had previously appeared in several of Lewis's other films. Lewis also wrote the film's score.

The movie was banned in Germany by a court in Karlsruhe, Germany in January 2004.

Well loved by members of Lewis's small but loyal cult, as well as by some bad movie fanatics, Blood Feast is a low budget horror film about an insane Egyptian caterer who kills people so that he can include their body parts in his meals and perform sacrifices to his Egyptian god, Ishtar. Blood Feast immediately became notorious for its explicit blood, gore and violence. Many people consider its most infamous moment to be when the murderer rips out a young woman's tongue on camera. (An effect achieved with fake blood and a sheep's tongue.)

The film has also been noted for its bad direction and terrible acting. Particularly entertaining was the amateurish performance of Mal Arnold, playing the part of deranged murderer Fuad Ramses, called by author Christopher Wayne Curry in his book A Taste of Blood: The Films Of Herschell Gordon Lewis "the original 'machete-wielding madman', and the forerunner" to similar characters in the Friday the 13th and Halloween series of films.

Blood Feast is the first part of what the director's fans have dubbed "The Blood Trilogy". Rounding out the trilogy are the films 2000 Maniacs and Color Me Blood Red.

Jackie Kong directed the cult favorite Blood Diner in 1986, with the intention of making it a "spiritual sequel" to Blood Feast. A comedic sequel/remake, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, was released in 2002. It marked the first time Lewis and Friedman worked together on a movie in several years.

External links

Blood Feast | Blood Feast