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Blood Mania/Point of Terror - Blu-ray Review

3 beersAh, the 1970s! There are few things more terrifying than cinematic vanity projects – especially when the results are far from fantastic. Vinegar Syndrome – now diving into Crown International’s backlog of obscure titles – presents two of actor Peter Carpenter’s more sleaze-minded projects. Carpenter, who got lucky in Russ Meyer’s Vixen, pushed trash cinema to its limit with three quick follow-ups, two of which are included here. These flicks are drive-in offerings that, while cleaned up for this HD release, still feel oh so very dirty and wrong-headed.

Full of bodacious babes all fawning over Carpenter and his hysterically awful Tom Jones-like dance moves, the two movies included on this double feature are sure to please only the very perverted or the curious. While the lighting in both films is to be commended with their overly stylized saturation, there’s little point in recommending this release if you aren’t already somehow in tune with the gaudy, the twisted, and the weird.

Things get started with Robert Vincent O’Neil’s Blood Mania. Co-starring Maria De Aragon as the unstable woman Carpenter – playing a playboy-like doctor who makes all the right moves in his many, many house calls – has an affair with, this unsettling tale about a manipulative daughter who wants her aging father dead has a few unexpected twists and turns. Oh, it’s all well-stylize soap opera antics, but Blood Mania also delivers a slightly disturbing tale sandwiched in between all the topless women. It is probably the most successful of the two films as its twist ending actually delivers an effective jab to the jaw in its final minutes.

Point of Terror sees Carpenter, a lounge singer with fringed suits, striking up an affair Dyanne Thorne (who would spring from this with Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS and its many sequels) after waking up – rather mysteriously – on her privately owned beach with a scream that is more in tune with our response to the opening song and dance number. Sparks ignite between the two, but their entanglement gets a bit tricky when he decides to bed her stepdaughter and she decides to have him murder her wheelchair-bound husband by dumping him in the pool. They do it all for love, you know, but poor Carpenter can’t stop loving her daughter…on the couch, in the car, in the bed, etc. Putting the mellow in melodramatic, Point of Terror has nothing to do with points or terror.

I don’t need to tell you that Carpenter isn’t much of an actor through these exploitative features. He doesn’t try because he doesn’t have to. His Tom Jones kung-fu is enough to carry him through both features. These are melodramatic camp offerings at best; not at all the slasher Crown International was billing. If you know that going in, you will be better off. Not horror. Not much of anything. Camp at best.

This limited edition first pressing of 3,000 units includes an exclusive bonus DVD featuring rare TV versions of both films, so collector’s be on the lookout for this release.

Oh, the horrible horror! Schlock and rock fans will certainly dig this DD-sized twofer. With the blu-ray double feature release of Blood Mania and Point of Terror, Vinegar Syndrome proves that fashion violations – especially in sparkling blu-ray – have victims, too.

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Blood Mania/Point of Terror - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: vinegar syndrome
Available on Blu-ray
- January 31, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Three-disc set; DVD copy
Region Encoding: Region A

Both films have been scanned and restored in 2k from the original 35mm elements. The results are all about saturated goodness. The lighting – which is exemplary – is defined with a crispness that has previously gone unseen. Lines are thick. Colors are deep and reds pop with a flair that is all about 70s cinema. Skin tones are good, too. Black levels are consistent and offer a better look at the defined shadows. The 1.85:1 presentation is backed by a solid DTS-HD mono track.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • Blood Mania has a commentary track from director Robert Vincent O’Neil and actresses Leslie Simms and Vicki Peters. They mainly talk about Carptenter and his involvement with the film.

Special Features:

This limited edition first pressing of 3,000 units includes an exclusive bonus DVD featuring rare TV versions of both films! Also included are video interviews and introductions from Blood Mania’s director and its starlets. There is also reversible cover art.

  • Video interview and introduction with director Robert Vincent O’Neill
  • Video interview with actress Leslie Simms
  • Theatrical trailers for both films
  • TV spots for both films
  • Promotional galleries for both films

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Blood Mania (1970) Trailer:

Point of Terror (1973) Trailer:

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Blood Mania/Point of Terror - Blu-ray Review

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