It’s been over 50 years since Herschell Gordon Lewis directed exploitation classic Blood Feast. And now the 86-year-old, whose gleefully bloody filmography dominated drive-ins in the 60s and early ’70s, has a brand-new picture: horror anthology BloodMania.
Lewis took a few decades off from the splatter-movie biz to make a mint in the decidedly more tame world of advertising. But he was always proud of what he’d made, and pleasantly baffled by his ever-growing cult fame, since his films—always more of a moneymaking strategy rather than an artistic venture—had been routinely dismissed by critics.
In 2002, Lewis’ enduring fandom was enough to coax “the Godfather of Gore” out of retirement to make Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, followed up by 2009's The Uh-oh Show. (In 2007, his Wizard of Gore was remade by other filmmakers, too.) BloodMania’s press release describes it as “four unique stories that combine horror and gore with outrageous humor that will satiate every horror fan’s appetite.” It’s due out sometime in 2016 from Diabolique Films.
Check out the trailer for BloodMania below. And in the meantime, get up to speed by watching HGL’s earlier works, including must-watch classics Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs! (the Godfather’s personal favorite), and the original Wizard of Gore.
“BLOOD ... WILL ... FLOW!”