Blood and Lace
Blood and Lace | |
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Directed by | Philip Gilbert |
Written by | Gil Lasky |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Paul Hipp |
Edited by | Marcus Tobias |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $200,000 |
Blood and Lace is a 1971 American exploitation horror film directed by Philip Gilbert, written by Gil Lasky, and starring Gloria Grahame, Melody Patterson, Len Lesser, and Milton Selzer. The film follows an orphaned teenager (Patterson) who arrives at a remote orphanage run by a madwoman (Grahame) and her handyman, both sadists and child murderers.
Shot in Los Angeles in 1970 and released theatrically in early 1971, Blood and Lace became a frequent billing on the
Plot
Teenager Ellie Masters is orphaned after her
After arriving at the orphanage, Ellie soon finds that Mrs. Deere runs it like a
Carruthers visits Ellie at the orphanage, and she confides to him that Mrs. Deere and Kredge are exploiting the children. Meanwhile, Ellie's roommate, a teenaged girl named Bunch, grows jealous as Ellie competes for the affection of Walter, a 21-year-old who helps Mrs. Deere around the house. Ellie is disturbed when she finds Jennifer, one of the orphans, has been tied up in the attic for days on end after attempting to run away; Ellie tries to give Jennifer water, but is stopped by Kredge. Ellie soon makes a plan to run away herself and find her biological father. Kredge agrees to help Ellie run away under false pretenses, and attempts to sexually assault her when she meets him in the basement; Mrs. Deere, however, stops the rape attempt. Ellie confronts Mrs. Deere about Jennifer, and expresses concern that she might die. Mrs. Deere explains calmly that even if Jennifer should die, that advancements in medical science will soon allow the dead to be revived anyway.
That night, Ellie awakens to a masked figure standing over her bed with a hammer, but Mrs. Deere assures her it was only a nightmare. The next morning, Ellie attempts to run away after finding Walter in bed with Bunch; she retrieves a suitcase, but upon opening it finds Ernest's severed hand. She screams in terror and attempts to flee, but Kredge locks her in the basement freezer. Pete, one of the orphans, witnesses this and attempts to warn the others. Mullins arrives at the house to inquire about the missing children and threatens to involve the police, prompting Kredge and Mrs. Deere to murder him and bring his body to the freezer. In the basement, the masked figure appears and attacks Kredge, killing him. Ellie manages to escape in the melee, and the masked figure chases her into the woods. Mrs. Deere drags Kredge's body into the freezer, but is locked inside by Jennifer, who has been freed from the attic.
In the woods, Ellie finds Ernest's corpse before being confronted by the masked figure in a clearing, who reveals himself as Detective Carruthers. He explains that he knows Ellie killed her mother, and that his suspicions of Mrs. Deere and Kredge led him to try and drive Ellie to run away in order to observe how Mrs. Deere would respond. Carruthers reveals he is romantically interested in Ellie, and uses his knowledge of her crime to blackmail her into marrying him. After she agrees, Carruthers admits to Ellie that her mother lost her virginity to him. Realizing she has agreed to marry her father, Ellie laughs hysterically.
Cast
- Gloria Grahame as Mrs. Deere
- Melody Patterson as Ellie Masters
- Milton Selzer as Mr. Mullins
- Len Lesser as Tom Kredge
- Vic Tayback as Calvin Carruthers
- Terri Messina as Bunch
- Ronald Taft as Walter
- Dennis Christopher as Pete
- Peter Armstrong as Ernest
- Maggie Corey as Jennifer
- Mary Strawberry as Nurse
- Louise Sherrill as Edna Masters
- Joe Durkin as Unidentified Man
Production
The film's writer and producer, Gil Lasky, was a real estate developer in Southern California who first worked as a producer on Spider Baby (1967).[3]
Filming
Blood and Lace was shot in 1970 in Los Angeles and Orange County, California[4] on a budget of $200,000[5] with the exterior forest scenes being shot in Runyon Canyon, which at the time was private property.[6] Louise Sherrill, who appears in the opening sequence as Ellie's mother, was a horror film enthusiast who had previously directed The Ghosts of Hanley House (1968).[7] Sherrill helped secure the house used in the film as the Deere Orphanage, located on Franklin Avenue;[8] the residence was uninhabited at the time of filming.[9]
Star Melody Patterson was quoted as saying the production was enjoyable, as well as lauding Gloria Grahame's presence on-set.[10] Patterson became ill with the flu early into production, which impacted her speaking voice.[11] Because of this, her voice in the film's opening scene was dubbed in post-production by actress June Foray.[12]
The film bore the working title The Blood Secret, which appears on its original print.[13] It was, however, changed to Blood and Lace upon its theatrical release.
Music
Given the film's minuscule budget, the filmmakers utilized music and sound effects from free library archives, resulting in compositions and sonic elements reminiscent of 1950s and 1960s horror and monster movies.[14]
Release
In December 1970, it was announced that American International Pictures had acquired the film for distribution.[15] Blood and Lace opened at the McVicker's Theater in Chicago on February 12, 1971,[16] before screening in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 3, 1971.[17] It showed at drive-ins in Kansas City, Missouri the weekend of March 5, 1971,[18] and in Phoenix, Arizona theaters in early March.[19]
The film became a regular at American drive-in theaters on double bills with other horror films: It was paired with such films as
Critical response
Upon its release, Blood and Lace was considered to be one of the "sickest" films to receive a
The film received mostly negative critical reception.
Lou Cedrone of The Evening Sun derided Blood and Lace as "a nasty, ugly little film that critics have labeled as low camp, but I can't go along with them", adding that the film should not be viewed by children despite is GP rating.[24]
A review published in Variety was also mixed, noting: "Director Gilbert settles for fast pace to cover actors' inadequacies, [and] does manage to work up [a] nail-chewer climax... Miss Grahame makes some brave stabs at cutting through the silliness, but eventually succumbs to the uneven style of acting supplied by the remaining cast members."[25][26]
Home media
Blood and Lace did not receive a home media release in the United States on either
Legacy
Although largely decried by critics upon its release, Blood and Lace developed a cult following through its presence as a regular drive-in bill as well as through television syndication in the late 1970s.[10] The film's opening scene, which features a point-of-view shot of the killer wielding a hammer while ascending the stairs and entering a bedroom has been oft compared to similar sequences that appeared in later slasher films, such as Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974) and John Carpenter's Halloween (1978).[29][30][31]
Ken Hanley of Fangoria has credited the film as being one of the first American "proto-slasher films," predating Halloween, Black Christmas (1974), and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b Craig 2019, p. 66.
- ^ a b Hanley, Ken W. (February 16, 2016). "'The Mutilator' (Blu-ray Review)". Fangoria. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- ^ Smith 2015, 53:24.
- ^ Smith 2015, 8:57.
- ^ Smith 2015, 1:24:18.
- ^ Smith 2015, 47:53.
- ^ Smith 2015, 36:45.
- ^ Smith 2015, 38:52.
- ^ a b Lentz 2011, p. 223.
- ^ a b c d Lisanti 2012, p. 147.
- ^ Smith 2015, 6:00.
- ^ Smith 2015, 6:21.
- ^ Smith 2015, 0:23.
- ^ Smith 2015, 8:08.
- ^ "Blood and Stuff". New York Daily News. December 23, 1970. p. 98 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'Blood and Lace'". Chicago Tribune. February 7, 1971. p. 123 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Coming Attractions". Knoxville News Sentinel. February 16, 1971. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Drive In Movie Directory". The Kansas City Star. March 6, 1971. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National General Theatre". The Arizona Republic. March 2, 1971. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Miner, Paula (October 14, 1971). "'Let's Scare Jessica': Madness? Sanity?". The Toledo Blade. p. 34 – via Google Books.
- ^ Weiler, A. H. (March 18, 1971). "More Laughable Than Shocking: Gloria Grahame Cast in 'Blood and Lace'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- ^ Smith 2015, 1:24.
- ^ Guarino, Ann (March 18, 1971). "Blood and Lace". The New York Daily News.
- ^ Cedrone, Lou (April 19, 1971). "'Wipe-Out Games' At Kreeger". The Evening Sun. p. D8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Staff (March 11, 1971). "Film Review: 'Blood and Lace'". Variety. p. 18.
- ^ Quoted in Shelley 2009, p. 192.
- ^ Shelley 2009, p. 187.
- ^ "Blood and Lace (1971)". The Numbers. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
- ^ Craig 2019, p. 67.
- ^ Galluzzo, Robert (November 24, 2015). "The Pre-Slasher Lunacy Of Scream Factory's Blood and Lace!". Blumhouse. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
- ^ Coffel, Chris (December 18, 2015). "[Blu-ray Review] 'Blood and Lace' is a Bizarre, Strange Slasher". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023.
Sources
- Craig, Rob (2019). American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-1-476-66631-0.
- Lentz, Robert J. (2011). Gloria Grahame, Bad Girl of Film Noir: The Complete Career. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-78643-4831.
- Lisanti, Tom (2012). Drive-in Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-movie Starlets of the Sixties. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-78647-1652.
- Shelley, Peter (2009). Grande Dame Guignol Cinema: A History of Hag Horror from Baby Jane to Mother. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-44569-1.
- Smith, Richard Harland (2015). Blood and Lace (Shout! Factory and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
External links
- Blood and Lace at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Blood and Lace at IMDb