Blood and Lace

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steve d Not shocking or fun. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Bad, but enjoyable bad horror film about teenage orphans and runaways who end up in a crooked orphanage run by Gloria Grahame (who's one of my favorite actresses of the 40s and 50s) and her evil handyman, Len "Uncle Leo" Lesser. The two sadistic caretakers kill many of their charges and then keep them frozen, so they can pose them later in beds when the state comes to do head-counts. The film also centers on the latest teenage orphan to join the crooked orphanage, Melody Patterson, who's parents were brutally murdered in their sleep by a hammer wielding psycho, and who now may be stalked by the killer herself. None of the filmmakers behind the camera ever made anything else of note, unless you count the the screenwriter's other credits "The Gay Deceivers," The Night God Screamed" and "Mama's Dirty Girls." Overall, this is a pretty silly film, but you can definitely see this film as a porto-slasher film and as being influential on later (better) slather films to come (i.e.. "Halloween, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," etc.). The opening murder scene is shot from the POV of the killer would be copied (and done better) by John Carpenter in 1978's "Halloween" which really did launch the slasher film genre. Vic Tayback also appears as a detective and Dennis Christopher appears as one of the orphans. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review cory t A giallo with a low body count that predates Black Christmas and Halloween for the opening POV tracking shot of the killer, Blood and Lace was an influential 1971 slasher picture. Under the harsh light of modern times, it's a clunky, plodding and altogether harebrained concoction with stock music from the Ed Wood films of yesteryear. The vantage point technique is shoddy though with the claw hammer (the murderer's weapon of choice) practically mounted to the lens as if the culprit was holding it right above his nose. Draining the film of nocturnal ambience is the high-key lighting scheme which would be more appropriate for The Mary Tyler Moore sitcom. With nary a shriek or pulverizing sound effects, the hammer deaths are tepid. Obviously the charred mask and red sweater were reconfigured for A Nightmare on Elm Street. But just because it was the template doesn't mean Wes Craven didn't substantially improve upon it. When Ellie Masters (Melody Patterson) is orphaned and incessantly reminded that she doesn't know the identity of her father, the plot twist is telegraphed miles ahead. Except the shockingly lurid incest-and-blocked-memories revelation ("Evil breeds evil honey") in the final moments can't scrub away the pure boredom of teenage angst with Ellie and her peers prattling about their absentee parents. The kernel behind a halfway house with decomposing runaways is a pulpy and could've been skin-crawling but it's comical putty in the maladroit hands of Philip S. Gilbert. All of the "orphans" are incontrovertibly played by 30-year-olds. In the Mommie Dearest role, Gloria Grahame is a slurring shrew but she lacks the combustibility although her soliloquies to her refrigerated husband are loony. This is not a treasure trove in the sands of time. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Cheaply made and for the most part badly actor slasher flick is one of several pieces of junk Gloria Grahame unfortunately was reduced to making at the end of her career. The ending in particular is beyond stupid. Really scrapes the bottom of the barrel. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a pretty good movie considering the age of it. I mean it kept me in suspense.and is pure trash and I really mean that in the nicest possible way! This film comes very much recommended to all the right people. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Blood and Lace would have been way more of a chore to get through if it didn't have Seinfeld's Uncle Leo as a maniac. Also Dennis Christopher looks like Thurston Moore to a T here. Some decent scenes including Uncle Leo chasing the kid with the cleaver. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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