Joel M. Reed's BLOODSUCKING FREAKS (1976) from Troma 8/12/14

[bruce holecheck]

Step right up and get your ticket to the Incredible Torture Show -- Troma Films are giving Joel M. Reed's BLOODSUCKING FREAKS (1976) a long-needed hi-def upgrade! At a way out, off-off Broadway theater, the Master Sardu runs a series of Grand Guignol-inspired plays featuring a randy midget named Ralphus mutilating women in various states of undress -- much to the thrill of the audience and disgust of the critics. Tired of poor reviews, the splat-happy artiste hatches a plan for his masterpiece, kidnapping a world famous dancer to kick his detractors to death. Oh, and the whole thing's actually a front for the white slavery operation Sardu runs out of the basement -- a dungeon stocked with hungry, naked cannibal girls. Wholly offensive, impossibly outrageous and about as non-PC as you can get, BLOODSUCKING FREAKS is an exploitative gorefest packed with depraved debauchery from start to finish: finger rippings, chainsawed feet, dartboard butts, brains slurped with a straw, a penis-on-rye sandwich... and you won't believe Ralphus' romantic rendezvous with a severed head.

Probably the most requested upgrade in Troma's library, the company finally struck a fresh new transfer -- the first since its VHS release in the mid-'80s! They're also billing it as a previously unreleased uncut edition, featuring a never-before-seen deleted bit and the original credits as SARDU: MASTER OF THE SCREAMING VIRGINS. Other new supplements include interviews with Eli Roth and Chris Jericho, trailers and more. "This isn't S&M, this is art!"

Remastered theatrical trailer! (Obviously not even remotely safe for work.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyksp...ature=youtu.be

[DenOfEarth]

One of the sickest films i've seen since i rented it at age 14 and should see how it looks on HD with it's new transfer.

This movie is quite controversial and is early torture porn sort of speak.

[DetroitSportsFan]

It will be interesting to see how this compares with the UK release.

[redrunner97]

I'm a big fan of what 88 Films is doing so far (with the fixable exception of Tourist Trap). I really hope this release is just as good because I don't wanna have to import, but I will if I have to. I'll aready be importing their Toxic Avenger releases because they're offering all of them and that's not available in the USA. So guess who's getting my money?

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

It will be interesting to see how this compares with the UK release.

So are there any comparisons yet?

[zbinks]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

So are there any comparisons yet?

Closest thing I've seen was mondo-digital.com/bloodsucking.html. Apparently the US release has extra footage that wasn't included in the UK release.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by zbinks

Closest thing I've seen was mondo-digital.com/bloodsucking.html. Apparently the US release has extra footage that wasn't included in the UK release.

Thanks. It says the image quality is the same (except for the extra 40 seconds), but I'd like to see screenshot comparisons too see for myself before deciding which one to buy.

[phoenixandrew]

After reading on IMDb.com what exactly is in this film that got this film its X rating, I've decided I'm not even going to rent it. Definitely thirty years ago I would have seen this film out of a morbid curiosity, but not today.

[Liquid_Swords]

Lol I think I may have worn out my old vhs of this watching this so many times with friends. I may have to get this down the line for old times sake.

[TripleHBK]

Originally Posted by phoenixandrew

After reading on IMDb.com what exactly is in this film that got this film its X rating, I've decided I'm not even going to rent it. Definitely thirty years ago I would have seen this film out of a morbid curiosity, but not today.

LoL, that line right there actually encouraged me to look up the film on IMDb and now I'm curious. I think you just sold another copy of the film.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by TripleHBK

LoL, that line right there actually encouraged me to look up the film on IMDb and now I'm curious. I think you just sold another copy of the film.

Roger Ebert discusses it a bit in this video. He starts at about the 4:00 mark. He made me want to see it too.

Siskel & Ebert - Video Nasties (1987) - YouTube

[TripleHBK]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Roger Ebert discusses it a bit in this video. He starts at about the 4:00 mark. He made me want to see it too.

Siskel & Ebert - Video Nasties (1987) - YouTube

That was fantastic. It makes me want to hunt down more siskel and Ebert videos from the 80s. They certainly gave this film a ringing endorsement. . I think I enjoyed the comment about putting down a $75 deposit to rent a film even more though. (Seeing Blockbuster video in its early days was a nice touch as well).

[phoenixandrew]

Originally Posted by TripleHBK

LoL, that line right there actually encouraged me to look up the film on IMDb and now I'm curious. I think you just sold another copy of the film.

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Roger Ebert discusses it a bit in this video. He starts at about the 4:00 mark. He made me want to see it too.

Siskel & Ebert - Video Nasties (1987) - YouTube

Originally Posted by TripleHBK

That was fantastic. It makes me want to hunt down more siskel and Ebert videos from the 80s. They certainly gave this film a ringing endorsement. . I think I enjoyed the comment about putting down a $75 deposit to rent a film even more though. (Seeing Blockbuster video in its early days was a nice touch as well).

Hey, knock yourselves out guys! If that's your thing, go for it! I'm not advocating a boycott of this movie, I'm all for freedom of choice. I'm just saying I personally have no desire to watch it after reading the descriptions of the gory stuff.

[babybreese]

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Blood...101306/#Review

Review spoils the additional 'lost' scene ( lol ).

[takeasneededforpain]

In terms of audio and picture quality, is the 88 Films blu-ray edition of this better than this blu-ray/DVD combo pack that Troma released??

I know this Troma version has 2 cuts of the film, but I've never seen it before (have heard about it though so I know what it entails). I'm just trying to decide which is the better version to pick up in terms of sound and visual quality?

[eddiesd123]

Does anyone own both the US and UK releases that can recommend based on PQ? Trying to determine which version to buy.

[babybreese]

I prefer the US release
http://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1...d2=7993&c=3246

[eddiesd123]

Originally Posted by babybreese

I prefer the US release
http://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1...d2=7993&c=3246

Thanks!

[nccrimsonghost]

R.I.P. Joel M.Reed.

[TripleHBK]

Hold onto your lunch folks, according to a lengthy feature in the latest Horror Hound Magazine we're going to be getting a Bloodsucking freaks part 2 (and maybe even a part 3) in the very near future. Titled Bloodsucking Freaks: The School for Discipline, this new entry in the "franchise"(?) reportedly is about....

Synopsis: A US politician sends his virgin daughter to a boarding school in the south which happens to be run by Ralphus and Sardu.

The script was written by Joel M. Reed himself in 1998 but Troma (and everyone else) refused to touch it and so it sat on the shelf for the last 2 decades until being re-worked/re-written in 2019 with the assistance of Kevin Sean Michaels. Luis DeJesus Jr. (Real life son of the original Ralphus) will be playing Ralphus in this iteration.

The article claims that Reed had originally envisioned Bloodsucking Freaks as a trilogy and so this is *supposedly* following in his original intent/vision.

Should the 3rd film come to fruition, the title is stated as being: Bloodsucking Freaks: Band of the Screaming Virgins.