NIGHT OF BLOODY HORROR (1969)
Directed by Joy N. Houck, Jr.
Brentwood DVD
Reviewed 05.09.04
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba

THE FILM
Whew, am I glad that’s over. This is the kind of film that makes the bad movie enthusiast hold his or her head down in shame. Or at least knock you colder than a dead mackerel, whichever comes first.

After three sittings, I finally made it through this talky and extremely slow psychedelic slasher movie. After an opening love making scene, our lead, Wesley, has one of his patented flower power black outs. During a confessional, his fiancé (star of the previously mentioned sex scene), is murdered via nail file to the eye by someone dressed as a monk. Cut to a year later and an asinine still shot romance montage. Wesley’s buxom new girlfriend is axed on the beach. The cops presume Wesley is behind the murders, as he accidentally shot his brother when they were just tikes. Following that boo-boo, he spent thirteen years in an asylum. But of course, things aren’t what they seem. It all closes with a twist ending that you’ll catch onto about thirty minutes into the film.

Night Of Bloody Horror was a poor excuse for a b-movie. There’s a real lack of anything interesting going on, like the filmmakers couldn’t decide exactly how far or where to go with their ideas. Should we just point and shoot? Maybe throw in some second rate, lame psychedelic effects? Any excitement generated by the minor gore and bad acting is immediately sedated during long scenes of people starting their cars and looking through files. There’s a really bad psych band called “The Bored” (Uhhh...) that plays for a few minutes. Most of the film is music-less, which greatly improves your chances of catching some zzz’s. Payoff is nil.

So yeah, this film was really awful. Sleazy and cheap, but not in a good way.

AUDIO AND VIDEO
After the first few seconds, you’ll notice that this movie is transferred from a video master. While the print is watchable, with only minimal scratching, there is a bit of ghosting and compression present. Looks like an old 80s rental tape. I also noticed some occasional odd black lines at the bottom of the screen that resembled tree roots.

EXTRAS
Night appears as part of Brentwood’s “Hell In The Family” four movie pack. The set also contains Murder Mansion, It Happened At Nightmare Inn, and Legacy Of Blood.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This is why I’m here. I sat through this entire film. Please heed my warning and don’t make the same mistake.

High concept


Right in the peeper


Things are tough all over


A cha cha cha