A few words about H G Lewis, ‘the godfather of gore’, who died yesterday…
Horror especially at its extreme end has always been an outsiders genre, offputting and disturbing to wider crowds.
A cult favorite for those in the know.
While I lovedThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it wasBlood Feastthat I kept going back to.
I wanted to show it to all my friends.
We watched it over and over until I could quote all the (brilliant) dialogue.
It spoke to my big dumb horror-loving teenage soul like nothing before ever had…
Even some 30 years after it was made, it was by far the bloodiest thing Id ever seen.
Blood Feastwas not just my first Nasty but also the first horror feature Herschell Gordon Lewis directed.
A new kind of film altogether was born.
The plot is knowingly ridiculous.
(1964), arguably kicking off the entire redneck horror subgenre in the process.
The gore is even more sadistic and inventive and the story more elaborate.
Highlights includeColor Me Blood Red(literally a film about an artist who uses blood instead of paint!
(2002) andThe Uh-Oh Show!
But both at least offer some chuckles.
Lewis never took himself seriously.
He never let it go to his head.
Yet many of us really do.
and the deep, sudden rush of joy I felt while watchingBloodFeast.
And he delivered it all with a smile and wink.
Forever the Godfather of gore.
