Blood Mania (1970)
Written By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Robert Vincent O’Neill
Producer: Peter Carpenter, Chris Marconi
Screenwriter: Peter Carpenter, Tony Crechales
Date Released: October 28, 1970
Cast:
Peter Carpenter as Dr. Craig Cooper
Maria De Aragon as Victoria Waterman
Vicki Peters as Gail Waterman
Reagan Wilson as Cheryl
Jacqueline Dalya as Kate
Leslie Simms as Nurse Turner
Rating = 1.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
When Dr. Cooper is blackmailed by a criminal, he must come up with $50,000 or the blackmailer will report his actions for illegally conducting abortions. While caring for his colleague, Dr. Cooper is seduced by his colleagues daughter, Victoria. Victoria plans to kill her father in order to get the money Dr Cooper needs. After Victoria’s father dies, her sister Gale shows up to complicate matters and murders ensue.
Gore Factor
There is very little blood and gore. Much of the blood occurs at the end of the film but it is very brief. The film, however, incorporates an ample amount of nudity. In a sense, the title, “Blood Mania” is misleading as there is not much blood at all.
The Grave Review
The plot was interesting enough but had several loopholes in the story. For example, in the beginning of the film, Dr. Cooper is seen with a woman who eventually sleeps with the blackmailer in order to try to prevent the blackmail from happening. But after that scene, nothing is heard of that woman again in the film. In another scene, Gale is accompanied by an older woman to her now diseased father’s house. But there seems to be no relevance to the older woman’s character or her role in the film. In addition, nothing ever happens to the blackmailer at all in the film. As you may be able to tell, there are several unexplained aspects of this film.
The best aspect may be the beautiful nude women that are seen throughout the film. It wouldn’t be any surprise if the film consisted of 75% of scenes involving naked women.
However, what is interesting is that this film was produced prior to the ruling of the United States Supreme Court landmark case, Roe v. Wade involving the legality of abortion. That is the basis for why abortion was said to be illegal in this film. Blood Mania was produced and released on October 28, 1970 and the ruling to Roe v. Wade was decided on January 22, 1973. Clearly, the plot would not be applicable today.
Blood Mania (1970) may be interpreted as a statement of the right to abortion prior to the ruling in Roe v. Wade. In addition, in one scene, the older woman who accompanies Gale is seen packing her luggage to leave the house. In this scene, she states that she “prefers other lonely women” which may be a message supporting the LGBT community. Even though the film itself was not well-done, the progressive messages are heartfelt.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Blood Mania one and a half graves out of five graves.
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