Blood Feast (1972 film)
| Blood Feast | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for La noche de los mil gatos | |
| Directed by | René Cardona Jr. |
| Produced by | René Cardona Jr., Mario Zacarias |
| Written by | René Cardona Jr., Mario Zacarias |
| Starring |
Anjanette Comer Hugo Stiglitz Zulma Faiad |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1500 |
Blood Feast, also known as La noche de los mil gatos (Night of a Thousand Cats), is a 1972 horror exploitation film by Mexican writer/director René Cardona Jr.. It was released in the United States in 1974.[1]
Plot
A playboy serial killer (Hugo Stiglitz) seduces beautiful women under false pretenses, inviting them to his ranch/castle, to proceed to kill them in gruesome ways. He uses the flesh of the women to feed a great number of cats that he keeps in a pit, and keeps their heads as trophies, pickled inside glass jars. However, one woman he attempts to kill escapes. He runs after her, and gets a minor face injury during a struggle with her. The cats escape from the pit through a hole in a fence and, sensing the injury, attack and devour Stiglitz. The woman manages to escape in her car.[1]
Fan reception
Blood Feast supports little fan base, but has made a home for itself amongst exploitation film fans. The film caused mild controversy due to its seemingly cruel treatment to the cats. One scene depicts Hugo violently grabbing a large white cat and tossing him over a high wall into its pen. The camera does not cut away, thus indicating that the real cat was thrown.
Critical reception
Shock Cinema Magazine reckoned it possibly "the worst film ever made about killer felines", very silly with little entertainment value and bad acting, although still better than Cardona's later films.[2] The Terror Trap gave it 2 stars, calling it "rather unimpressive", "mild", "drab", and "uninspired".[3] Tars Tarkas suggested that cats are intrinsically not very scary, even when there's a thousand of them, rating the film 2/10.[4] Aggressions Animales reckoned it one of René Cardona Jr's worst films, and said that aside from a few of its ideas, there was nothing interesting.[5]
Technical details
Blood Feast is in color and was released in the US in 1974 with an 'R' rating by the MPAA. Unedited it runs 93 minutes; the American version, however, runs 63 minutes. The movie was filmed in Spanish, but has English dubs.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 "Blood Feast Review". www.FilmBizarro.com. Retrieved 2011-07-24.
- ↑ Steven Puchalski, "The Night of a Thousand Cats", Shock Cinema, 1990
- ↑ "The Night of a Thousand Cats", The Terror Trap
- ↑ "The Night of a 1000 Cats", Tars Tarkas
- ↑ "La Noche De Los Mil Gatos" (Review), Aggressions Animales, December 5, 2009
External links
- Blood Feast at the Internet Movie Database
- Blood Feast at Rotten Tomatoes
- Night of a Thousand Cats, Cats in Film