BloodRage

Blood Rage (1987)

This movie opens up years earlier at a drive-in theater. A couple of young twin boys are in the back of a station wagon pretending to be sleeping. When their Mom starts to get busy with her date they sneak out and for no apparent reason one of them slaughters a guy with an axe and then blames his brother. Years later after spending time in a mental institution the innocent brother remembers what happened and breaks out, which causes his evil twin to start killing again. Soon the apartment complex where the guilty brother has been living with their mother is covered in bodies, that are all being blamed on the innocent brother who is trying to warn everyone. In the end all is revealed, but not everyone can deal with the consequences (see how I did that foreboding a “shocking” twist at the end without actually saying it?).

There are some really great well-made slasher movies like Halloween or the original Friday the 13th that you watch because they are good movies. Then there are others that are maybe not so well made, but you watch because they deliver some gore, nudity, and a whole lot of fun. For me that is what Blood Rage is, a fun way to spend 90 or so minutes. Right from the start the blood flows and nudity is plentiful (naked girl running from the care is killer). After a few minutes of an annoying voiceover the action moves to the present and starts up again. We get maybe 20 or 30 minutes before the kills start again, but when they do they are a blast. Watching the evil twin make short work of his friends and neighbors is entertaining and satisfying. Sure the acting isn’t very good and in some cases is laughably awful, but there is always something interesting happening on screen so who really cares?

The gore in the movie is plentiful. Some of it is bad like the severed head hanging outside the apartment door, and some of it is pretty good like the therapist chopped in half in the woods. The important thing is that the body count is high and there are so many memorable kills/gore shots like the severed hand, a machete thru the chest and some fun with a diving board! When it comes to a slasher movie if you can provide the basics like this one does then that is really all you need.

Is this the greatest slasher movie ever made? Of course not, but it is a solid entry that ends up being very entertaining. I’ve been on a kick tracking down obscure slasher movies that aren’t out on DVD yet. Honestly with most of them I can understand why no one has bothered with a release. But with Blood Rage I am surprised because I think it would sell pretty well. If you can find a copy I highly recommend checking out Blood Rage.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer