Me: "Okay, so what you're saying, Mr. Darwin, is that if I had a Time Machine, and could go back and meet all my ancestors, that I'd eventually come to Grandpa Amoeba"?
Charles Darwin : "That's basically it, yes".
Me : "Okay, thanks, just makin' sure".
Tonight we had a ton of fun with the Roger Corman-produced "Blood Bath"(1966), an "artistic" take on the Vampire genre filmed in what was then called Yugoslavia. Now, Corman as you know is a notorious cheapskate. It wasn't he who splurged for the location. What he did was to purchase the rights to an American/Yugoslavian co-production entitled "Operation : Titian", and then gut it, film new scenes around the remainder, and make it into his own movie, directed by Jack Hill. If that sounds complicated, go to IMDB for the full story. I'm only here for the Corman version, and I had a blast.
Do you remember a film we watched early on in the Covid Era called "A Bucket of Blood"? That one was actually directed by Corman, it's one of his best known movies, and we loved it. It was right around that time we realised that Corman was not a hack, as we'd thought, but a very talented and original filmmaker. We discovered that he also had a great sense of humor, and in "Bucket" he created a context for murder that developed out of Bohemian Art Culture. The setting in that film was a cafe, in which artistes - all of them pompous - gathered to drink espresso and discuss their theories about "what is real" in the world of art. The way it was portrayed was a hoot, with dialogue worthy of Saturday Night Live, thirty years before the fact. We laughed - and were horrified - all the way through that flick, and it cemented Corman as one of our new favorite directors.
Well, Corman himself must've enjoyed the Bohemian Motif, because he used it again in "Blood Bath". He didn't have the great Charles B. Griffith this time, to write the script, but Hill and co-writer Stephanie Rothman do a great job of imbuing the dialogue with the same beatnik spirit, and the actors involved in that element of the story are hilarious, while playing it "Corman-style", meaning farcial yet sincere.
As the movie opens, three Beatniks are sitting in a club that doubles as an art gallery. One of them, "Max" (Karl Schanzer, an absolute riot), fancies himself an Abstract Expressionist of the highest order. He and his two sycophants (Corman regulars Jonathan Haze and Sid Haig) are discussing the finer points of technique. Max shows them his latest application device, "a Quantum Gun", then explains : "It delivers the paint as pure energy, adding an uncertainty to each work"! He goes on about his paint gun, and Haze and Haig add their observations which are most profound. Heisenberg would be proud.
The three are immersed in their discussion until another artist shows up, the hated "Antonio Sordi" (William Campbell). He is known for painting naked victims of violence, but that's not his worst transgression. Far worse, in the eyes of Max and his cohorts, is the fact that Sordi is a commercial success. Never mind that his paintings are depraved trash - they sell! That, to Max, is the Ultimate Offense. Sordi is therefore the lowest of the low, a bourgeois poseur who makes a living from his art. The horror!
Making matters worse is the fact that "Daisy" (Marissa Mathes), an art student and Max's sometime girlfriend, has taken a liking to Sordi and has agreed to pose for him. This infuriates Max to no end, but her infatuation with Sordi is about to cost him - and Daisy - much more than the loss of their relationship. You see, Sordi has a secret. He's the reincarnation of a 15th century ancestor named Erno Sordi, who was a vampire. Not good! Sordi tries to shake off these transformations whenever they occur, but it's no use. Erno overpowers his soul and takes over. Then another murder happens and Antonio paints the result. The critics have dubbed his paintings "Dead Red Nudes" and they sell like hotcakes.
When Daisy doesn't return from her modeling appointment, Max goes to see "Donna" (Sandra Knight), her sister, who says she hasn't heard from Daisy either. Like Max, Donna can't stand Sordi. She has a book on witchcraft and is the first to point out the connection between Antonio and his ancestor. Max is stunned but doesn't believe it. "What are you saying, that he's a bloodthirsty killer? It isn't possible; he's not that original". But then Donna goes to look for Daisy at Sordi's studio. She doesn't return, either.
As time passes, the "real" Sordi, Antonio, redoubles his effort to stop Erno's influence, because by now he has fallen in love. He meets "Dorian" (Lori Saunders), a ballerina who was Daisy's roommate. She's the first one who seems to really understand his work, not like the art collectors who champion him as their "flavor-of-the-week". "You honor the dead", she tells him. "It's beautiful".
Antonio has a portrait that he keeps behind a curtain and shows to no one. It's by the great Erno, and it's starting to freak him out because - now that he looks more closely - it resembles Dorian. She's also starting to appear in his dreams, coaxing him toward something.......but what? The spirit of Erno is trying harder than ever to gain control but Antonio fights him because he knows Dorian will end up dead. What is it about her that motivates Erno? He seems equally frightened and enraged.
Antonio Sordi does some research and uncovers startling details about the woman in the hidden painting. Her name was "Melliza". She was Erno's mistress, a witch who turned him over to the church courts to avoid prosecution herself. Erno was burned at the stake!
OMG! Dorian must be Melizza reincarnated! Sordi has been outfoxed! Now Erno struggles to take his soul, to obtain a rematch with Melliza, the Vampire against the Witch. There will be a showdown in his studio, but here come the Beatniks to the rescue! Max and his pals are still searching for Daisy and the other missing girls. They arrive at Sordi's pad just in the nick of time.........er......or maybe not. While there, they discover a number of Wax Figures, and.........
That's all I can tell you. But, if you enjoyed the pseudo-pretentiousness of the artists in "A Bucket of Blood", you'll love it again here. I repeat that Karl Schanzer is hilarious as "Max", and Sid Haig is a riot as well. The script and direction don't have quite the same "zing" as a Corman/Griffith work, but it's close - the Beatnik scenes are equally good - but Corman executive produced and the movie has his stamp all over it. It also works as a horror film. So, a lesson from Roger Corman to up-and-coming filmmakers : No budget? Can't shoot on location? No problem! Just buy someone else's forgotten movie, one with an exotic locale, shoot some extra scenes and call it your own! Hey, it works here.
I give "Blood Bath" Two Big Thumbs Up. It's highly recommended! /////
That's all for now. Today is my last day off until August, so I'm gonna get in one final hike. See you tonight at the Usual Time!
Tons and tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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