A frightened teenage girl named Ellie (Melody Patterson) tries
to run away after the brutal death of her prostitute mother. A social worker takes her to an orphanage ran
by the cruel Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame), who punishes bad kids by locking them
in the attic. If any teen tries to run
away, she kills them with the help of her lush handyman (Len Lesser) who hides
the bodies in the freezer in the cellar.
Mrs. Deere also trades sexual favors with the social worker, so he’ll
overlook all her various infractions.
When Ellie tries to run away, she sets herself up to be the orphanage’s
next freezer pop kid.
Blood and Lace kicks off with a dynamite double murder. The POV shots of the hammer in this opening
sequence are eerie and effective. Too
bad director Philip Gilbert couldn’t do anything to jazz up the slow and uninvolving second act. At least the
cinematography is crisp, and the film looks great throughout.
The finale where Ellie fights for her life is OK, but it
just doesn’t measure up to the opening hammer murders. The generic music in these scenes does little
to sell the tension either. The twist
ending isn’t bad though (it feels like something out of a William Castle movie)
and leaves things on a rather demented note.
Patterson carries the film effortlessly. It’s a shame she never became a bigger name
because she is quite good here. Grahame
does a fine job as the psycho old biddy and Vic (Alice) Tayback injects some
life into the movie whenever he’s on screen as a detective who continually
pesters Patterson.
AKA: The Blood
Secret.
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