Thursday, April 18, 2024

LET’S GET PHYSICAL: MARDI GRAS MASSACRE (1978) ** ½

FORMAT:  BLU-RAY (REWATCH)

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

(As posted on October 22nd, 2014)

Mardi Gras Massacre plays like a lost Herschell Gordon Lewis movie as it’s basically a loose remake of Blood Feast. The difference is the psycho in this one kills women and offers them as sacrifices to an Aztec god; not an Egyptian one. Big difference.

A crazy rich dude wanders into various New Orleans bars and strip clubs looking for the most “evil” hooker he can find. Once he finds his prey, he brings her home and ties her spread eagle on a sacrificial altar. Because he likes to wear a long robe and a weird mask, they just think he’s kinky. They never expect he’s going to actually cut their heart out. It’s then up to a cop (who’s dating a hooker that’s just bound to be the killer’s next victim) to stop him.

Like many a Herschell Gordon Lewis movie, Mardi Gras Massacre features static camerawork, stilted acting, and cheesy (yet highly entertaining) gore set pieces. Everything in between the gore-drenched sequences is pretty shoddy technically (there are a lot of jump cuts) and many dialogue scenes go on far too long. The production values are about on par with a porno from the time, which gives the film a reasonable amount of charm.

I’m not going to lie; this movie is rough going in places. The pacing is uneven, most of the acting is lousy, the ending is terrible, and you’re liable to fall asleep on some parts. However, there is enough scenes of hookers getting naked, hearts being ripped out, and disco dancing to qualify Mardi Gras Massacre as a fun ‘70s time capsule.

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