As of 2009, Herschell Gordon Lewis is still the master of Gore. As great as the man is, he will never be accused of being the master of Horror, but on an occasion, Mr. Lewis, unfortunately, has proved to be the undisputed master of Bore. Don't believe me? Check out Herschell's normal, 2-hour Horror epic, A Taste Of blood, on second thought, just take my word for it.
That's right gang, a regular Horror movie, courtesy of good ol' H.G. No gore, this time, maybe a trickle or two of blood. Technically, Horror is the name of the game. With better acting and everything, hot diggity damn. About a businessman named John Stone, who, one day, receives an inheritance in the mail, two bottles of Brandy., which, unknown to stone, also contains Dracula blood. I guess this guy is related to Count Dracula... positively genius!! Despite the wife's advice, John drinks the bloody booze, and the rest, as they say, is history... and by "history", I mean painfully dull. Sound intriguing? No? You don't say. Honestly, I don't feel great about making such negative comments about a man who, like it or not, is a bigger icon than Wes Craven and Sam Raimi combined. So, any self-respecting fan of the genre should be willing to over-look the flaws of Lewis, and sit through the Gore, as well as the Bore, at least once... well, except How To Make A Doll, a film which proves that some of these obscurities were meant to stay lost. When you're the master of Gore, fixing what ain't broke may not be the brightest of ideas, but at least Herschell is capable of thinking outside the box from time to time (unlike George Romero). Although, more gore would have been cool too. Ultimately, If you're not hardcore-Lewis, then don't even think about it, but If you must own them all, then own them all. 3/10
That's right gang, a regular Horror movie, courtesy of good ol' H.G. No gore, this time, maybe a trickle or two of blood. Technically, Horror is the name of the game. With better acting and everything, hot diggity damn. About a businessman named John Stone, who, one day, receives an inheritance in the mail, two bottles of Brandy., which, unknown to stone, also contains Dracula blood. I guess this guy is related to Count Dracula... positively genius!! Despite the wife's advice, John drinks the bloody booze, and the rest, as they say, is history... and by "history", I mean painfully dull. Sound intriguing? No? You don't say. Honestly, I don't feel great about making such negative comments about a man who, like it or not, is a bigger icon than Wes Craven and Sam Raimi combined. So, any self-respecting fan of the genre should be willing to over-look the flaws of Lewis, and sit through the Gore, as well as the Bore, at least once... well, except How To Make A Doll, a film which proves that some of these obscurities were meant to stay lost. When you're the master of Gore, fixing what ain't broke may not be the brightest of ideas, but at least Herschell is capable of thinking outside the box from time to time (unlike George Romero). Although, more gore would have been cool too. Ultimately, If you're not hardcore-Lewis, then don't even think about it, but If you must own them all, then own them all. 3/10