Color Me Blood Red (1965)

Just what I expected

It is a performances centric movie

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Director Herschell Gordon Lewis's concluding film in his "Blood Trilogy" (and final film with producer David F. Friedman) unfortunately just isn't as enjoyable as its predecessors. It's not as delightfully nutty as "Blood Feast" or as much fun as "Two Thousand Maniacs!". In fact, it's downright tedious at times. That's not to say that there aren't good moments - there just aren't enough of them.Gordon Oas-Heim, definitely one of the better actors to be found in an HGL gore epic, plays the highly unlikable, mentally unstable painter Adam Sorg, who's impatient waiting for inspiration to strike. It finally comes when he realizes that human blood provides the perfect shade of crimson for his works of art. He realizes that using his own blood is a very wearying process, so he has to obtain blood from other unwilling donors.Overall "Color Me Blood Red" is fairly amusing cheesy nonsense with the gleefully squishy splatter and inept acting that we come to expect from HGL's films. It has its delightful parts whenever Sorg is busy doing his thing. It doesn't help him that "hip", goofy young folk keep hanging around his beachfront property. It's also cool to see Scott H. Hall, the police captain from "Blood Feast", here playing Farnsworth the art gallery owner. The young gals are all nice looking even if their acting chops aren't up to snuff. The beautiful beach scenery is another plus. And the movie does end on a very funny note with its final line.If you're new to the works of HGL and want to do the completist thing, then "Color Me Blood Red" is definitely worth seeing. Just don't expect the same level of entertainment if you've already seen and enjoyed "Blood Feast" and "Two Thousand Maniacs!".Six out of 10.

A crackpot artist (Gordon Oas-Heim) kills various people to use their blood as his new crimson red color for his paintings.Lewis has said that "A Bucket of Blood" served as inspiration for this film, and I am not surprised. The hipster, beatnik feel is similar, and I cannot imagine two films about artists who kill for their art not to be connected in some way. (This theme has been explored before and since, but not in such an obvious way.) I recommend this one, and think it is better than "Two Thousand Maniacs", on par with "Blood Feast" but just under "Gore Gore Girls". Fans of Lewis should see this film, and it should not be reduced to "second tier" in his filmography.As of September 2011, thanks to Image Entertainment, you can get this film on Blu-Ray loaded with special features (not least of which is an audio commentary). I strongly suggest picking u pa copy.

This is the final film in the infamous Blood Trilogy from director Herschell Gordon Lewis and producer David Friedman. The trilogy also includes superior films "Blood Feast" and "Two Thousand Maniacs". While "Color Me Blood Red" is the most inferior film in the trilogy, it is still worth at least a one time viewing. The film does lack one thing that the other 2 films in the trilogy have and that is an original score. Both of the previous entries include a soundtrack that was scored by Lewis himself but for some odd reason he decided to use "canned" music for this one. The gore effects are also inferior to the other 2 entries...there aren't as many but one effect in particular is especially grotesque (this would be the scene where a woman is shown strung from the ceiling with her intestines dangling out and the villain squeezes the blood out of them in order to finish his painting). All in all this is one of the least entertaining of Lewis' gore films but is definitely worth a peek.

This is a dumb, trashy, gory exploitation flick from the legendary H.G. Lewis. It concerns an unsuccessful artist whose fortune changes when he discovers that the perfect colour for his paintings is provided by his girlfriend's blood. This source naturally runs out, so he resorts to killing people. That is essentially the plot, there isn't much more. But, for the record, we also have a ludicrous beatnik couple, two much-used water bikes which travel VERY slowly and an art gallery that looks like a school assembly room.The acting talent is notable by its absence. The pacing is at times sluggish - some shots linger on, seemingly endlessly. The music is insane - like the soundtrack to Bewitched transported into an exploitation movie. The effects aren't terribly convincing but not too bad either considering the budget. However, all the negatives have to be accepted as part of the Lewis style. His films have an unpretentious trash aesthetic, which makes them somewhat fun, despite their deficiencies. Having said all that, Color Me Blood Red could have been a little more outrageous. It is a bit light on the gore. And in a movie of this type, that is not the best. I recommend it to those interested in the history of horror and anyone with an inclination to trash cinema. I'm pleased I've seen it. But once is enough.