Blood and Lace (1971)

Purely Joyful Movie!

best movie i've ever seen.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

First question is what's with the eerie, sci-fi creep out music? Sounds like Day the Earth Stood Still! And the opening scene where we watch a claw hammer float through the house drags on,and on,and on! The subsequent action, when it finally occurs, can't be anything but anticlimactic.The eye candy from the TV show F Troop is the star of our bloody lingerie story, a young woman who's certain something is rotten in the state of the local convalescent home. There is a cast of creeps to keep the audience playing a guessing game...who's the killer? The problems with this film are 1) it got made, and 2 it offers nothing to horror fans. MGM was slow on the uptake since it clearly wasn't paying attention to independent films that were setting trends for shock and horror. This one plays like a made-for-TV operation. It stinks!

leading lady is 22 and she looks it I cannot complain about "Blood and Lace" because it's a cheesy horror film--it unabashedly is and sometimes this sort of movie is fun to watch. My complaint is that although the setup for the film is great, the ending was just plain awful.The film begins with a woman and her lover being bludgeoned with a hammer and then the house begin set ablaze. Yes, there is lots of blood, but because it's done so slowly and ineptly, it's really not that tough a scene to watch. Next, the dead woman's teenage daughter is taken by a cop (Vic Tayback) to social services. The caseworker (Milton Seltzer) is a very hands-off guy--and he puts her in a home for orphans run by a deranged lady (Gloria Graham). She and her nutty assistant are killing off teens and shoving them in a freezer--and our little orphan might just be next.Now the above description, for a cheesy horror film, is GREAT. So what's the problem? Well, the ending looks like it was just tacked on, as Tayback returns and then gives a LONG and rather inept exposition to explain everything that has happened in the film. And, to make it worse, he then drops a really weird bombshell. What is it? See the film...I'd hate to ruin this surprise that comes completely from left field!! Overall, this is a rather bad film I wanted to like. Mostly because the ending was just stupid and incomplete. See it for yourself and let me know what you think about the ending....it is quite SPECIAL.And, by the way, if you think 'that teenager looks awfully old', you are right--the 'teen' was 22.

Despite the fact that it's trash, I have to say that I really enjoyed Blood and Lace. I'm really not sure where the 'lace' part of the title comes from (perhaps a rip-off of Bava's masterpiece Blood and Black Lace?), but there's a bit of blood and plenty of other sickness as this film features a sadistic orphanage, hints of incest and a whole host of older male characters desperate to get it on with the central character - a teenage girl. The plot has a number of different angles springing from the numerous characters that have an interest in the proceedings, and the film starts with a brutal murder of a mother/prostitute and one of her clients, committed with a hammer. This leaves her daughter Ellie without anyone to look after her since nobody knows who her father is, so she is sent to an orphanage. The orphanage is run by a woman named 'Mrs Deere' and a handyman named Tom. There's also a social worker who stops by every so often, and a police officer with an interest in Ellie that goes a little past the call of duty...It would be hard to argue that this is a bona fide 'good' film, but as a piece of seventies exploitation; it's a damn good film! This sort of flick really should just entertain and that's what it does. I imagine that certain themes on display would have been a lot more shocking in 1971 than they are today (though I'm not really sure how shocking considering the other films on offer around the early seventies), but personally I'm pretty much desensitised to being shocked by this sort of film anyway. The acting is pretty much atrocious all round, but lead actress Melody Patterson stands out in spite of her obvious lack of talent for being really cute! Older and more experienced performers Len Lesser, Gloria Grahame and Milton Selzer manage to impress a little more, but clearly this isn't an actor's film. The opening hammer murder sequence is the goriest and most brutal part of the film; from there the shocks are delivered by the male actors lusting after the teenaged lead, though the film doesn't feature any sex or nudity. The plot is always entertaining enough, and the ending revs up the stupidity to an irresistible level. Overall, Blood and Lace is pure trash and I really mean that in the nicest possible way! This film comes very much recommended to all the right people.

For those who love trash, this movie has everything! From its lurid, brutal double murder sequence at the opening (love that hammer-cam!), "Blood and Lace" is an entirely unforgettable film. I first saw it as a kid and was amazed at how terribly nasty and cheap it all was. Seeing it as an adult was even better. Everything about this film, from its acting to its writing, is fabulously over-the-top and kitschy. There are numerous ludicrous plot twists, and the sheer insanity of the set-up (nefarious orphanage management makes money by killing the orphans, keeping them frozen and then, when inspectors show up, explain that the kids just aren't feeling well as a cover) is so incredulously bizarre it makes you wonder which brand of glue the screenwriters were sniffing when they came up with this. I love it!