The Twinning Towers of Cheesa!: Blood Rage (1983)

Blood Rage (1983) (AKA "Nightmare At Shadow Woods")

Rating: ***1/2
Starring: Louise Lasser, Mark Soper and Marianne Kanter

Some time ago in 1974, young blonde twins Todd and Terry sneaks out from their mother's car at a drive-in and wandered around to look for some teens making out just for the kick of it. When they found a couple, Terry suddenly got in touch with his inner psycho as he then starts hacking the teen boy's face with a conveniently found hatchet while his lover ran away for dear life, streakin' nude. Todd is traumatized frozen upon seeing the act and Terry quickly smothered his brother with blood, pinning the blame on him.

Moving ahead to the present, a more grown-up Terry is the apple of his mum's eye, surrounded by friends and living a healthy life; all the while, Todd, still traumatized by the incident, is locked away in an mental asylum where he is still believed to be a demented killer. But this year, at Thanksgiving, Todd finally snaps out of it and makes his escape, trying his best to alarm his loved ones of the real danger Terry is capable of and, apparently, he's willing to do anything to show how evil his brother is. (Perhaps, even murdering?!) 

All the while, Terry isn't coping well with the news that his dear ole' mum is getting hitched again, so ever the secretive psycho that he is, the man starts carving down the dinner guests one by one with a sharp machete. Could both boys have finally lost it? If so, what will become of everybody that Thanksgiving night?

If you look at it at an angle, Blood Rage (1983) could have been an unwatchable mess with its over the top dialogue, lazy scripting and horrible editing, but to see a lady hacked in half with a machete flailing around in an obviously acted scream, or for the movie to toss in a random little girl looking for her dog in the woods just to have her easily warned off by a strange sweaty man who may or may not be killing people, this film may have a lot more going for it entertainment-wise!

There's no doubt that this movie is feisty when it comes to its cheddar and fondue, but what makes it an interesting watch is that it follows a genuinely intriguing plot that often finds the time to take itself seriously, slinging along the way some gory looking kills (looking past the hammy effects, of course!) and a few decently tantalizing T&A scenes. This is also perhaps one of the few slashers to tackle on the evil twin plot with much glee and fun, concluding with a rather unexpectedly downbeat ending that's impressively in contrast to the Blood Rage (1983)'s mostly hammy execution; the fact that Todd and Terry's mum shows more love to Terry than her other son harbors a morality tale of favoritism, one that goes to a downward spiral that ultimately leads to a really grim end.

Greatly underrated, Blood Rage (1983) may look like another low-budget fare with hot cheese in its tone, but thanks to some eerily downbeat plot elements, gory demises in its slaughtering sprees and enough overacting for a good deal of unintentional laughs, the film succeeds to be watchable enough as a late night popcorn viewing and you could say I say I fell in love with this movie right on! If you're anything of a completist like me, it's a definite keeper! What say you?

Bodycount:
1 male repeatedly hacked in the face with a hatchet
1 male had a hand lopped off with machete, head split in half
1 male gutted with machete
1 female hacked in half with machete
1 male decapitated offscreen, head found dangling in a noose
1 female killed offcamera, later found with a machete stabbed into her chest
1 male gets a machete hacked into his neck
1 female hacked to death with machete offscreen
1 male gets a grill fork to the neck
1 male shot to death
1 female shot on the head
Total: 11