Review for Blood Rage

I’ve never seen ‘Blood Rage’ before now or indeed even heard of it, either by that title or its re-cut theatrical run title, ‘Nightmare at Shadow Woods’. It’s actually a lot of fun. One of those kooky eighties movies that seem to have all the right ingredients for horror-cheese lovers (did I just make up a new genre?). Good looking guys and gals, lots of hyper-real and bright red blood and lo-fi, super gruesome special effects, a low-budget synth soundtrack and plenty of low-grade, am-dram acting. But it doesn’t stop there. It features a genuinely decent performance from a truly great comedic actress; Louise Lasser, best known for her leading role in ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman’ in the late 1970’s.



The acting may be a bit wooden overall (other than Lasser's excellent performance), the dialogue pretty turgid and the story a bit far-fetched, but it’s a highly entertaining 80 minutes or so. Weirdly, although you’ll see some of the most gruesome dismembering committed to celluloid, it probably won’t gross you out all that much as it’s all so hyperreal. A hand being lopped off still clutching a beer can, a body sliced in two with both  parts still operating independently, a head sliced in two like a melon – all courtesy of Ed French who would later go on to handle the special effects in Terminator 2.

The film opens with a young mother (Louise Lasser) at a Drive-In movie theatre with her boyfriend in the front seat, and her two young twins, Todd and Terry in the rear. Assuming they’re asleep she starts to make out with her date but the boys, waking up and seeing what she’s up to, sneak out the back of the car and start to roam the car park. One of the two, Terry, finds an axe and, without a second thought, puts his hand through an open window of a car and hacks a young man to death. He then turns, wipes the blood of his hands on the face of his speechless brother , Todd, and places the axe in his hand.

Todd is institutionalised whilst his psychopathic brother is left to live freely with his mother. Ten years pass and news comes to the family (all seated for Thanksgiving dinner) that Todd has escaped and is on his way home. This, or perhaps his mother’s announcement of her engagement, appears to trigger a psychopathic rage in his brother Terry who starts on a murderous and bloody spree.

Starting with his mother’s fiancé, he then makes his way through several friends, as well as the doctor from Todd’s institution who has learned the truth about the twins’ history. Naturally, with twins involved, there is ample opportunity for victims to get confused as to which brother is which.



The film was shot in 1983 and looks it – very eighties fashions and hair styles for starters. As an independent movie it couldn’t secure a release until 1987, by which time it was re-cut and released under a new name; ‘Nightmare in Shadow Woods’, although it was more commonly entitled ‘Blood Rage’ on its various VHS releases.

You actually get no less than three versions of the film here in this 3 disc mega-set. First up, the home-video version, Blood Rage. Secondly, the theatrical cut, ‘Nightmare at Shadow Woods’, and finally a definitive compilation of both film versions in one; entitled ‘Slasher’, the project’s original title.

The theatrical cut is perhaps the weakest as it is so heavily cut. The gore is certainly lessened although, curiously, the nude scenes (which are few and fleeting) do seem slightly more plentiful, if just as fleeting


As this is an Arrow release, it gets far more extras than you might imagine such a slight film really deserves. Most of these are just interviews and perfectly good ones at that, but that doesn’t stop the production company involved making a meal of the credits. Each interview is presented separately and given a title, as if it were a movie in its own right, and each is then followed with a string of credits including stuff like ‘Director of Photography’, ‘Executive Producer’ and so on. By the third bunch of these I found myself shouting ‘it’s just a freakin’ interview!’ before reaching for an axe myself. But putting those gross pretentions aside, it’s certainly an impressive list of extra material that was fun to watch and brought great context to the film.

So here’s the definitive list of what you get.

•Three versions of the film – Blood Rage, the original home video version, Nightmare at Shadow Woods, the theatrical re-cut, and an alternate “composite” cut combining footage from both versions

•Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Marc Schoenbach

•Fully-illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Joseph A. Ziemba, author of BLEEDING SKULL! A 1980s Trash-Horror Odyssey. I've grabbed a couple of images for you in this review as a taster.


BLU-RAY DISC 1 & DVD – BLOOD RAGE

•Brand new 2K restoration of the “hard” home video version, transferred from the camera negative and featuring the original title card Slasher
•Audio commentary with director John Grissmer - a fun and informative commentary that seems to rattle through.

•Both Sides of the Camera – an interview with producer/actress Marianne Kanter. This shows Kanter to be an assertive sort who went on to bigger and better things after working almost single-handedly to get this movie financed. She actually features in the film as Todd’s doctor, but only because the planned actress did a no-show.

•Double Jeopardy – an interview with actor Mark Soper who seems to reflect on the film with great fondness. And why not? He looked great and got to play two main parts instead of just one.

•Jeez, Louise! – an interview with actress Louise Lasser who does seem to have aged more notably than other members of the cast, probably because she was older at the time of filming. Now well into her seventies, she seems hardly recognisable as the skinny lady with the big teeth and bunches that was Mary Hartman. She seemed to have enjoyed making the film though.

•Man Behind the Mayhem – an interview with special make-up effects creator Ed French who clearly had a riot making the film which is full of almost childish blood and gore.

•Three Minutes with Ted Raimi – an interview with actor Ted Raimi who played a small comedic part at the front of the film, selling condoms to attendees at the drive in.

•Return to Shadow Woods – featurette revisiting the original locations in Jacksonville, Florida, most of which remain relatively unchanged.

•Alternate opening titles

•Motion still gallery featuring rare behind-the-scenes make-up photos

BLU-RAY DISC 2 – NIGHTMARE AT SHADOW WOODS [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]

•Nightmare at Shadow Woods – the re-edited 1987 theatrical cut featuring footage not seen in the Blood Rage home video version

•Alternate composite cut of the feature combining footage from the home video and theatrical versions

•Never-before-seen outtakes

You’ll already know if you’re the sort of person who’d like to add ‘Blood Rage’ to your collection. If you like good, old fashioned eighties slasher movies at the cheesier end of the spectrum (without ever quite reaching the Troma extreme) then you’ll like this. Being an Arrow release you’d expect the best in terms of extra features and you won’t be disappointed.