Solidrariol
Am I Missing Something?
Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
acidburn-10
The Plot = A young boy witnesses his father shoot his mother and her lover and then himself, and is then sent to a mental hospital, but many years later he escapes along with his flute and goes on a killing spree. In the meantime a young girl Marion begins to have visions of him killing people through a rare blood transfusion between the two.Okay Blood Song has some interesting ideas, but fails to execute them properly, for a start the whole concept of a girl having psychic visions of the killer could have been interesting but as the movie goes on it becomes it a bit dull, as there is absolutely no explanation given to why she has these visions, we know how through the blood transfusion.I also liked the idea behind the heroine being physically flawed, which would seemingly make her a much easier target for the killer and possibly add to any sort of suspense later in the flick. Of course we don't get any of that. The film also throws in some long and drawn out drama scenes which takes away the tension out of this movie and plus while the murders and the final showdown are real highlights of this movie, it just takes too long and spaced too far apart, I mean at times I kinda forgot that I was even watching a slasher movie, it felt like a drama.The positive aspects of this movie, is for one thing the climax watching the girl limp herself away from the killer and into some lumber yard. The change of setting proved interesting. And the performances were pretty good, Frankie Avalon was interesting as the serial killer even though he chewed the scenery practically all time but I found him fun and Donna Wilkes played the female lead pretty well, she hit the right notes at the right time.All in all Blood Song is definitely an average 80's slasher with some pretty interesting ideas but are flawed to say at least I would only recommend this if you're a huge fan of 80's slashers.
Coventry
Yay! Another totally obscure early 80's slasher no one has ever heard of! I often wonder where they keep coming from. Are the 80's still going on in some kind of alternate dimension or something? How else would you explain the never-ending upstream of long lost slashers? Anyway, this one isn't very good, but I can honestly state that I've struggled myself through 80's slashers that are much worse and yet somehow enjoy a mild cult reputation. "Blood Song" only enjoys the status of obscurity, but at least it offers a couple of ingenious gimmicks, an occasionally unsettling atmosphere, some nasty killings, a handful of likable characters and – not to forget – a unique member in the cast of nobodies! Ladies and gentlemen: washed up 50's and early 60's crooner Frankie Avalon! And in all fairness, I also have to admit that the script of "Blood Song" attempts to be slightly more than just a random slasher. The plot tries to spiritually link the female protagonist Marion to a fugitive killer through a blood transfusion, nightmarish POV visions and … flute music! "Blood Song" opens with a typically clichéd horror scene, yet with an unexpected twist at the end of it. A young boy witnesses his father killing the unfaithful wife, her lover and himself. What's a poor kid to do at such a traumatizing and future-determining point in life? Well, play the wooden flute his daddy hand-made for him of course! More than 20 years later he escapes from a mental asylum, still holding on to his wooden flute, and goes on a rampage where he kills everyone who negatively criticizes the music he produces. Meanwhile, Marion witnesses all of his vile acts in visions because the killer once anonymously donated blood to her when she was involved in a car accident. A confrontation between the two is inevitable, but not before the musical killer eliminates some more random victims first! Like often the case in this genre, "Blood Song" is a lot more enjoyable if you don't ask too many questions regarding the plot's plausibility and don't bother about the multiple giant holes. All the ingenious aspects of the plot sadly vanish when the girl and the killer first stand face to face and "Blood Song" then reverts to an ordinary stalk-n-slash flick, albeit with an odd father-daughter relationship sub plot. Frankie Avalon isn't too bad, but he hasn't got many lines and what he says doesn't always make much sense. Funny detail is how the script never explains why they sent little Pauly to a mental institution in the first place. Okay, he witnessed a triple murder and suicide but he didn't commit any acts of insanity at young age himself, at least nothing hints in that direction. Since when is it customary to send traumatized kids to an asylum instead of to foster parents or orphanages? Because now it seems that he only really lost his sanity whilst being committed. A-ah, (unintentional?) food for thought in a mediocre & insignificant 80's horror movie!
Alien_I_Creator
Bloodsong (a.k.a. Dream Slayer) is a rare and almost totally forgotten horror trash flick made during the 1980s' boom of slasher films. Don't get me wrong, though. I say trash in a good way; defining the genre rather than the quality. Because, in quality this movie is quite mediocre and, actually, not at all that bad as some would make it out to be. It's sleazy, but by no means a sleaze flick. It's violent only to and extent. It's bloody, but not too much. And, although it was not a t.v. movie, it sometimes has the feel of one. On top of all this mediocrity, there are some assets to Bloodsong. The acting and storyline are pretty good, there's plenty of cheap 80s style and substance, and it's the only film in which you can see former teen heart throb Frankie Avalon play a hatchet wielding psycho.Yes, you heard right. Frankie stars as Paul Foley, an escaped and homicidal mental patient, who prior to his liberation, supplied blood to a critically injured teenage girl brought to his hospital after a car wreck. The girl, Marion (played by Donna Wilkes), crippled but on her way to recovery at home, starts to have horrible visions of death both in dreams and awake. In other words, Paul's blood seems to have connected his mind to hers, making Marion an unwilling mental witness to his killing spree in which the murders always start off with him hauntingly playing a flute (hence, the title Bloodsong). Needless to say, it is inevitable that their paths will cross and it won't be nice.Although far from a classic, Bloodsong is pretty entertaining and not a complete waste of time. The killings are semi-graphic but, otherwise, fully slasher film certified. Avalon surprisingly creates a creepy and menacing character. Another plus is that the plot is embellished by the fact that poor disabled Marion has a father who is an abusive alcoholic who makes her out to be a slut and gives her hell every chance he gets. That sub-story is worthy of the trashiest Lifetime movie of the week. If I had to make a comparison, I'd say this film is a mix between John Carpenter's Halloween (only much cheaper and not on Halloween) and William Lustig's Maniac (only toned down and a lot less bloody). So, mediocrity aside, Bloodsong is worth at least one view by all 80s slasher aficionados. Frankie would appreciate it.
RareSlashersReviewed
*Spoilers (slight)*I was just settling into watching 1982's BLOOD SONG when the psychopath made his first appearance. All of a sudden something dawned on me. I thought to myself, ‘hang on a minute, I recognise this guy from somewhere'. And low and behold, it was none other than fifties rock and roll teen idol Frankie Avalon. For those of you who don't know, he was that youngster groomed for stardom by Bob Marcucci and Peter DeAngelis. In 1958 he became part of the ‘Philadelphia phenomenon' that also gave life to rockers Fabian and Bobby Rydell. He enjoyed a successful career in music and amongst others gave us chart toppers in ‘Venus' and ‘Why'. Quite what he was doing starring in a lowbrow slasher flick was far beyond me. I guess it was just another experience to add to his already extremely varied career resume. But would he alone, help to save this attempt from being wholly lacklustre?A middle-aged guy returns home from a trip in a black taxi. He thanks the driver and heads up the footpath to a dimly lit house. Seconds after his entered, we hear a frantic male scream `Put down the gun', before two shots shatter the silent night sky. It seems he's caught his wife in bed with another man and let his emotions get the better of him. He asks the lord for forgiveness and then turns the gun on himself, ending the wraith of his unforgiving conscience. All these events are witnessed by a small boy, who's obviously distraught and overtaken with upset so much, that instead of whimpering or crying, he plays a mournful tune on a small wooden flute! (And yes, if you're thinking what? Already, I suggest you don't even bother watching this at all!) Some years later we are shown a patient recklessly escaping from a mental institute but taking the time to save a similar looking small brown flute…hmmm! We are now introduced to a young girl named Marion (Donna Wilkes). She keeps having strange nightmares in which a deranged killer plays a strange tune on a mouth instrument, before he ruthlessly butchers innocent people. The young girl is convinced that these are not dreams but are more like premonitions. All her friends including her boyfriend Joey (William Kirby Cullen) think that she's just stressed out by her ‘control freak' father Frank (Richard Jaekel) who's pretty damn strict. Before long the local county Sheriff (who is also a wisecracking ‘one liner king'. Watch out for his witty dialogue including the classic `…I've got a hang over that'd make King Kong climb a wall! And also `I don't wanna be disturbed unless world war 3 breaks out on Main Street' which, was another of his comical quotes!) finds a mutilated female corpse and it becomes apparent that maybe Marion isn't all that crazy…Well, where do I start? Firstly this is a pretty shoddy release and watching it - for the most part - to write this review was a pain staking arduous task hindered mainly by the fact that my copy –which, was extremely hard to get hold of – had a thin transparent line running straight through the middle of the screen, right until the end. The acting isn't too bad, and at least the heroine featured here is indeed a teen, but to be totally honest not a lot happens and I found myself having to keep rewinding it in case I'd missed something, where I was absent mindlessly flicking through my copy of The Sun whilst watching. That's never a good sign and further proves that BLOOD SONG cannot manage to keep you interested for long.
People expecting to witness yet another carbon copy of either HALLOWEEN or FRIDAY THE 13TH will be pleasantly surprised to find out that this is a shockingly different approach that manages in many ways to break the mould. This is apparent in lots of circumstances including the final girl being hardly virginal; she's no Laurie Strode! If I had to put my finger on the inspiration behind this flick, I would say it owed more to NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN or maybe even THE SLAYER. What is interesting however, is how it looks like this may have had a major part in the influence behind Wes Craven's A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Although this is hardly worthy of such an accolade, it's clearly two years Craven's predecessor and many of the ingredients honestly do look to have been lifted. The way that Marion dreams of all of the murders is almost identical to the fate that springs upon Nancy Thompson and her friends down good old Elm Street. Wes' box office smash is a much stronger effort, but it's interesting to note that he must've seen this before he helmed his idea!What about redeeming features I hear you ask? Well it's pretty graphic, as in you get to see some ketchup pour out of some hardly imaginative wounds! But after watching over an hour of mindless and cheesy screenplay the ending really did surprise me. Obviously I can't spoil it here for you, but it was the only sign of any intelligence on display and left you with just a touch of satisfaction. To be fair this is an original effort. And if we gave awards for ideas then this would certainly gain a prize. But I'm afraid a flick will only get rewarded here if it's above average and interesting, which, sadly this isn't. Sorry Frankie even you couldn't save this one
