Of course everyone loves graphic sex and gore drenched violence, but do they work well togeher? I know multitudes of people who like to mix their blood with their sex, Hell, I've FUCKED some of these people! However, though I love both topics, but the idea of relishing myself in a chick's detached organs or skull fucking some bimbo's severed head loses it's eroticism quickly. Although not very erotic, these previous concepts are actually quit comical! Maybe that's why I wouldn't be arroused by the idea, because it's just too funny to focus on!

Overly violent rape and torturous sex are the basis for BLOODSUCKING FREAKS (originaly entitled THE INCREDIBLE TORTURE SHOW), a cult classic that was rereleased under the Troma label, allowing a whole new legion of perverts to it's sadistic magic and "charm". The main character is the sado-massochistic Sardu, who, with the help of his little black midget and a crew of pyschotic broads and vaguely titted victims, performs his Grand Guignol stage show, at his off-Off-Broadway theatre in SoHo (called so, because whenever you go up to a woman, the conversation starts with, "So Ho..."). In his little show o' the macabre, Sar(du) and his mini minion Ralphus (most beloved dwarf in the world of underground minor motion pictures!) basically torture and mutilate female victims using whips, hacksaws, a variety of vices and clamps, and Ralhpus even tears out and devours an eyeball! However, whereas the crown believes all to be a silly act, WE in the audience know it's real!

After their night's performance, the local famed theater critic Greasy Silo (or is his name Crazy Sylus?) gives Sar Hell, telling him that he won't even bother to review the horrendus show, for fear it might actually bring in the perverse and curious to Sar's show, making it money! This is where we learn it's not a good thing to piss off Sardu, as he sends out his pint sized pervert Ralphus and a big dirty hermaphrodite in a tranchcoat after ol' Greasy! While he's reviewing an art gallery, Mr. Silo is suddenly distracted by the flashing hermie, allowing Ralphus to shoot him in the next with a drugged blow dart! The two fiends haul Greasy's ass back to their master, where Greasy is then tortured and humiliated over the course of the next few days, forced to survive off nothing but plates of human flesh. While Greasy stays in Sar's house of pain, he witnesses some of the horrors Sar's REALLY capable of doing, as he and Ralphus torture a bevy of kidnapped babes in a variety of stomach churning ways that will ha ve people like me laughing while you cringe, including, but not limited to: electro-shock to the nipples, playing a dart game with a girl's ass as the board and placing a girl scout in a guillotine, forcing her to hold the rope in her mouth while she's spanked with a paddle! But, not all of Sard's victims meet an end to their torture, as some are sold off to Arab oil barons in Sard's white slave operation. Other girls, who were driven insane by the torture, are kept in a basement cell, where they are fed the remains of Sard's victims to help cover up evidence.

As with most men his age, Sard grows weary of his current state of employment, eager for a change. Sard's idea for this change, is to put on a ballet... from blood and guts to tutus and dance shoes? Age must be catching up to the old bastard's brain! The murder and evisceration I can understand, but ballet?! Hope I never resort to such things when I get old. Oh wait, I am a God, so I never age anyway... nevermind. As I was saying, Sard wants to do a ballet, so he sets his sights on the lovely Natasha, a world class ballerina who he insists on having in his show! Sending out Ralphus once more, Sard gets his wish, as 'Tasha is delivered to him, albeit against her will. Of course 'Tasha refuses to do Sard's show, so he must "condition" her just like the other girls! But, since he actually wants to keep 'Tasha alive and dance worthy, Sard also brings in his sadistic physician friend to keep her healthy and functioning, at least as healthy and functioning as a raped assault victim can be. As payment for his dutie s, the doc is given his choice of a few of Sard's expendable babes to do with as he pleases. Instead of fucking them and making them clean his house like any other man would do in his position, the doc instead decides to play with them, doing a little "unnecessary surgery", including yanking out their teeth and sucking their brains out through a straw! This shit makes even Sard and Ralphus cringe in disgust!

Afterwards though, having done his job, Sard and Ralphus feed the demented doc to the caged cannibal women, who rip him apart and eat the pieces. Speaking of 'Tasha, we learn that ever since her disappearance, her football player boyfriend Tom has been searching for her, bribing a sleazy cop to help out, since aparently NO cops work for the city and it's people anymore like they're meant to. I tell you, our taxes are squandered... Finally, after witnessing other girls getting their feet sawed off (in an attempt by Sard to scare her without injuring her), 'Tasha agrees to be in Sard's little dance party. As for the heroes, after reviwing their old copies of the Hardy Boys Mystery books, devise that 'Tasha has been kidnapped by Sard. Upon confrontation of Sard, they talk to a oddly sedated 'Tasha, who tells them that everything's fine and she's going to do Sard's show. Figures, everytime a big name star starts to lose in the popular opinion lists, he/she instantly jumps into the independent circuit in an attem pt to seem more, "artsy". Why do they do this? They don't like all their money, so they take jobs that pay little/nothing? Because they need to add a few lines to their resume?! Or is it that, like 'Tasha, they're threatened into it?

Whatever the reason(s), Deffective, I mean, "Detective" Tucci discovers the truth behind Sard's studio of agony. Then, just like the "good cop" he is, he blackmails ol' Sard for $100,000 to keep quiet! Afterwards, since there's no honor amongst thieves, Tucci tells Tom the whole story. Despite this, Sard's ballet goes through (Ralphus of course being the true star), as it involves little more than 'Tasha dancing around, dropping her top, then kicking a chained up Greasy (thought we'd forgotten about him didn't ya?) in the head repeatedly until he ain't breathin' no more. After the show, Tom and Tucci bust into Sard's lair, beat the crap out of everyone, then make off with 'Tasha! It all falls apart though, as Tucci's greed gets him stuck in the cage of cannibal babes, who then break free and kill Sard and Ralphus, eating the old man's dick on hoagie in one of the film's more well known scenes! Oh, and just to kill that spirit of hope you may have sparked, 'Tasha winds up bludgeoning Tom to death with a relia ble sledgehammer, because he took her away from her "master" Sardu. Looks like Sard's brainwashing program really does get results!

BLOODSUCKING FREAKS is by far one of the most graphic movies ever to slither it's way into the horror genre, up in league with the Italian classics CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY, along with the Wes Craven rookie pic LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT in anals of torture movie history. Storywise the film lacks heavily. The center of the movie is obviously the attempt to gross out and offend as many people as possible, while entertaining a sick few at the same time. Though I am one of these sick few, I just don't have the heart to give this movie a great review. Since I enjoyed all the mangling and mauling though, I won't give it a bad rating either. It's no surprise Troma was eager to release this movie with their label on it, knowing full well the kind of sociopaths and sycophants that make up their audience would line up to get it! Hell, there's also the curious few who check the movie out, simply to test themselves on how much they can stand! Like the saying goes, "curiousity killed the Kennedys" or some thing like that, but in the case of BLOODSUCKING FREAKS, it takes that Kennedy, shackles it to a wall, whips it, sodmizes it, electrocutes it, slices off it's nipples, sodomizes it some more, then decapitates it and fucks the still pulsating stump! Truly graphic poison for the brain! One tip though guys, don't show it to your girlfriend on a romantic date and say, "see, that's what I wish you'd let me do to you!". Trust me, not even my beloved psychopath Krissy was able to sit through this movie without having to turn away!

As an added bonus, just to help entice you ravenous freaks out there, I made a list of just what tortures and humiliations the flick contains. Simply click the severed head at the bottom of the page! Have a nice day!

Also Known As: THE INCREDIBLE TORTURE SHOW; HERITAGE OF CALIGULA; HERITAGE OF CALIGULA: AN ORGY OF SICK MINDS; HOUSE OF THE SCREAMING VIRGINS

Sequels: None

If You Liked This Flick, Check Out: CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST or THE WIZARD OF GORE