Woodyanders Review of Blood Mania

Blood Mania (1970)

A delightfully scuzzy serving of pure 70's drive-in swill

[8/10 · 27 October 2008]

Ruthless and unhinged predatory psycho nympho slut Victoria Waterman (deliciously overplayed with lip-smacking wicked aplomb by foxy brunette knockout Maria De Aragon) kills her ailing wealthy father Rideley Waterman (a memorably grumpy Eric Allison) so she can get her grubby hands on his substantial inheritance. Complications ensue when Victoria's sweet younger sister Gail (lovely blonde looker Vicki Peters) winds up receiving the bulk of Daddy's money. Director Robert Vincent O'Neill, working from a blithely sordid and shameless script by Peter Carpenter, Tony Crechales and Toby Sacher, cheerfully wallows in the sewer and really delivers the sensationally slimy goods: we've got plentiful tasty female nudity (De Aragon in particular looks positively stunning sans clothes), sizzling soft-core sex, nasty plot twists, a little drug use, mean, greedy, back-stabbing amoral characters, occasional outbursts of wild gruesome violence, and a pleasingly grim bummer ending. Moreover, the cast have a completely field day with their juicy roles: De Aragon makes for a marvelously ferocious and intimidating femme fatale, co-writer Carpenter holds his own as hunky family doctor Craig Cooper, plus there are neat supporting turns by Reagan Wilson as Cooper's nice, loyal girlfriend Cheryl, Leslie Simms as doting nurse Turner, Arell Blanton as smugly evil blackmailer Larry, and Alex Rocco as a by-the-book lawyer. The garish cinematography by Robert Maxwell and Gary Graver further enhances the pervasive seaminess. Don Vincent's wailing, overwrought, groovy-stomping psychedelic rock score hits the funky bull's eye, too. A total trashy treat.