Double Feature Time: Dr. No/Blood Feast

Now, this may seem like an unusual double feature, especially today. After all, even those who aren't James Bond fans have probably heard about the first film in that series, Dr. No. Whereas only hard-core horror fans may be familiar with the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis. While Dr. No was released in 1962, it first appeared in American cinemas the following year, just like Blood Feast. At the time, neither film was viewed at with excitement by American distributors. The budgets for both films were also quite small, even for that time (Dr. No cost roughly $1 million & Blood Feast had a budget of just under $25,000). Also, while Blood Feast is certainly gorier than Dr. No, both films came under fire for pushing the envelope in terms of both violence and sexuality. So, I can't but wonder if there was at least one drive-in where these two pics had a double bill, as American distributors had no idea what to do with them. Of the two, Dr. No has obviously become looked at with more fondness in the decades since its release. It both started the long-running Bond film series, and made its star, Sean Connery, a household name. I also must state that Dr. No's title character (played by Joseph Wiseman), proved much scarier than the wacko in Blood Feast, Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold). Indeed, to call the acting in Blood Feast hammy is an understatement. The actors reportedly read their lines off of cue cards hidden in the furniture. However, it is understandable that Blood Feast would get a following of its own, as it's regarded as the first film to show explicit gore. Lewis did the film after a series of films which were noted for showing nudity. So, he decided to switch gears by resorting to violence. But he also kept made sexuality prominent, which is evident as the female lead is played by Playboy Playmate Connie Mason. So, it's not surprising that Lewis would make more similar films, beginning with 2000 Maniacs (1964).

Fear in the Dark (1991)

"From a quiet voice whispering in the dark to a motion picture costing millions of dollars, the effect seems to be the same. We enjoy the electric jolt of sudden shock and revel in the rush of adreneline that goes with prolonged and heightened anxiety."
-Christopher Lee


I suppose I have always loved the horror genre. Every Halloween growing up, I always enjoyed watching classics such as the 1931 gems Dracula and Frankenstein. I remember wanting to see Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) when they were originally released, even though I didn't actually watch the films themselves until I reached high school. But when The Silence of the Lambs (1991) came out, my love for the genre seemed to increase ten-fold (some say Silence isn't a horror film, but the rest of us know better). Maybe it was because I was a teenager, but I started seeking out more and more horror entertainment after seeing that classic. Eventually, I even sat down and, over time (not in one sitting, because I had other priorities), watched all the Friday the 13th entries. Like Star Trek: Voyager, that series is too non-sensical to be classifed as 'good,' but it can be fun to watch. But this documentary on the horror genre, which was televised on the BBC the same year Silence appeared in cinemas, is definitely good, as I found out after purchasing it on VHS (remember those?). It discusses the beginnings of the genre, which, at the time, emphasized vampires and other supernatural figures. The references to McCarthyism in such classics as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is also referenced, as are the 'nature gone amuck' genre which, in the 1970s, was reinvented by Jaws (1975). There is also reference to Jack the Ripper and how that case eventually led to the influence of Psycho (1960). That film, of course, led to the slasher film genre such as Halloween (1978) and its subsequent ilk. Ed Gein, a farmer from Wisconsin who was imprisoned for killing a number of women in 1957, is also mentioned, as it was his story which would inspire Psycho, Silence, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Other notable highmarks of the genre include The Exorcist (1973) and the EC comics, such as Tales From the Crypt, which would sadly fall victim to McCarthyism. The emphasis on then-recent release Silence is also nice (I wonder how this documentary would have played out if it was televised after its well-deserved Oscar wins). Directors such as Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and William Friedkin, writers like Kim Newman, and Saul Bass (who worked on Psycho's shower sequence) give wonderful insight. Christopher Lee's narration is the icing on the cake.