Invasion of the Blood Farmers — Invasion of the Blood Farmers( Blu Ray)
Invasion of the Blood Farmers was the one & only feature directed by New Yorker Ed Adlum- who seemingly had a fairly wide & quirky career- going on from being an editor at Cashbox magazine, to being a guitarist in short-lived Castle Kings- who recorded two unsuccessful singles on Atlantic Records. He also was a reporter for “Stars & Stripes” newspaper when stationed with the US Army in Germany, as well as producing 1968 soft-score hippy flick Blonde On A Bum, and Co-write/ produce 1974’s low-budget Bigfoot-stalking- Teen film Shriek of the Mutilated. Ed also co-wrote Invasion of the Blood Farmers with Ed Kelleher, who in the late ’80s went onto write scripts for New York city based 80’s horror schlock like Prime Evil & Lurkers both by infamous female exploitation director Roberta Findlay.
The films set in small-town rural upstate New York- and finds a group of people (and dogs) getting their blood sucked- then replaced with rapidly expanding red plasma. It turns out it’s been done by a group of modern days druids/ humanoid aliens- in order to try resurrected a long time sleeping goddess & Satan himself. The heroes (?!) of the film are dithering young trainee pathologist Don Ducker, his girlfriend Jenny Aderson & her elderly father Roy- who plays the local Doctor/ mad-scientist-in-the-basement. And it certainly is a wonderfully silly & gonzo ride of B Movie fun.
The film's title comes from the two leering & lumbering farmer - who I think are meant to be humanoid aliens in disguise- they grab, then hit & knocking out their prey- before taking them back to a barn to drain the blood. Into this, we get an extremely camp, moustached, and big side burned cult leader, sinister & sleazed older college professional, and black hooded henchmen.
Invasion of the Blood Farmers tone/ plot often sloppy veers from amusing scientist banter in the basement- with Don & Roy, and their rapidly growing tubes of pink plasma. Inane barroom interaction between the town’s folk, and the back-to-front- cap wearing drunken deputies. Decidedly sleazy tinged stalk & hitting action from the creepy fake farmers, and their unsettling- at-times fetish tinged blood draining. OTT silliness & camp nastiness from the cult leader & his hooded henchman. The is all made even more quirky & unbalancing by the often highly unneeded & un-mood setting addition of waltz-to- dramatic orchestral stock score- which sounds like it was originally used for either some joyful & grand dance sequence, or an epic battle in a film from the 40’s/’50s. All in all making for an enjoyable slice of Schlock heavy B movie/ lo- budget horror fun.
Moving onto this new region free Blu Ray release from Severin- and first, off we get a very clean & crisp new scan of the film- which really brings out the predominantly reds & greens of the film's pallet to the fore- for a most bright & buoyant look. Next, we get a commentary track from Director Ed Adlum and Actress, and his then-wife Ortrum Tippel- this is moderated by Kier-La Janisse. It's a very informative, honest & at times quite amusing track- as one of the films main settings was the pair’s house- so they both talk fondly about the location, and Tippel mentions about the various bits of furniture, Nik- nacks & etc- many of which she still has. As most of the cast was made out of friends, neighbours & associates- this also leads to some interesting tales too. The pair also discuss the effects, blood, and one of the more fetish bound death scenes that got the film an R rating back in the day. On the whole, it’s a most worthy track- and definitely worth checking out, even if you only have a passing interest in the film. Next we get a three stand-alone interviews, each runs between twenty & nearing five minutes- first & longest is with director Ed Adlum - this is most, most fascinating- as it sees him discussing key points in his career- going from his time in the rock ‘n’ roll band Castle Kings- discussing how they got signed, then unsigned to Atlantic Records. Moving on his time as editor of the Pinball/ gaming section of Cashbox. Then of course his film work, and his relationship with exploitation director/ producer Michael Findlay. Going onto his formation of slot machine/ video game magazine RePlay- which he set up in the ’70s, and is still published today. The next interview is with Jack Neubeck- who played one of the ‘Blood Farmers’ in the film- this has some amusing anecdotes about the shooting. Lastly, we get a very short interview with Cinematographer Frederick Elmes- who doesn't really say much. Lastly we get an original trailer. So in told a nicely done reissue with some neat extras.
Invasion of the Blood Farmers is a film I’ve been aware for some years, but until now I had never seen. As with all exploitation/ B movie fare- you’re always curious if a film is going to live up to its title, and I’d say for the most part this does. So if you’re a fan of trashy/ lo-budget fare that blends together B-movie campiness, cheapy gore, and more than a bit of questionable acting- you’ll get a kick out of Invasion of the Blood Farmers, and this new Severin reissue of the film.