Production has begun on the Herschell Gordon Lewis co-directed Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Bloodmania
Alec Kubas-Meyer
If you don’t know the name Herschell Gordon Lewis, then you have missed an extremely important part of film history. H. G. Lewis’ effects are seen in cinemas all over the world even today; his 1963 film Blood Feast was the first film to feature serious gore, and it started a revolution. It was followed up by two more films, collectively known as The Blood Trilogy (discussed at length in an article I wrote back in 2011).
After a string of other ultra-violent films, he quit directing in 1972 following the fascinating The Gore-Gore Girls. And suddenly he returned to the scene thirty years later with 2002’s Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (discussed at length in an article I wrote in 2012). Blood Feast 2 is easily one of my favorite films made in the history of forever, and though I didn’t see his next film, 2009’s The Uh! Oh! Show, I’m now officially excited for his next project, Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Bloodmania, which began production yesterday.
Bloodmania is a film in four parts, two of which will be directed by Lewis and the other two will be directed by names I don’t recognize (Benjamin Ross Hayden and Kevin Littlelight), but it’s really about the man whose name is three quarters of the title. As with his other recent films, Bloodmania is going to be a comedy, and it will almost definitely be amazing. While it’s exciting that production is underway, I’m unhappy about the release period: Spring, 2015. I would have much preferred an Apple approach, “Oh hey! Movie! It’s out today!” But I’ll take what I can get (at least when what I can get is another movie made by H. G. Lewis).
Guess I’ll just have to watch Blood Feast 2 a couple hundred times in anticipation. Sigh.
Full press below.
Production Begins Today On A New Major Horror Movie Entitled “Herschell Gordon Lewis’ BloodMania”
Monday, August 4th, 2014 – Production begins today on a new major horror movie, entitled “Herschell Gordon Lewis’s BloodMania.” Acclaimed horror genre director Herschell Gordon Lewis will co-direct the project, which is being produced by HGB Entertainment Ltd. for Diabolique Films, the film division of the premiere horror publication, Diabolique Magazine. Mr. Lewis is internationally recognized as the originator of the contemporary splatter film, and he chuckles at being dubbed “The Godfather of Gore.”
The Producer of the film is Diabolique Films executive James Saito, and the film is being shot in its entirety in Calgary, Alberta Canada. Lewis explained his “co-director” role, an unusual relationship with the production company: “BloodMania is a series of four episodes, each one unique. I’ll personally direct two, and Benjamin Ross Hayden (Agophobia, 2013) and Kevin Littlelight the others. So I can promise a variety of ‘flavors to satisfy even the most ardent horror fans!’”
Asked whether “BloodMania” will be a step beyond any film either he or anyone has directed before, the answer was as expected from this maverick director: “What do you think?” A major factor contributing to his reputation in the film industry is Herschell Gordon Lewis’s insistence on never repeating a theme. “BloodMania” he promises, will set a new standard for, as he so eloquently puts it, “off-the-wall outrage, doused in a wild sense of humor!”
Producer James Saito has assembled a cast of well-known Canadian actors and actresses, as well as crew highly skilled in special effects. “Enthusiasm is extraordinarily high,” he reports, “and much of that enthusiasm is the happy anticipation that our effects team will have the opportunity to participate in a motion picture whose potential is truly world-class. BloodMania is our gift to Mr. Lewis’ many fans and all fans of the horror genre.”
The release of “Herschell Gordon Lewis’s BloodMania” is set for Spring of 2015.
