Blood and Lace (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Jan 23, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Philip GilbertRelease Date(s)
1971 (December 21, 2024)Studio(s)
American International Pictures (Kino Cult)- Film/Program Grade: C+
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: B
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
Blood and Lace was released by American International Pictures in 1971. Like many horror films, it fell into obscurity for many years but built a small cult audience, at least among those who managed to see it. Directed by Philip Gilbert, who seemed to only make one film before disappearing, it’s a confused film, especially for an early slasher, not knowing what it’s about.
A bit of a giallo-ish murder mystery, Blood and Lace tells the story of a young girl named Ellie (Melody Patterson) who, after her mother’s murder, is sent to live in an orphanage run by the mentally unbalanced Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame) and her sordid handyman (Len Lesser). Unfortunately, the person who murdered Ellie’s mother might still be looking for since she’s the only witness, but detective Carruthers (Vic Tayback) vows to keep her safe, at any cost.
Blood and Lace is a very sleazy kind of horror film. It’s not shot or edited particularly well, but it does employ some decent camera angles to help sell the tension. There’s also a bit of slasher foreshadowing going on, as well. The opening scene is extremely similar to the opening of Halloween and one of the characters ends up being very similar-looking to Freddy Krueger. I doubt very highly that either John Carpenter or Wes Craven saw this film, but the coincidences are bizarre, especially for a film this obscure. It’s also strange to see so many of the nighttime scenes shot day for night, as if the audience wouldn’t notice.
Weird characters, perplexing situations, and odd music cues abound, Blood and Lace is a strange film. It never totally succeeds at what it’s trying to do, despite a few somewhat revolutionary ways of executing it, all of which went unnoticed at the time. It probably won’t be remembered in the pantheon of horror films and acts as little more than a footnote for those involved with it, but it’s still an intriguing watch.
Blood and Lace was shot by director of photography Paul Hipp on 35mm film, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Kino Cult brings the film to Blu-ray for a second time on a dual-layered BD-50 disc, using what appears to be the same HD master included with Scream Factory’s 2015 Blu-ray release, which went out of print in 2019 (and was a BD-25). However, it re-incorporates the Blood and Lace title card, whereas the Scream Factory Blu-ray featured the film’s working title, The Blood Secret. In retrospect, this may have been an error on MGM’s part at the time since The Blood Secret alternate title card was included as an extra, which didn’t make much sense. In any case, the master holds up quite well, with only a touch of softness and a decent grain structure. The Scream Factory Blu-ray exhibited bitrates between 25 and 30Mbps most of the time, whereas the Kino Cult Blu-ray runs at a steady 35 to 40Mbps. It’s surprisingly beneficial as the image looks a tad sharper and more stable with tighter detail. Color and black levels are decent, and only minor speckling is leftover. Initially, I thought this was a different presentation altogether, but after going back and forth between the two releases, it’s simply a much better-encoded master.
Audio is included in English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio (the same track as the Scream Factory Blu-ray) with optional subtitles in English SDH. It’s very narrow, but dialogue is always discernible, and both sound effects and the library-sourced music cues come through well enough.
The Kino Cult 1080p Blu-ray release of Blood and Lace sits in a blue Amaray case with reversible artwork, featuring the original theatrical poster artwork on the front (as well as the slipcover), and the original theatrical daybill artwork on the reverse. The following extras are included:
- Audio Commentary with Richard Harland Smith
- Alternate Opening Titles (SD – 1:13)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD – 2:04)
The extras are a carbon copy of what was included on the Scream Factory Blu-ray, aside from the DVD since that release was a combo pack. The audio commentary with film historian Richard Harland Smith is really good, and there’s the aforementioned alternate opening title card, as well as the original theatrical trailer.
For all intents and purposes, Blood and Lace furthers the examination as to which elements of the slasher genre came first, which will forever be an endless debate among horror fans. Kino Cult’s Blu-ray re-release gives those who missed it the first time around the chance to check out for themselves, with a nice presentation and commentary in tow.
- Tim Salmons
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