All U Can Eat (2002)
Dir: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Cast: J.P. Delahoussaye, John McConnell, Mark
McLachlan, Melissa Morgan
Unrated, Approx: 98 Minutes
Media Blasters DVD
Herschell Gordon Lewis..."
was worth the wait...
often that the same director will return in his mid 70s to deliver the blood splattered goods. Still, it is
ever more rare for a movie such as this to be just as much fun as the original. Possibly, the stars and
the planets were aligned correctly, but it's more probable that some talented people that knew how to
put on a show and did just that. Blood Feast 2 reunites director Herschell Gordon Lewis with The
Mighty Monarch of the Exploitation Film World himself: David Friedman. This is their first professional
collaboration since the end of the infamous Blood Trilogy with Color Me Blood Red. The two veterans
join together with rookie writer W. Boyd Ford and producer Jackie Lee Morgan. Somehow, when all this
new talent and old talent was mixed together a mighty fine movie was delivered.
Weekend of Horrors, and to be quite honest - I wasn't all that impressed. I was afraid the movie would
be filled with unfunny in-jokes and crappy self referential characters. I knew that you couldn't make a
serious sequel to a movie like Blood Feast, and you can't really go back in time to give it the same
feel... I was mostly hoping that whatever jokes they did use would be better than those seen in the
middle of the road 1988 film Blood Diner.
cheek. Thanks to some entertaining actors,
hot women, fun effects, and most importantly,
a witty script I was pleasantly surprised. The
story concerns the original madman's
grandson, Fuad Ramses III. The perfectly
sane entrepreneur moves into his grand dad's
old diner and plans to take up the business.
He is immediately berated by one of the local
detectives, who was a relative of a detective
who was on the case for the original
hard...
version of the Ishtar statue from the first film. Before you know it, the eyes are glowing orange, and
Fuad is taking up the family practice in a way that would really make his grandfather proud. Soon, lovely
young women are found mutilated and Fuad has got quite the feast cooking. Luckily for him, the
detectives are a little dull and aren't exactly hot on his tail.
actually funny. It doesn't play like a lot of the newer Troma stuff, that just isn't (Toxic Avenger 4
excluded, this one is a definite winner!). There are so many jokes being thrown around that some
inevitably fall flat, everyone has a different sense of humor. Ford worked with the running gags well,
and Lewis's great timing kept them from becoming irritating. The only complaint that I would have, would
be naming the detectives Loomis and Meyers. It seems too Scream-esque and doesn't make a whole
lot of sense anyway. Blood Feast came out 15 years before Halloween, those references would have
been better suited in a different movie. In the end, this is a minor complaint that I'm probably blowing out
of proportion. The good far outweighs the bad here.
produced script from W. Boyd Ford, and I hope that it isn't the last. Where the trend in horror parodies
of late has been to distance themselves from the source films and take a more condescending
approach, this one makes no bones about being an exploitation/gore movie all the way. The genre
cliches are used, but aren't denounced. As a lifelong horror fan, I can say that nothing is more irritating
than when someone who hates horror movies comes up to you and points out everything that is wrong
with them (making sure to let you know that they are far and away smarter than you). This isn't like that,
this is more of an old buddy of yours being able to laugh at the genre with you. Somehow Wes Craven
became the former, while Lewis has remained the latter.
women were just about all amazingly hot, and of
course the gore was plentiful. The effects aren't
quite the same butcher shop style they were in
1963, but they're no less messy. As cool as it
would have been to see the older style effects in
use here, it really would have alienated most of
the potential audience. There probably aren't a
whole lot of splatter fans around that went to see
Blood Feast in 1963.
fans of the original and exploitation in general though. There are a few good jokes that won't make a
whole lot of sense without the original as a reference. Luckily for everyone, the original Blood Feast is
widely available from Something Weird Video. Hopefully Blood Feast 2 will prompt some younger
horror fans to check out some of the earlier work of the Godfather of Gore. His roughie, Scum of the
Earth, still remains my favorite though (Dirty, you hear me? DIRTY!). Oh yes, and I should mention that
John Waters makes an amusing cameo as a Catholic priest.
convention itself was a mixed bag, they did show some excellent movies. Seeing Blood Feast 2 and
Bubba Ho-Tep very early was a definite treat. I got a chance to talk to quite a few people involved after
the film. To begin with, Lewis is one of the funniest and most charming people I've ever met. He did a
great Q & A and is so warm that I don't see how anybody could not like him. I also got to meet Dave
Friedman, who wasn't scheduled to appear but just happened to be in Chicago and Lewis convinced him
to stop by for a few hours. The same goes for him as did for Lewis. To actually meet him was such a
thrill, I've listened to hours and hours of his commentaries (I just have to meet Mike Vraney now) and to
actually talk to him in person was a thrill to be sure. At one point I ended up riding the elevator down
with Friedman, a memory I'll probably never forget. Also in attendance were writer Ford and producer
Morgen. Man, I couldn't believe how young they were! They were very approachable and really open to
talking with the fans. I hope to be seeing more from them in the future. I took pictures with everyone, as
soon as I get them developed they will be up on this page.
Review by Dr. Spector 8.20.02
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