Blood Scarab (2008/Frontline DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C- Extras: C Feature: C+
Blood Scarab is very nearly the perfect
example of what exploitation cinema should be. Made on a super-low budget with bad actors
delivering stilted dialogue, a healthy mix of intentional and non-intentional
humor, and more boobs than you can shake a stick at.
The fifth
in the series of horror exploitation flicks from writer and director Donald
Glut, Blood Scarab follows the
Countess Elizabeth Bathory, vampire widow of Dracula, and her bug-munching
servant Renfield (who’s trying to kick the habit), as she seeks the power of
the ancient Egyptian gods that will allow her to walk in the daylight.
Of Glut’s
previous four films, two have been about Elizabeth Bathory and two about the
mummy, making this fifth installment the crossover capstone of the series. And yes, there is a vampire vs. mummy
throwdown complete with all the ridiculous fight scene dialogue you could want.
“Did you really think you could stop me
Hathor? With all my undead powers?”
The film
is presented with 16:9 anamorphic widescreen picture and either 2.0 stereo or
5.1 surround sound audio. Considering
the fact that everything else in the film is god-awful, the picture and sound
quality are relatively good. If the
movie was shot on video – which one might assume for a flick with this budget –
then it was very high quality video.
The
special features include an audio commentary track, a short making-of, trailer,
footage from the premiere in Chicago, interviews from Graveyard Theatre and a
radio show called The Harvey and Bob Show.
There is also two minutes of topless
dancing women that were originally supposed to go over the title and end
credits until that idea was nixed. Obviously
though, the filmmakers determined that nudity is a terrible thing to waste. There are also several stills galleries and
clips from the four films leading up to this one.
If you
have ever known and loved films like Plan
9 From Outer Space, Robot Monster,
2,000 Maniacs, A Bucket of Blood, or any of the other greats from the
horror/exploitation pantheon, then I highly recommend that you add Blood Scarab to your collection.
- Matthew Carrick
