Review of Color Me Blood Red (1965) by James O — 17 Jan 2011

Herschell Gordon Lewis was known for starting gore and now the 3rd part in his blood trilogy Color me blood red is my second favourite movie by him and of course Two Thousand Maniacs is my favourite horror movie. The director himself would go on to inspire Japanese director takashi mike with his ultra-gory flicks like Ichi the Killer and Audition and even Takashi himself is a fan of Herschell and his all-time favourite is Blood Feast.

An eccentric artist is panned by a well-known critic at his opening for not having a good color sense, so he starts a new series, using his own blood to paint. Soon he is weakened and must find other sources of blood to continue his paintings. So he starts abducting women and starts using their blood to paint his new Masterpiece of blood and gore.

I liked the story but it can be slow moving that's a fact but overall any fan of these movies would love it and the story is nothing but torture and gore, The whole trademark of Lewis. The acting is dread awful even in the trailer it's seen besides the gore and the narrator says COLOR ME BLOOD RED again and again. But then again it's funny to watch and I loved the female lead nothing but corny yet entertaining lines. The special effects were shocking for its time and are still brutal today besides how flat they are these days, The again I am not a CGI fan when it comes to this stuff so overall passable. And the music lyrics are awesome.

Here are some facts I found.

Director Herschell Gordon Lewis cited Roger Corman's A Bucket of Blood (1959) as the main inspiration for Color Me Blood Red.

Filmed and completed in early 1964, but remained on the shelf for over a year over production, editing, and sales release issues after producer David F. Friedman terminated his business partnership with director Herschell Gordon Lewis.

Shoot on a budget that's estimates around $50,00 dollars.

Overall my 2nd favourite by Lewis and my final verdict is recommended for this 60s gore feast.