Horror Movie Review: Blood Rage (1987)

The movie opens at a drive-in theatre where a woman & man are getting ‘fresh’ while the woman’s young kids are asleep in the back. Yep, if that opening wasn’t weird enough the two boys (twins) wake up & sneak out. They watch another couple getting it on in another car. The man stops his business to shout at the kids which results in one of the boys going bat-shit crazy & killing them both.

The mother finds the boys covered in blood.

Years pass & one of the brothers (Todd) is locked up in a facility having been accused of doing the deed. His denial & often catatonic state has ensured he’s not being let free anything soon. His brother (Terry) has made a decent life for himself meanwhile but the introduction & announcment of his mother’s planned wedding seems to awaken something in him.

When the news breaks that Todd has escaped the facility he has been held in,it seems as though we’re heading down a tried & tested route within the genre but instead we get an interesting take on the slasher idea. It is quickly revealed that Terry is actually psychotic & that they locked up the wrong brother years before. This reveal allows the viewer to really enjoy his murder spree, one-liners & off the wall behaviour.

The rest of the movie is seen from the point of view of different brothers. Terry kills his way through the neighbourhood while Todd is always one step behind & often in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What this movie does well is convince you that you’ve got it all worked out. Even up until the final few minutes I was convinced that the inevitable showdown would see -Todd getting all the murders pinned on him while Terry gloats  into the end credits. I was wrong & those surprise moments make it a much more enjoyable watch.

Praise has to be given to the excellent acting from Mark Soper who plays both brothers. He marks them both out differently. One a scared, confused & mentally damaged boy while the other is a cocky, overly confident psycho who seems to not understand why others don’t share his view that they should be dead.

The mother, Louise Lasser, also deserves praise for her slow descent into despair that occurs throughout. It’s played so well that you feel her pain during the finale.

It looks good with some nice gory & violent moments but a few of the chase scenes drag on a little too much. It’s a minor blemish on what is an 80’s slasher that really surprised. A great horror flick with a lot of fun, interesting twists & exciting moments!