Horror Movie Review: Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972)

One of those movies that reached for the stars but tripped and landed face first in the dry dirt of the town it’s set in. This is Invasion of the Blood Farmers, a 1972 horror with lofty ambition but none of the money or talent to achieve it.

Produced, written (alongside Ed Kelleher) and directed by Ed Adlum, a brief synopsis of the plot will tell you all you need to know about this film.

It surrounds a rural New York town that hosts a group of killer druids known as ‘Sangroids’. They drain the blood from their unsuspecting victims, all so they can resurrect their dormant queen.

If you’re thinking that such a wacky plot almost sounds ‘alien’ like, you’re not too far off the mark as that was the original plan. It wasn’t going to be druids; it was going to be aliens. However, that cost money. More money than was available so the alien angle was dropped in favour of druids. It’s a bit of a downgrade and even watching it, you can tell there was grander plans then compared to what we got here.

Opening with a bloodied and injured man stumbling into a bar, he falls down and dies. His death is a mystery, at least until Dr. Roy Anderson (Norman Kelley) and the college graduate Don (Bruce Detrick) discover that the man’s blood appeared to be expanding inside of him. Just who or what could be responsible? It’s not aliens but a group of druids led by Creton (Paul Craig Jennings). Alongside his underlings, they are searching for the perfect blood to resurrect Queen Onhorrid.

Just who might have the blood they need? It’s only Dr. Roy’s daughter Jenny (Tanna Hunter), who also happens to be Don’s girlfriend. Will he able to save his girlfriend and her father from the Sangroids?

Nowhere as entertaining, interesting, or wacky as the story suggests it is. Invasion of the Blood Farmers is hampered by just about everything. A haphazardly told story, poor effects, bad acting and poor directing. It’s more of a chore than anything else because it is incredibly slow. Everything about it screams ‘b-movie’, yet when compared to many others that fall into this category, this just doesn’t deliver.

It’s there though. An occasional sign of something more trying to break free. A ‘so bad it’s good’ movie? Some may see it as such as it can certainly be called wacky. Ultimately though, all the charm it could have evaporates into nothing but a bland, tasteless stew of what could have been.