soulexpress In this lurid slab of grindhouse fare, a ruthless, unhinged nympho named Victoria (Maria De Aragon) speeds up the death of her ailing father Ridgeley (Eric Allison) so her boyfriend, Dr. Craig Cooper (Peter Carpenter), can pay off a blackmailer (Arell Blanton). Complications ensue when the lion's share of the inheritance goes to Victoria's sister, Gail (Vicki Peters).Though marketed as a horror film, this is really an R-rated soap opera with two murders and far too many soft-core sex scenes. Yes, De Aragon and Peters (along with Reagan Wilson) look nice with their breasts bared, but unless the film is X-rated, I want a halfway decent story to accompany the boot-knocking. In that regard, BLOOD MANIA does not deliver. I also did not understand the ending, even though I watched it twice.The studly, 6'3" Carpenter was a passable actor, though hardly A- list material. Had a cerebral hemorrhage not killed him in 1971, he likely would have continued to produce and star in B movies for many years. Maria De Aragon is all over the place as the increasingly deranged Victoria. Her over-the-top hysterics after the reading of her father's will are something to behold. Also, there is good support from Leslie Simms as a kindly nurse and former sexpot Jacqueline Dayla as Gail's, ahem, "traveling companion." Eric Allison was too boyishly handsome to convincingly play the curmudgeonly father. And Vicki Peters must have been cast for her looks, because she couldn't act worth a damn. Her performance as the guileless Gail runs the gamut of emotion from A to B. And the cinematography showed a lot of imagination, though I could have done quite nicely with one less montage. In all, BLOOD MANIA is a reasonably entertaining bit of sleaze.Some dialogue samples:RIDGELEY: I could choke to death on my coffee and you wouldn't shed a tear.BLACKMAILER (to Carpenter): You're no longer that middle-class punk trying to brain your way out of the lower middle class.CARPENTER: I need fifty thousand. VICTORIA: Dollars? CARPENTER: Dollars.

vaultonburg There are people who are keen to point out Peter Carpenter's back- to-back 1970/1971 films Blood Mania and Point of Terror aren't horror movies at all. Which is in a sense fair, because the promotional material would lead one to believe that they were, but so what? Still others want us to know they think Carpenter was a Tom Jones wannabee and the music in Point of terror is bad. So what? Blood Mania and Point of Terror are perfectly trashy and entertaining pieces of early 70's schlock that are unique, wonderfully shot, and chock full of pretty people to look at.Tonight I'm watching Blood Mania for the first time, and I have to say it's a lot of fun. Not in the traditional sense of the word "fun," but the sense someone who enjoys seeing movies that are unusual and enjoys finding something new and unique. Sure, peter Carpenter probably didn't have the chops to be a leading man in A movies, but he was every bit up to carrying these B movies on his shoulders, surrounding himself with beautiful scenery and beautiful women, and telling an outrageous story that challenges ones ability to believe. It's sort of shame as a movie fan that we don't get these kinds of movies anymore. I mean we get bad movies, but not these kinds of bad movies. Blood Mania is an entertaining movie for those who aren't looking to waste their own time picking it apart.

Michael O'Keefe Robert Vincent O'Neill directs this low budget exploitation flick about greed...and sex. A young sex-crazed woman plots to kill her bed ridden father for his money. There is some complications. Her own sister is actually the beneficiary and she has uses for the inheritance. Plus the dying man's own doctor would like to get his hands on the money to pay a blackmailer, who is wanting to out him for some abortions in his past. The young sleazy Dr. Cooper(Peter Carpenter)has more than enough scenes shirtless and in the company of a pretty topless or nude admirer. Not a lot of gore, but some moderately disturbing images in the film's final moments. Pretty lame and forgettable, except for the nudity. Others in the cast: Maria De Aragon, Vicki Peters, Eric Allison, Reagan Wilson, Arell Blanton and Alex Rocco.

Aaron1375 Let me start off by saying that the only reason I gave this film a three instead of a one is because of the shear number of boobs on display. Yes, this movie is full of topless females that have really nice breasts. The score is absolutely no reflection of the story as when there were no naked females in this movie for the most part I was bored to tears. The plot at times is incomprehensible, I am rather sure a couple of scenes were left out of this movie and they were scenes that were intricate to the plot. I am rather sure the dinner that never materialized on film on the copy of the movie I had had some important details in it, but it was just mentioned in passing here. Also, there seems to be something sinister regarding the father and his two daughters once again only hinted at and never shown or revealed within the main story arc. The story is basically a doctor, two daughters and a father with a medical condition all intertwining. One of the daughters is not even seen or talked about till after the father's death. The other daughter really likes her daddy's doctor and will do anything to get him. He already has a great girl that lets a guy do horrible things to her to get him out of trouble, but she vanishes from the film after this act and the doctor never speaks of her again. He is being blackmailed by the guy who did the horrible thing to his girlfriend that the doctor apparently forgets about. He needs money and the one daughter is willing to do anything to get it when not scaring away the gay pool boy. A bunch of sex scenes ensue though nothing that gets really hot and heavy, though that would have only improved the score as it would have made you forget the horrible plot. The boob shots keep one somewhat distracted, but it just can not make you stop thinking to yourself that for a film called Blood Mania there is remarkably little blood in it. This film was also on a collection of gore house greats, and so far none of the films have been particularly gory, in fact this one should have been on boob house greats instead as that is the only redeeming part of this film. As it is the film is just confusing...still wondering why the guy carried the body out at the end.