Blood Sucking Freaks
| Blood Sucking Freaks | |
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Movie poster for Blood Sucking Freaks
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| Directed by | Joel M. Reed |
| Produced by | Alan C. Margolin |
| Written by | Joel M. Reed |
| Starring | Seamus O'Brien Luis De Jesus Viju Krem Niles McMaster Dan Fauci Alphonso DeNoble Ernie Pysher |
| Music by | Michael Sahl |
| Cinematography | Ron Dorfman |
| Edited by | Joel R. Herson Victor Kanefsky |
| Distributed by | Troma Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 min. |
| Language | English |
Blood Sucking Freaks is a 1976 exploitation-splatter film. Shot under the title Sardu: Master of the Screaming Virgins, it was retitled The Incredible Torture Show during its original theatrical run.
Film distributor Troma Entertainment retitled the film Blood Sucking Freaks (sometimes spelled Bloodsucking Freaks) upon their acquisition of it.
Master Sardu (Seamus O'Brien) runs a Grand Guignol-style theatre with his assistant, the midget Ralphus. They present grotesque sadomasochism shows depicting torture and murder. Unbeknownst to audiences and critics, the events depicted are real, not staged; the tortured participants are kidnapped victims forced into sexual slavery.
Theatre critic Creasy Silo incurs Sardu's wrath by mocking his pretensions of art. Sardu responds by kidnapping and torturing Silo, hoping he will give the show a positive review, and by kidnapping ballerina Natasha DeNatalie to force her to participate in shows and lend them some artistic legitimacy. Natasha's football-player boyfriend Tom Maverick and corrupt policeman Detective John Tucci try to find Natasha and unravel the mystery of Sardu's operation. Sardu ultimately gets his comeuppance at the hands of his former captives.
Blood Sucking Freaks would go on to achieve minor cult-classic status due to its ability to slip between being a serious horror film with sexual overtones and a campy send-up of gore films. The violent deaths of lead actors Seamus O'Brien (stabbed to death in his apartment by a burglar) and Viju Krem (shot on a hunting trip) after the film's release also contributed to the film's notoriety.
Some of the torture methods depicted fictionally in the film include the use of thumb screws, a skull crushed by a vise, amputation at the wrist by a bone saw, the amputation of fingers by a meat cleaver, electro-shock, suspension, the extraction of teeth, the portrayal of an electric drill through a skull with the brains sucked through a straw, the amputation of feet by a chainsaw, stretching on St. Andrew's Cross, caning and subsequent decapitation by guillotine, as well as brainwashing, whipping, darts, and quartering.
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