Blood Bath (1966)

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This nicely shot film is completely ridiculous when it comes to its screenplay.

Sordi (William Campbell) is a semi-successful artist in an unnamed European locale. Local beatniks look up to him as his popular, gory paintings sell. What his admiring fans don't know is that Sordi may (or may not) be possessed by an ancestor who was executed for being in league with the devil. Sordi himself turns into a vampire at night and kills various women when he's not painting their portraits. He encases their bodies in what looks like wax, and keeps them scattered around his bell tower studio. New love Dorean (Lori Saunders) becomes suspicious of Sordi's behavior, and unfortunately almost becomes another victim.

The film, which barely runs an hour, makes no sense. From the vampire angle to the possession angle- the viewer is never sure what exactly is wrong with Sordi. The beatnik artists, which includes Sid Haig in a very early role, are played for laughs, with their minds blown over the silliest of artistic technique. Dorean's desperate love affair with Sordi is also nonsensical, as the film makers barely spend any time developing their relationship. While the cinematography and exterior locales are very nice to look at, the film also suffers from some obvious padding, like the tower bell ringers footage that is repeated over and over again without any variety in the shots. I decided to treat this film as a lark after the first few minutes, and that certainly helped in my enjoyment of it. If it can't take itself very seriously then I didn't need to take it seriously either.

No scares here, but a passable way to blow an hour.

Stats:
(1966) 62 min. (* * 1/2) out of five stars
-Written and Directed by Jack Hill & Stephanie Rothman
-Cast: William Campbell, Lori Saunders, Marissa Mathes, Sandra Knight, Karl Schanzer, Sid Haig, Biff Elliot, Jonathan Haze, Fred Thompson, David Ackles, Roger Corman
(Not Rated)- Physical violence, some gore, female semi-nudity, adult situations, alcohol use