Now when we look back at the eighties you tend to see that the slasher genre was copied over and over again due to the success of film franchises like Friday The 13th, Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street. So it was no surprise that you would see a similar storyline told a different way for a different film. Blood Rage, a typical clone of the slasher genre was shot in 1983 but was shelved for 4 years before seeing the light of a movie theater in 1987 under a different title Nightmare at Shadow Woods. Under this new title the film was heavily edited down to get an R-rating.
Blood Rage, borrows elements from 2 of the film franchise I mentioned earlier. Friday teh 13th and Halloween but they throw in twin factor which both characters are played by Mark Soper. The film is also one of the few slasher films that take place during Thanksgiving so keep that in mind if you are bored of that day with football and turkey that you can toss this into the blu-ray player and enjoy it. But the special effects in this film are spectacular thanks Ed French but most of his work was cut from the original and left out for the edited version of Shadow Woods. So the best way to view this film is exactly to watch it as Blood Rage.
Now Arrow Video has done justice to this release by releasing the film as a package with three versions of the film in it. There are plenty of interviews and documentaries as well as new commentary tracks that include the producer and director of the film. The best of them all has to be the interview with Ted Raimi, whose part in the movie is that ofma kid selling condoms in the bathroom to Drive-in patrons making the rolls so small that its hilarious to see that Arrow Video got an interview with about the film itself.
I will have to admit having seen this movie on original 35mm at Exhumed Films 24 Hour Horrorthon two years ago under the Nightmare at Shadow Woods title. I was amazed that this film was never seen by me even though I didn't know it until that night it was Blood Rage. But after watching Arrow Video's release against the 35mm print I saw I can easily say they did the transfer justice. Making more vibrant colors brighters and the popping sound is gone. Only problem I had was the hissing sound that was left behind it was a little bothersome in the beginning of the film but it slowly disappeared so I think it was a minor mistake forgotten on accident. Other than that its definitely a film any horror fan should own even if its not the greatest slasher film to come out of the 80's.
"That's not cranberry sauce, Artie." Love this line.
reviewed by Bucky
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