Blood Shack

Last updated
Blood Shack
Blood Shack (1971) VHS cover.jpg
VHS cover
Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler
Written byRay Dennis Steckler
Starring Carolyn Brandt
Ron Haydock
Release date
  • 1971 (1971)
Running time
  • 70 minutes (theatrical)
  • 55 minutes (home video)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Blood Shack (also known as The Chooper and Curse of the Evil Spirit) [1] is a 1971 American horror film written and directed by Ray Dennis Steckler (under the pseudonym Wolfgang Schmidt), [2] [3] and starring Steckler's then-wife Carolyn Brandt [1] alongside Ron Haydock.

Contents

Cast

Production

The film was produced on a budget of "five hundred dollars tops". [1] Filming took place in Pahrump, Nevada, [1] and according to Steckler, the furnishings of the titular shack were property that had been left behind by a previous tenant. [1] The black suit worn by the "Chooper", which was too small for Haydock, [4] was recycled from a previous Steckler production, Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters . [1] The killer was called the "Chooper" after the repetitive "choop" sounds made by the suit's wearer during the "Green Grasshopper" segment of The Lemon Grove Kids. [4]

Release

Under the title "The Chooper" The film received a limited theatrical release, [5] playing in one theater in Denver, Colorado. [4] For home video, the film was cut down from 70 minutes to 55 minutes then re-scored and retitled to "Bloodshack". [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B movie</span> Low-budget commercial film genre

A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature. However, the US production of films intended as "second features" largely ceased by the end of the 1950s. With the emergence of commercial television at that time, film studio B movie production departments changed into television film production divisions. They created much of the same type of content in low-budget films and series. The term "B movie" continues to be used in its broader sense to this day. In post-Golden Age usage, B movies can range from lurid exploitation films to independent arthouse films.

Ray Dennis Steckler, also known by the pseudonym Cash Flagg, was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor best known as the low-budget auteur of such cult films as The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. In addition to Cash Flagg, Steckler was also known by the pseudonyms Sven Christian, Henri-Pierre Duval, Pierre Duvall, Sven Hellstrom, Ricardo Malatoté, Harry Nixon, Michael J. Rogers, Michel J. Rogers, Wolfgang Schmidt, Cindy Lou Steckler, R.D. Steckler, Ray Steckler, and Cindy Lou Sutters —- this last his "porn name".

<i>Little Shop</i> American animated TV series

Little Shop is a 1991 animated fantasy comedy television series that aired on Saturday mornings on the Fox Kids TV network, about a teenager and a giant talking plant. Little Shop was based on the 1960 Roger Corman film The Little Shop of Horrors; Corman served as a consultant. The concept of the adaptation is credited to Ellen Levy and Mark Edward Edens, and the series was produced by Tom Tataranowicz. The horror elements in previous versions of the story, in which characters are eaten by the plant, are toned down for children in this series.

<i>Eegah</i> 1962 film by Arch Hall Sr. (as Nicholas Merriwether)

Eegah is a 1962 American horror film directed by Arch Hall Sr. and starring Arch Hall Jr., Marilyn Manning and Richard Kiel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Bava</span> Italian filmmaker

Mario Bava was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the Macabre". His low-budget genre films, known for their distinctive visual flair and stylish technical ingenuity, feature recurring themes and imagery concerning the conflict between illusion and reality, as well as the destructive capacity of human nature. He was a pioneer of Italian genre cinema, and is regarded as one of the most influential auteurs of the horror film genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Haydock</span> American musician (1940–1976)

Ron Haydock was an American actor, screenwriter, novelist and rock musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Gordon</span> American film and theatre director and writer (1947–2020)

Stuart Alan Gordon was an American filmmaker, theatre director, screenwriter, and playwright. Initially recognized for his provocative and frequently controversial work in experimental theatre, Gordon began directing films in 1985. Most of Gordon's cinematic output was in the horror genre, though he also ventured into science fiction and film noir.

<i>Rat Pfink a Boo Boo</i> 1966 American film

Rat Pfink a Boo Boo is a 1966 American film directed by Ray Dennis Steckler and starring Ron Haydock and Carolyn Brandt. The first 40 minutes of the film are a straight crime drama, but it jarringly segues into a superhero parody after this. The title is alternately explained as a typo that was too expensive to fix or a stylistic choice.

Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters is a trilogy of short movies released during 1965. The movies are homages to the Bowery Boys series of movies from the mid-1940s to late 1950s.

Carolyn Brandt is an American actress and dancer. She was the wife of cult film director Ray Dennis Steckler and starred in many of his films, including The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?, The Thrill Killers, Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966), and Blood Shack (1971).

<i>The Wasp Woman</i> 1959 film by Roger Corman, Jack Hill

The Wasp Woman is a 1959 American independent science-fiction horror film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Filmed in black-and-white, it stars Susan Cabot, Anthony Eisley, Michael Mark, and Barboura Morris. The film was originally released by Filmgroup as a double feature with Beast from Haunted Cave. To pad out the film's running time when it was released to television two years later, a new prologue was added by director Jack Hill.

<i>Wild Guitar</i> 1962 film by Ray Dennis Steckler

Wild Guitar is a 1962 American comedy-drama musical film directed by Ray Dennis Steckler and starring Arch Hall Jr., Arch Hall Sr., Ray Dennis Steckler, and Nancy Czar. The film was produced by Arch Hall Sr. The film was targeted towards the drive-in market, and is generally regarded as a B-movie, but has become infamous as part of a series of films made by Arch Hall Sr., which starred his son, Arch Hall Jr.

<i>I Drink Your Blood</i> 1971 American exploitation horror film by David E. Durston

I Drink Your Blood is a 1971 American exploitation horror film written and directed by David E. Durston, produced by Jerry Gross, and starring Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, Jadine Wong, and Lynn Lowry. The film centers on a small town that is overrun by rabies-infected members of a Satanic hippie cult after a revenge plot goes horribly wrong.

<i>The Hideous Sun Demon</i> 1958 American film

The Hideous Sun Demon is a 1958 American science fiction horror film produced, directed, and cowritten by Robert Clarke, who also starred in the title role. It also stars Patricia Manning, Nan Peterson, Patrick Whyte, and Fred La Porta. The film focuses on a scientist who is exposed to a radioactive isotope and soon finds out that it comes with horrifying consequences.

<i>The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire</i> 1971 film

L'iguana dalla lingua di fuoco is a 1971 giallo film. It is directed by Riccardo Freda, who was unhappy with the film and had his name replaced with the pseudonym "Willy Pareto".

<i>Terror Night</i> 1987 American film

Terror Night is a 1987 American slasher film directed by Nick Marino.

Body Fever or Super Cool is a 1969 American low-budget crime drama film, directed by Ray Dennis Steckler. It stars Carolyn Brandt as a cat burglar and Bernard Fein as a down and out detective searching for her. Rotten Tomatoes mentions that in the film a "lackadaisical gumshoe is caught between a glamorous thief, a gang of ruthless hoodlums and a handful of vicious drug peddlers in this quirky crime drama".

The Mad Love Life of a Hot Vampire is a 1971 American pornographic horror film directed by Ray Dennis Steckler. It stars Jim Parker as Count Dracula, portrayed here as a Las Vegas pimp, along with Carolyn Brandt and Rock Heinrich.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sykes, Brad (2018). Terror in the Desert: Dark Cinema of the American Southwest. McFarland & Company. p. 126. ISBN   978-1476672410.
  2. Lentz III, Harris M. (1994). Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits, Supplement 2: Through 1993. Vol. 4. McFarland & Company. p. 367. ISBN   0-89950-927-4.
  3. Quarles, Mike (2010). Down and Dirty: Hollywood's Exploitation Filmmakers and Their Movies. McFarland & Company. p. 22. ISBN   978-0786411429.
  4. 1 2 3 Rausch, Andrew J., ed. (2013). Gods of Grindhouse: Interviews with Exploitation Filmmakers. BearManor Media. ISBN   978-1593937348.
  5. 1 2 Ziemba, Joseph A. (July 26, 2020). "Blood Shack (1971)". Bleeding Skull!. Retrieved February 16, 2021.