Blood Sabbath (dir Brianne Murphy 1972)

Some films are so damned strange if you see them in the early hours you might awaken the next morning convinced they were a dream. Take Blood Sabbath, in which a Vietnam veteran seeks solace in the countryside, but finds himself persecuted by hippies versed in the black arts. Part exploitation movie, part fairytale, Blood Sabbath also touches upon the animosity shown towards Nam vets on their return home, some six years before Hal Ashby would address the subject in his movie Coming Home (1978).

David (Tony Geary) is merrily wandering through the countryside when a bunch of hippies drive past in one of those Scooby Doo Mystery Machine type vans. A hippy-chick leans out of the window and asks David if he would like a cold beer. Grateful for the offer, he is shocked when she opens the can and sprays the contents over his face and clothes. To add insult to injury as they drive away laughing she leans out of the window and dangles her considerably sized breasts in his direction.

Sleeping rough can be dangerous. David awakens to find himself being molested by several hippy-chick-witches. Clearly more frightened of them than he was of the Vietcong David runs like hell. The hippy-chick-witches chase him towards a lake, where he stumbles and falls in. A beautiful blonde dressed all in white appears by his side. She is different from any other woman David has met because she keeps her clothes on. Did David dream her? Lonzo (Sam Gilman), the man who finds him by the lake tells him so. Lonzo warns David about an evil spirit who lives in the lake. Lonzo warns David only loneliness awaits him in the lake. Lonzo might as well talk to the trees because David isn’t listening.

Once again he meets the girl, who it turns out is a water nymph called Yyalah (Susan Damante). Intrigued by Yyalah and no doubt wondering why she is hasn’t shown him her breasts like every other female he’s encountered so far, David falls in love. However no water nymph can love a man if he has a soul. Alotta Queen of the Witches (Dyanne Thorne of Ilsa She Wolf of the SS fame) is aware of Yyalah and David’s interest in each other and resolves to stop them. Luckily for her she is the only soul-removing hippy-chick-witch-Queen around, but is David really stupid enough to sell his soul for the love of a water nymph without thinking there might be consequences? Yes, pretty much. This is one seriously stupid hero we’ve got here.

Blood Sabbath is one of the few 70’s exploitation films to have been directed by a woman. Brianne Murphy started out as a cinematographer, a profession she returned to shortly after directing this. Murphy provides all the staples of the exploitation genre; tits, ass and bush, plus gory violence, but together with writer William A. Bairn adds a touch of political commentary and a soppy love story. Blood Sabbath may be cheap, the acting may be negligible and oddly enough for somebody who lives in the water, Yyalah makes damn sure her nice haircut doesn’t get wet, but these things all add to the movie’s charm. And it’s a lot more fun than Coming Home, which lacked that certain something, such as a scene where Jon Voight is tormented by Dyanne Thorne’s groovy 70’s dancing.

Kevin Sturton.