Who payed the critics

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"Blood Rage" is a slasher remembered only for its being quite a bit more gory than most other films of its endless subgenre.I realised toward the end that, interestingly, most of this gore is actually only the aftermath of the violent acts the homicidal maniac commits: there is very little on-screen violence, but a lot of gruesome shots of damaged bodies.This lack of real 'violence' sometimes features to amusing effect. Take for instance one of the movie's few memorable moments: a lady in approached in the woods by the slasher with sword in hand. The lady screams, recognizing the danger she's in. The camera cuts away to something much less interesting, and then cuts back a few seconds later, to the sight of the woman, or rather her top half, as she screams on the ground - as well she might, since her lower half in over a few feet away from her.Are we expected to believe that, in only a few minutes, the not particularly strapping bad guy was able to cut her completely in half? The sword thing he's got doesn't even look that sharp or dangerous; I'm reminded of a much larger version of a butter knife.The plot is something to do with a twin who kills someone when he is a child and frames his brother for the crime. Ten or so years later, the good twin escapes from prison, while the bad one starts thinking about killing again.There's only one reason why they bother with the 'twin' angle: so you can be confused, at a climactic moment, about which is which. Even in 1987, was anyone surprised by that twist?

"That's not cranberry sauce..."Blood Rage has some GREAT kill scenes and practical effects (machete through the back) and it's filled with 1980's nostalgia from the can-opener beer cans, drive in movies, old video games and short shorts.I was really tempted to give this movie 4 stars. It has a cool unique story of a brother who framed his twin brother for a murder he committed and when his brother breaks out of the mental institution he see an opportunity for another killing spree to frame his brother and get him thrown back in the mental institution again.

At the drive-in, young twins Terry and Todd see their mother Maddy (Louise Lasser) copping off with her boyfriend in the front seat of the car, which sends Terry into a murderous rage, the boy attacking another courting couple with an axe. Terry manages to blame Todd for the killing, the innocent lad getting locked up in a mental institute while his brother gets away with murder (literally!). Ten years later, Todd (now played by Mark Soper) escapes from the institute just as Terry (also played by Soper) begins to kill again, spurred on by his mother's announcement of marriage and his randy friends' carnal activities.A rather obscure slasher from the late '80s, Blood Rage (AKA Nightmare at Shadow Woods, although apparently that version is cut) isn't all that innovative, with yet another killer who targets those having sex, but where this film succeeds is with its numerous grisly death scenes and gratuitous nudity: the gore is plentiful and suitably nasty, with a lopped off hand, a severed head, a bisected body, and assorted bloody slashings and impalements, and there is quite a lot of nekkidness on display, including the obligatory shower scene and a couple having sex on a diving board.A downbeat ending wraps matters up, with Terry being shot dead by Maddy, who then shoots herself in the head, leaving Todd quite clearly insane as a result of his trauma.N.B. Look out for Ted Raimi, director Sam Raimi's brother, as a condom salesman.

This flick is a special one. It's hard to find the full uncut version, it's only available on VHS so forget the DVD versions available. Even as they have the alternative title. All I can tell about this movie is that the storyline is ridiculous. After 10 minutes it's clear who's the actually killer. But what makes the movie worth searching is the amount of gory killings. If you have the DVD then all the gory moments are gone. On the VHS they are intact and worth watching. The acting itself is not that bad at all. The movie never had that much of promotion, but it is one to have in your collection if you still collect VHS. And as I have seen the other movie Blood Rage be sure to catch the correct one. The blood reign is in this one, not in the other one. So you know what to do....start searching. Oh yeah, and try to catch the movie they are showing at the Drive In, it's from the same writer....