film #5 of hooptober 4.0: revenge of the hoop there's no denying that herschell gordon lewis' blood feast is a groundbreaking film in horror. popularly considered to be the first splatter film, lewis' cannibalism film set the stage for new levels of violence and gore within the genre. and it must be said that today, some fifty-four years after the original, those elements of the film hold up surprisingly well. lewis does a wonderful job depicting the results of his mad egyptian caterer's work, using his low budget well to create innovative solutions to depict gore that has aged quite nicely. it is too bad, then, that the rest of the film is so bad. lewis and producer david f. friedman were always up front about the fact that they weren't taking themselves too seriously, but some of this stuff is too in-your-face bad to be denied. lines like "say, you wouldn't sacrifice me on this altar, would you?" are supposed to be campy, but are delivered so unironically as to lose their effect. my favorite moment is guy who, while trying to convince his girlfriend to continue making out with him on the beach, says, "at least stay until it gets dark" in the middle of the night. the dialogue is clunky even for camp classics, the acting is over-the-top or non-existant and the plot itself is often eye-rolling in the bad way. even lewis himself has acknowledged this, saying once, "it's no good, but it was the first of its type." it isn't a complete loss, it must be said. the best acting comes from mal arnold as fuad ramses. arnold has the right feel on what this film should be and chews scenery with gusto. that and the effects work are what make blood feast even remotely worth watching, though not so much that it can be recommended.