Blood Mania (Robert O'Neil, 1970)

A prime cut of early '70s weirdness (one of my favorite kinds of weirdness), Blood Mania is an enjoyably perverse blend of art, exploitation, tongue-in-cheek humor, soap opera plotting, smartly expressive b-movie acting, horror, and gratuitous nudity. I had a blast watching it.

There's a lot going on in the hour-and-a-half of Blood Mania, almost enough to fuel a couple years of a soap opera. Former doctor and owner of a prestigious medical clinic Ridgeley Waterman (Eric Allison) is bedridden in his California mansion with a severe heart condition. He's taken care of (until a nurse is hired) by his eldest daughter Victoria (Maria De Aragon), a painter, sociopath, and nymphomaniac who has her heart set on seducing her father's doctor, Craig Cooper (co-writer and producer Peter Carpenter). Dr. Cooper has so far rebuffed Victoria's advances because he has a doting girlfriend, Cheryl (Reagan Wilson, a Playboy Playmate whose centerfold was the first one in space when a NASA astronaut took it to the moon with him), back home at his swanky pad. Dr. Cooper has a major problem, however, that may lead him straight into the wealthy, horny Victoria's arms. He needs $50,000 in two weeks because he's being blackmailed by an unnamed sleazeball (Arell Blanton) who used to supply him with patients when he performed illegal abortions to pay for medical school.

And that's just the first few minutes. We also get a controversial will, the estranged Waterman daughter Gail and her amazingly giant hairdo (Vicki Peters, another Playboy Playmate), her older lesbian friend Kate (Jacqueline Dalya) who spars with Dr. Cooper over who can seduce Gail first, multiple murder plots, amyl nitrate-fueled hallucinatory sex scenes, the near-constant removing of tops, multiple double-crosses, dark family secrets, a full time live-in nurse who always has something weird to say, good times on the beach, a studly yet nerdy pool boy who is overwhelmed by Victoria's sexiness, weird paintings, a small early role for character actor Alex Rocco, and a trip to the Renaissance fair, complete with mimes. This movie may not have it all, but it certainly has way more than most.

Maria De Aragon as Victoria is the best of a pretty solid cast who know how to deliver these extremely dramatic parts with gusto, flair, humor, intensity, and the instinctive sense to exaggeratedly heighten the performances for maximum expressiveness but to somehow stop short of self-parody. Yes, this is a drive-in movie with copious T&A, but the actresses all have interesting roles and great lines and weird, wild things to do in addition to the sex scenes and nudity. Every character is highly eccentric but not overly mannered and most of them lack a moral compass, which is something I enjoy as a viewer.

Most of the lead actors had brief careers in the world of '70s low-budget filmmaking, with Peters moving on to real estate after appearing in a few movies and Wilson running an antique store with her husband. De Aragon appeared as a femme fatale in many cult classics and oddities of the '70s and '80s and also worked in theater. She retired from acting ten years ago. Her most famous movie role completely covers her striking beauty and intriguing screen presence in rubber and prosthetics -- Greedo in Star Wars. Crazy. 

Lead actor Peter Carpenter, who also co-wrote and produced the film and knocked on rich Californians' doors with a film projector and slides to secure distribution and financing for Blood Mania, was a businessman specializing in the manufacture of men's slacks before getting a part in Russ Meyer's Vixen after Meyer saw a picture of him. Bitten by the film production bug and landing a few more acting roles in the interim, Carpenter made Blood Mania happen and had plans to continue making and acting in low-budget films, but he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1971.

Director Robert O'Neil (sometimes credited as Robert Vincent O'Neil and Robert Vincent O'Neill) also wrote and directed the drive-in and VHS cult films Wonder Women, Angel, and Avenging Angel and wrote the screenplays for The Mighty Gorga, The Baltimore Bullet, Vice Squad, Deadly Force, Angel III: The Final Chapter, and an episode of '80s cop show Hunter. Ah, Hunter, always taking the law into his own hands.

Finally, one of the film's two cinematographers is longtime Orson Welles collaborator and close friend Gary Graver. (B-movie legend Robert Maxwell was the other cinematographer.) Graver worked with Welles on film, TV, video, and theater projects from Citizen Kane until the morning of Welles' death. A fascinating guy, Graver seemingly never stopped working. His cinematography career encompassed all things Orson Welles, art films, prestige Hollywood productions, horror movies, cheap drive-in exploitation movies, porn films, commercials, instructional videos, documentaries, and music videos. He also worked as an actor, director, writer, producer, and assistant director (including Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence), and he helped finance Welles' later projects through a parallel career as a writer and director of porn under the name Robert McCallum. He died in 2006.

Blood Mania is a fascinating example of 1970 exploitation cinema, but it's too strange and alive to be just a museum piece. It looks great, takes an eccentric approach to shot composition, is full of strange characters, is ridiculous but self-aware without being too self-aware, and it's pretty damn funny, though there are some dark moments that are a little rough. Yeah, it can be a sexist ogle-fest, but they throw in some male nudity, too, and the actors seem to be aware of exactly what kind of film they're making and throw themselves into it with abandon. I recommend this one. It's weird.