Blood Rage (1987)

It’s not cranberry sauce.

If Blood Rage had been sitting on the video store shelf in front of you, the box really only needed to promise three things: twins, Thanksgiving, and an unreasonable amount of fake blood.

Technically a 1987 release but shot several years earlier, Blood Rage feels like somebody sealed the early-’80s slasher boom inside a Tupperware container and forgot about it until Thanksgiving dinner. The synths are loud, the clothes are louder, and Shadow Woods is exactly the kind of apartment complex where nobody seems particularly concerned that people keep disappearing.

Mark Soper gets the fun assignment of playing identical twins Todd and Terry. One spent years locked away for a murder he didn’t commit. The other stayed home, grew up, got a girlfriend, and somehow became considerably worse company.

Louise Lasser brings a completely different kind of energy as their mother, Maddy. While everyone else is running through the complex trying not to get chopped apart, Lasser seems to be starring in her own increasingly strange family drama. Somehow, it works.

Then there are Ed French’s gore effects. Blood Rage doesn’t merely splash a little red around and call it a night. Hands come off, heads take punishment, and the movie enthusiastically reminds you why unrated slasher tapes were passed around between horror fans like contraband.

It’s cheap, cheesy, bloody and completely aware of what kind of rental it is. Put away the leftovers, grab the remote, and whatever you do, don’t confuse the cranberry sauce with anything else.

Thanksgiving dinner is served. Unfortunately, somebody brought a machete instead of the cranberry sauce.

Why Blood Rage Is Worth Renting

Halloween had Michael Myers and Christmas had plenty of maniacs, so why should Thanksgiving get stuck with football? Blood Rage turns turkey day into a wonderfully inappropriate slasher backdrop, complete with family tension, bad decisions and a killer who has no intention of waiting for dessert.

Mark Soper Gets Twice the Fun

Playing both Todd and Terry gives Soper the movie’s best trick. Todd is damaged and withdrawn while Terry is smug, cheerful and frighteningly comfortable with what he’s doing. The movie isn’t subtle about the difference, but subtlety wasn’t exactly what anyone came here to rent.

The Gore Earns the Rental

Ed French’s practical effects are the real gravy on this particular Thanksgiving plate. The kills are messy, tactile and gleefully excessive, giving Blood Rage the kind of handmade splatter that made discovering an uncut horror tape feel like you’d gotten away with something.

Blood Rage Official Trailer