Stevieboy666 Review of The Ghastly Ones

The Ghastly Ones (1968)

So glad that I didn't fork out £60 for an original Blood Rites VHS!

[3/10 · 20 August 2020]

For years I have been trying to watch as many of the 72 movies that made up Sections 1 & 2 of the British Video Nasties list, some are easy to find, others less so. I have just watched Blood Rites (UK title) for the first time, I also believe it to be my first Andy Milligan movie. Victorian set film but the 1960's underwear and wallpaper certainly give away the low budget and utterly amateur production values. Shot entirely on 16mm the camerawork is possibly the worst that I have ever seen. The lighting, sound, acting, special effects, all incredibly bad. The director can be heard given instructions to the "actors". We get a double murder early on, gory but difficult to see much, then there is about 50 minutes or so of sheer boredom before the final 20 where the vast majority of the deaths or gore happens, this does go some way in redeeming what went before. The fact that this got banned just show how ridiculous the whole Video Nasties saga was. Despite being an appalling movie I will certainly be seeking out more of the director's other works!