Bloodrage (1980) User Reviews

More like raging hormones.

[lost-in-limbo · 6/10 · 21 October 2006]

A psychotic young man heads to New York after murdering a prostitute of a small town. Thinking that he has escaped the police, he tries to live a normal life, but he encounters the very sleazy life of the city and goes about fixing up the problems, like knocking more prostitutes. On his trail is a town cop who's looking for him in the hope he can find out what had happened to the first prostitute that he secretly killed off.

I'm so baffled. I went in expecting something of a horror story cross vigilante action piece like it seems to advertise. Um instead, the picture on my video case never seemed to appear in the film. Nor did the folks on it! Also the title is very misleading. With the name like Joseph Zito tagged to the project, you'll be expecting something passionately wild and out going (think of Red Scorpion, Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A) and gruesomely unpleasant (The Prowler and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter), but what a glum character study on a insane killer that tries to be thoughtful, but it just doesn't work when it's going for this aspect. I guess he learnt later on from this effort, as this was just his second feature.

This immensely sleazy slasher is strictly average and too slow. It only goes for about 75 minutes and it still lulls about in monotonous scenes that feel like fillers. I didn't find it boring because it was oddly hypnotic. Thanks to its stone-cold approach, inspired visions and gritty locations, but it could have used a whole lot more verve in its execution. The deaths and the lead up to them are rather bloodless, but still quite misogynistic. Just wait around for the dog scene. Blood might be little, but sex and nudity (a lot of window peeping) isn't discarded. Far from it actually. The 70's New York atmosphere generated a circuit that was scummy, filthy and dreadfully corrupt. Zito filtered this into the flick superbly.

The clueless story has some unbelievable developments (a sudden conclusion) and very little structure to it, as it plays many cards like a psycho serial killer to soft porn and then a look through the damaged mind created by a forsaken society (ala Taxi Driver). Even the husky voice-overs that the film begins off with have a familiar ring to it. But in all it's basic.

Surprisingly the performances are acceptably fair. The spaced out Ian Scott plays the uptight young lad Richard in a very disquieting temperament. Legendary hard-boiled actor Lawrence Tierney is in a minor thankless role that asks very little off him. James Johnson, Rita Ebenhart and Blair Trigg chime in with some solid performances too.

Flat pacing can kill it at times, but this raw project has its moments. Not a bad early effort by Zito.

Disturbing, Taxi Driver-style effort about a psycho in New York

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 5 December 2015]

In the 1970s, grindhouse cinemas were awash with sleazy stories of killers and thugs, murderers and prostitutes. These low-budget thrillers often had a gritty, on-the-street look to them, just filming out in the streets amidst the crowds. Violence, drug abuse and prostitution was the norm. The best of the genre was undoubtedly TAXI DRIVER, Scorsese's excellent look at loneliness and madness, and as with any popular film it spawned rip-offs. BLOODRAGE is one of these, a delightful story about a young man who kills prostitutes.

The man is the film's main character, a kind of anti-hero who sometimes narrates his thoughts, just like De Niro. What surprised me is that BLOODRAGE is slightly above the run-of-the-mill for this particular genre, mainly because it has good direction (from Joseph Zito, who later went on to helm many an '80s action flick) and some surprisingly decent turns from the cast. Ian Scott, as the killer, has a lot of screen time and handles his role very well. He's creepy, frightening and seemingly disturbed, which is all that is needed for this kind of role. Inevitably there's a sub-plot about a cop stalking the killer, and James Johnson is also very good as this guy. The actresses playing the prostitutes are grubby and convincing, making you wonder whether they really are 'women of the night'.

What I liked best about BLOODRAGE is that it never descends into plot less gore and depravity, as with so many of these movies. Sure, it's sleazy, but that's inevitable when the entire cast list is populated with hookers, dealers and their clients. The New York locales add grimy authenticity to events, and there are one or two stand-out moments. There's a voyeuristic aspect to the movie as he goes Peeping Tom, scenes which reminded me of Hitchcock in places. There's also a ton of nudity, but for a movie called BLOODRAGE, virtually no blood, except in the opening scene. It's not a great movie, and it's forgotten today for a reason, which is misogyny. But I found it a surprisingly compelling entry in the genre that manages to hit the mark more often than not.

Forgotten misogynist slasher.

[Coventry · 6/10 · 25 November 2008]

The synopsis on the back of the ancient VHS cover box describes the plot of "Bloodrage" as reminiscent to "Taxi Driver" and "Death Wish" and the director's styles and methods for creating tension as "Hitchcockian". You can unquestionably guess without even seeing the movie for yourself that these generous comparisons are just *slightly* exaggerated, but it's nevertheless a decent and overlooked psycho-shocker that comes recommended to the selected group of avid fans of this type of obscure and grim exploitation cinema. Director Joseph Zito's predecessor to the much more known and infamous "The Prowler" is clearly inspired by the success of "Taxi Driver", since it's more or less also a portrait of the sleazy and pauperized streets of New York's red light district, but it definitely benefices most from it's atypical serial killer protagonist. Unlike Travis Bickle, the psychopath here – Ritchie – is a seemingly shy and introvert young lad; barely out of his teenager years and presumably from a decent social background. Ritchie visits prostitutes but ends up barbarically killing them because they aren't like he expects them to be … whatever that may be. Even when he meets a "normal" girl, she turns out to be an infidel nymphomaniac and Ritchie gradually sinks deeper into misogynist rage and madness. Meanwhile, the secret lover of one of Ritchie's prostitute victims – a ruthless copper – follows the trace to New York and hunts him down like an animal. Particularly the opening fifteen minutes – covering Ritchie's first murder prior to his escape to the big city – are immensely powerful and shocking. You really don't see this fragile kid capable of murdering but he is and, moreover, remains stoically focused throughout the entire process. Ritchie's odyssey in the rancid streets of New York is far less exciting, mainly because we're on more familiar territory here, but the murder sequences nonetheless remain harsh and ultimately brutal to look at. With is lurid atmosphere, copious amounts of gratuitous nudity, grainy and cheap looking photography and uncompromising violence against women, "Bloodrage" perfectly fits in the late 70's/early 80's trend of misogynist slasher pictures, like "Don't Go in the House", "Maniac", "Hitch Hike to Hell" and "Don't Answer the Phone". And if you really wonder where the connection lies with "Death Wish", you just wait until the downright fan-tas-tic end scene!

Good title but that's about it

[lrc81 · 28 July 2004]

A title like "Bloodrage" is enough to catch the attention of any horror fan, the cover is also promising but the movie itself isn't that good. Ian Scott plays a violent young man that is about to snap at any moment, the event that leads to that is a encounter with a prostitute that went sour. When she asked him for money and threaten to call his mother, he lost it and unveiled his more basic violent instincts. To escape the police he moved to New York, checking in a motel. Soon he started to feel the pressure of the big city, full of things that deeply bothered him. First in that list, the prostitutes, which he'll hunt down one by one until he meets one that will give him a run for his money. Not only he has to deal with the city life but also the small town cop that came to New York trying to find the person responsible for the death of the first prostitute. Who will get to him first?

The movie's plot is simple, nothing wrong with that if it was well executed, in my opinion it wasn't. It's rather slow-paced. Only in the first murder we see any blood, not enough for a movie called "Bloodrage". The characters aren't developed enough to make them interesting, their actions don't make much sense. Ian Scott reminded me of Ted Raimi, specifically in "Skinner", they kind of look alike.

"Don't you have nothing better to do with your time... like jerk off" Dull psycho slasher film without much psycho slashing.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 6 May 2005]

Bloodrage starts with a small town prostitute named Beverly (Judith-Marie Bergan) seeing a regular named Charlie (Jerry McGee) out the door as her boyfriend arrives, a local cop named John Ryan (James Johnson) who knows about her chosen career but turns a blind eye. Once he leaves Beverly is visited by a young, shy & sexually repressed man named Richard (Ian Scott) who, in certain scenes, is a dead ringer for Christopher Walken. Anyway, Beverly invites him in & says that she has noticed him watching her & that he has to pay her for her time whether he stays or not. Richard doesn't like her demanding money from him & when she threatens to call her boyfriend Ryan, Richard becomes violent & aggressive. In an ensuing struggle Richard pushes Beverly & she ends up going head first through a window & ends up with her throat being slit on the broken glass in the frame. At that moment Ryan drives up outside the house in his squad car but is held up talking to a guy named Gus (Patrick Hines) about nothing in particular. Richard has to think & act quickly, he cleans the blood up (gee, large amounts of blood sure does come off white walls without leaving a single trace easily & quickly doesn't it?) & hides Beverly's body in a closet just as Ryan enters the house. Even though he thinks it seems a little strange that Beverly has all but disappeared eventually Ryan leaves & then Richard disposes of Beverly's body out back, Richard then hitch hikes & gets into a truck which takes him to Times Square, New York City. There he rents a crappy run down hotel room, finds a job in a beer packing factory & befriends one of his neighbours, Candice (Rita Ebenhart). However, because of the pressures of living in New York Richard soon feels the urge to kill again & singles out yet another prostitute, this time named Lucy (Blair Trigg). By some bizarre coincidence Ryan feels that Beverly might have gone to New York & sets off to find her, he contacts detective Tom Malone (Lawrence Tierney) & asks around at various strip bars. By an even more amazing chain of coincidences Ryan becomes aware of Richard & sets out to stop him & gain some revenge...

Produced & directed by Joseph Zito I thought Bloodrage was a little bit too dull & slow for my liking. The script by Robert Jahn is poorly paced as it starts out very well with the brutal murder of Beverly but then goes into a real lull for an absolute age from which it never really recovers. The character of Richard is a problem, he never interacts with anyone at any point in the film as a normal person except his neighbour Candice & even then it's hardly a normal relationship. We know virtually nothing about him when Bloodrage starts & more or less the same when it finishes, Richard is given a few monologues to try & give him some personality, background & motivation but they aren't overly effective or insightful. The script tries to paint Richard as a normal everyday person living a dull 9 to 5 life in isolation, that's fine I suppose but it's not what I personally want to see in a film as most of us live that life anyway. Occasionally Richard decides to take out his pent up frustrations out on women & he justifies his actions by the fact they are prostitutes & strippers. The coincidences which lead Ryan to both New York & Richard are rather far fetched, Bloodrage ends very abruptly as well. This is a film which concentrates on set up so don't expect a high body count, in fact Richard only kills three people during the film, & one dog. There's not much blood or gore, the slit throat by broken glass is quite nasty but the other two are strangulations & contain no blood even though they are surprisingly brutal & cold. Technically Bloodrage is generally fine throughout even if it isn't going to win any awards, the acting was surprisingly strong & the seedy late 70's New York Times Square locations really add to the unsettling atmosphere, it's just a shame the film plods along at such a slow pace. Even at a relatively short 77 minutes I won't be watching Bloodrage again anytime soon that's for sure, having said that I didn't think it was a complete waste of time just a somewhat misguided attempt at a serious portrait of the beginnings of a serial killer. Unfortunately I can't recommend Bloodrage to anyone as it's just too slow, dull & ultimately provides little in the way of entertainment value but it isn't without one or two merits.

Beaver rage

[trashgang · 4/10 · 4 December 2008]

I noticed on the Net that this one isn't available on DVD and neither on VHS in the US. So for me as an European I was able to catch the ex rental VHS. Watch out, there are two movies from that time titled Bloodrage. This flick here is the bloodless one, the other one is available on DVD but totally ripped to pieces, you have to catch the VHS which is the only one uncut. Anyway, this flick came out on the Vipco label and stated as the bloodiest of their collection. Don't believe it. What's nice of this one are the shots made in New York. Depravity New York, still with their pornshops and grindhouses. I was once their too at 42nd but they started to tear places down. The movie starts of pretty well with a shy boy, a peeping tom, visiting a hooker. It gets out of hand and things aren't pretty well for him as for the hooker. That's the bloodiest part of the movie, well done too, so very promising. When he gets to New York the movie turns over into T&A. Nothing to do with the plot of the movie and it all falls down slowly, it's a shame 'cause his second killing was nice too. And then we go on from one full bush shot to another. Nothing else happens, playing peeping tom and suddenly the cop tracks him down with an surprising end. So almost no blood, sometimes really boring and a lot of titties and 70's bushes.

Sleazy and depressing serial killer movie.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 17 August 2009]

"Bloodrage" tells the story of Richie,a withdrawn young man with the penchant for murdering hookers.He kills Beverly,a small-town prostitute and after concealing his crime goes to New York.As his killing spree continues Richard becomes more and more fascinated with a prostitute who lives across the alley.He watches her undress through the window and we hear his innermost thoughts via voice-over monologues."Bloodrage" oozes sleaze and misogyny.The seedy atmosphere of 70's New York is well-captured with its peeling-wallpaper interiors and dirty alleys.The murder scenes are quite brutal and there is plenty of full-frontal female nudity.If you enjoyed "Maniac" or "Don't Go in the House" give this grimy slice of psycho cinema a look.7 out of 10.

Plenty of rage, but not much blood.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 5 September 2020]

Set in the seedy, grimy, rubbish-strewn streets of New York, home to pimps, strippers, hos, junkies and violent criminals, Joseph Zito's psycho thriller Bloodrage draws inspiration from Scorsese's Taxi Driver whilst sitting comfortably alongside other gritty horrors of the same era such as Maniac, The Toolbox Murders and Don't Answer The Phone.

The film sets the grim tone quickly with the grisly murder of prostitute Beverly (Judith-Marie Bergan) by young nut-job Richie (Ian Scott), who kills the woman when she threatens to tell his mother that he visited her without any money. The hooker's head goes through a window pane, her throat gashed on the broken glass. Richie mops up the mess, buries the body and hot-foots it to the big apple, where he continues to be upset by women who don't live up to his expectations. Needless to say, they don't stay alive for long. Meanwhile, cop Ryan (James Johnson) is looking for Beverly, his search leading him closer and closer to Richie.

Employing a Taxi Driver style inner monologue to let us inside the head of the misogynistic killer, this somewhat derivative study of a psychopath is helped by a convincing central performance from Scott. Richie's treatment of his victims is cold and brutal, with one victim tortured in her bath-tub before being strangled with her phone cord. Richie even goes so far as to break the neck of a neighbour's dog, before doing the same to its owner. He also likes to spend time watching the hooker in the next building as she entertains a series of 'johns'. This allows for Zito to squeeze some full frontal nudity into a film that is already full to the brim with sleaze.

It is fair to say that the plot offers nothing new to the genre, and that the pace is rather sluggish at times, but the run-time is fairly short, so boredom shouldn't be a problem. Zito would go on to make slasher Rosemary's Killer (AKA The Prowler) and Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, and while I wouldn't say that Bloodrage is quite as good or as gory (the title is misleading: there's not a great deal of blood) as either of those, it should pass the time nicely enough for those who appreciate sordid exploitative trash from the early-'80s.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for the final scene, in which Ryan finally gets his hands on the sicko who killed Beverly - it's hilarious!

Incredible Forgotten Gem

[Falconeer · 8/10 · 13 September 2019]

What a grimy, filthy and bleak film this is! "Bloodrage" is one of those glorious New York City movies, filmed when the place was literally crawling with hookers, pimps, junkies and every kind of deviant freak that can be imagined. Working as both an incredible documentation of a vanished New York in it's "Golden Age" as well as an utterly fascinating character study of a truly sick, soulless maniac. Ryan is a baby faced, average looking young guy, but with this palpable hatred for women...not all women of course. One of the reasons why this sick little film works so well is that it's perhaps the ONLY movie of it's kind that forces the viewer to seriously relate to the psychopath. Although the guy is a complete scumbag, the women in this film, and I mean EVERY woman, is portrayed as money grubbing, dishonest. Not once did I feel sorry for any of the females that got murdered here, because they were all so horrible. And that is how this clever movie gets under the skin. It feels downright creepy to catch yourself relating to a serial killer, but "Bloodrage" forces the viewer into this guy's mindset by making you see women the way he does. Wow. It's as politically incorrect as the worst of these 70's films, and it literally bleeds atmosphere from it's filthy pores. Why on Earth "Bloodrage" isn't available on Blu Ray, or even dvd is an absolute mystery to me, as is this ridiculously low score here. Do people just not GET what director Joseph Zito (of The Prowler fame) who goes under the funny pseudonym Joseph 'Bigwood' has succeeded in doing with this one? For a title like "Bloodrage" it isn't extremely bloody, as the violence here is more of the psychological kind. It does make up for the lack of gore by splashing a healthy amount of T&A on screen (actually nothing about this is "healthy), as "Bloodrage" is based in a World of hyper-sexuality. I urge fans of this genre to seek this movie out and witness some truly beautiful 42nd Street grime. And I urge some Blu Ray distributor like 'Vinegar Syndrome' to please restore "Bloodrage" to it's original pristine version. It is so deserving.

Drawing first blood.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 16 October 2013]

With having read over the last months on the IMDb Horror board fellow IMDb'ers highly praising John Grissmer's 1987 Slasher movie Blood Rage,I was thrilled to recently discover the film being sold at a very good price.

Rushing to put the DVD on as soon as it arrived in the post,I quickly found out that the "Blood Rage" that I had brought was not the 1987 film,but a 1979 movie called "Bloodrage",directed by Joseph Zito!.Despite having found Zito's 1981 Slasher The Prowler to be an unbelievably dull movie,I decided to push any negative preconceptions to the side,due to hoping that Zito would unleash his "blood rage" in this film.

View on the film:

Shooting the film on location on the streets of New York,director Joseph Zito makes the mean streets the star of his hard-nosed Grindhouse Horror,with Zito surprisingly keeping the blood to a minimum,to instead smash the viewer's face repeatedly on the curb by showing the New York that Ryan (played by a great,angelic looking James Johnson) to be one that is filled with thugs,pimps addicts and not one single likable character.

Matching Zito's directing style,the lean screenplay by Robert Jahn has a strong nihilistic streak running straight through it.With the places that Ryan visits,Jahn reveals them to be covered in seedy grime and grunge,which Jahn shows are made extra murky by the blood that Ryan splatters across the streets as his rage takes control.

Decent Exploitation

[zaccrook · 6/10 · 27 January 2024]

Bloodrage is not a great film. It's also not so-bad-it's-good. It's simply watchable and decently fun. Despite the lack of gore, the film is very gritty. You can almost smell the New York bars and apartment halls. Exploitation fans should find the amount of violence that is present thrilling enough, even if it's not overly explicit. There's a ton of nudity, so that box is checked if that's your thing. Overall, Bloodrage is a good watch if you go into it knowing what you're going to get. What you get is a simple plot about a guy who kills hookers and his further descent into madness. The sparse plot is very lean and tight. The acting is pretty darn good overall with the exception of a few characters.