Blood Bath

There was probably never anyone quite like Roger Corman in the film industry, indeed to call him a maverick would be an understatement. When it came to taking advantage of an ‘opening’ no one was ever quicker off the mark… but no matter how extraordinary the tale, nothing and no one could ever top the making of Blood Bath – a film originating in Dubrovnik and available in four different versions with four different titles!

Shortly before Blood Bath (1966) was made, Corman had produced Dementia 13 which was made in Ireland in '62 and directed by one of his then assistants: Francis Ford Coppola (Daniel Haller was another). By this time Corman had discovered that he could make a film in Yugoslavia's Dubrovnik practically for a penny - Corman clearly living up to his justifiable reputation as the king of the low budget movies. Pleased with what Coppola had achieved with Dementia 13 he entrusted his assistant to go to Dubrovnik and make a horror film. This Coppola did and took with him two of the leads from the Dementia film, namely William Campbell and Irish stage actor Patrick Magee. It is here that the convoluted story of Blood Bath begins... yes, thanks to Arrow Films you can finally see ALL of them in chronological order. This is a bit of a feast for any budding scriptwriters out there.

The first film is the 1963 b/w espionage thriller Operation Titian, made almost entirely by a Yugoslavian crew and featuring a Yugoslavian cast which later on were dubbed. The only to English-speaking cast members were Campbell as nutty artist Tony Sordi (who has his studio in the tower of the old museum) and Magee as a hitman – together they have conceived a plan to steal a painting from the museum and replace it with a copy… of course, things go horribly wrong and folks start to get killed. Despite some atmospheric and sinister shots (especially the opening shot is worth it!) the film is little more than a ‘Whodunnit’ pepped up with some interesting Dubrovnik locations.
When Coppola arrived back in the States, boss Corman was far from happy with the end product, as it was not a horror film. Cue for a second version of this film titled Portrait In Terror (where the technicians are given American names and an American director is credited). The second version has some tediously drawn out and occasionally re-shuffled scenes, including a number of sequences that don't altogether tie-up - particularly regarding Magee's white suited assassin. Corman didn't like any of this either and got Jack Hill to write a completely new film (still with Campbell aboard who was now back in the States).

The third version (albeit without Magee and obviously without the Yugoslavs) was, thanks to Hill's script, much more like what Corman had anticipated – it even had a supernatural element to it. Sordi is now a vampire possessed by his ancient ancestor. Unfortunately, whenever he turns into a vampire we see another actor looking nothing like Campbell (this had something to do with Campbell's availability and his demand for a higher paycheck). The story is transferred to California’s Venice Beach area where our Tony Sordi is another local artist whose macabre depictions of naked and mutilated female corpses are very popular with art buyers. Obviously they are based on what the mentally challenged young man has been really doing in his studio, though the art buyers don’t have a clue. After killing his models he encases them in wax (sounds familiar) and it provides the opportunity for one or two gruesome scenes which do the title of this third vehicle, Blood Bath, proud. The human incarnation of Tony fancies a ballerina which reminds his supernatural incarnation of former love Melizza (both dames are played by Linda Saunders), a witch who was burnt at the stake. Magee makes only a brief appearance here as a corpse covered in wax (footage from the Dubrovnik film) yet it is not explained how he comes to be a corpse in Sordi’s Californian studio. Hill pays homage to a few earlier Corman classics (such as the 1959 Bucket Of Blood) with a gang of beatnik artists (including Sid Haig and Jonathan Haze) and whose base appears to be a local coffee house. Hill's film is a nice little horror number – atmospherically shot and on a good pace. Unfortunately, it only lasts a little over an hour but has a very effective finale what with some of the waxwork victims coming back to life via Melizza’s spell!

Enter version four, titled Track Of The Vampire and once again set in California’s Venice Beach area. Corman had brought in Deborah Rothman (billed as co-writer/director) to pad the previous film out. Some of what Rothman did is quite inspired, even using a large Magee segment from the Dubrovnik film (having him dubbed by two American actors) and here featuring his character as a cuckolded husband of a nightclub dancer. When attempting to confront Sordi (who is in any case impotent) in his studio, Magee is pushed through a trap door into a huge cauldron with boiling wax. Unfortunately some of the other stuff is embarrassingly superfluous like the calisthenic dance sequence on the beach.

A curates egg, this! The 2-disc set is well worth picking up. Campbell (probably best known as 'The Squire of Gothos' from The Twilight Zone) is on fine form as the demented artist. Magee is always Magee and can be equated with a pint of Guinness. Ronald Stein's (another Corman favorite) score from a previous Corman film is used (how typical).

On the SPECIAL FEATURES side, we are also treated to a lengthy documentary about the film’s history (in contrast, THIS review does but touch the tip of the iceberg).

SPECIAL FEATURES:

· Limited Edition collection of the complete Blood Bath

· High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of four versions of the film: Operation Titian, Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire

· Brand new 2K restorations of Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire from original film materials

· Brand new reconstruction of Operation Titian using original film materials and standard definition inserts

· Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all four versions

· The Trouble with Titian Revisited – a brand new visual essay in which Tim Lucas returns to (and updates) his three-part Video Watchdog feature to examine the convoluted production history of Blood Bath and its multiple versions

· Bathing in Blood with Sid Haig – a new interview with the actor, recorded exclusively for this release

· Archive interview with producer-director Jack Hill

· Stills gallery

· Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artworks

· Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford

· Limited edition booklet containing new writing on the film and its cast by Anthony Nield, Vic Pratt, Cullen Gallagher and Peter Beckman