''Blood Delirium'' ( it, Blood Delirium (Delirio di sangue)) is a
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
Italian
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by
Sergio Bergonzelli
Sergio Bergonzelli (25 August 1924 – 24 September 2002) was an Italian director, screenwriter, producer and actor.
Life and career
Born in Alba, Cuneo, Bergonzelli graduated in Philosophy, then he started working as an actor with the stage ...
. The film involves the painter Saint Simon (
John Phillip Law
John Phillip Law (September 7, 1937 – May 13, 2008) was an American film actor.
Following a breakthrough role as a Russian sailor in ''The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming'' (1966), Law became best known for his roles as g ...
) who loses his sanity after the death of his wife. Along with his butler Hermann (
Gordon Mitchell
Gordon Mitchell (born Charles Allen Pendleton; July 29, 1923 – September 20, 2003) was an American actor and bodybuilder who made about 200 B movies.
Biography
Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, Colorado, and began working out in hi ...
), they meet a young pianist named Sybille (Brigitte Christiensen) who resembles his dead wife home to their castle. After Saint Simon discovers that blood from a murder victim re-inspires him artistically, he orders Hermann to seek out more women for him while Sybille is held captive in the castle.
Plot
After the death of his wife Christine, the painter Saint Simon begins to lose his inspiration and his sanity. With the help of his butler Hermann, Saint Simon exhumed the corpse of his dead wife. Later, at an exhibition of his work, Saint Simon meets a young pianist named Sybille, who closely resembles Christine. He invites the woman to his castle, hoping it will cause his inspiration to reappear. The woman's presence initially fails to inspire his art, but after Saint Simon discovers that Hermann has attempted to rape a young woman and has killed her. Saint Simon discovers that the blood is the right color he requires for his paintings.
Saint Simon sends Hermann to go after Sybille's friend Corinne who is murdered with her blood drained for Saint Simon's art. Sybille is imprisoned in the castle, left to be the next victim to Hermann and Saint Simon until her fiancé Gerard arrives to save her.
Production
''Blood Delirium'' was director
Sergio Bergonzelli
Sergio Bergonzelli (25 August 1924 – 24 September 2002) was an Italian director, screenwriter, producer and actor.
Life and career
Born in Alba, Cuneo, Bergonzelli graduated in Philosophy, then he started working as an actor with the stage ...
's first attempt at a gothic horror film in his three-decade career which spanned working in Italy, France, Turkey, Spain and Greece. The director was predominantly making pornography for most of the decade and had only returned to feature film work with this erotic thriller ''
Tentazione''. Bergonzelli is credited as Peter Storage in the film's credits. In an interview in 1996, Bergonzelli stated he wrote the film with
Fabio De Agostini although De Agostini is not credited in the credits. De Agostini had previously worked with Bergonzelli on previous scripts including ''
Silvia e amore'' and ''
In the Folds of the Flesh
In the Folds of the Flesh ( it, Nelle pieghe della carne) is a 1970 Italian / Spanish giallo film produced and directed by Sergio Bergonzelli. The screenplay was co-written by Fabio De Agostini and Bergonzelli, from a story outline by Mario Caiano. ...
''
Among the cast was
John Phillip Law
John Phillip Law (September 7, 1937 – May 13, 2008) was an American film actor.
Following a breakthrough role as a Russian sailor in ''The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming'' (1966), Law became best known for his roles as g ...
who took on the role to work again with his friend
Gordon Mitchell
Gordon Mitchell (born Charles Allen Pendleton; July 29, 1923 – September 20, 2003) was an American actor and bodybuilder who made about 200 B movies.
Biography
Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, Colorado, and began working out in hi ...
. Law spoke negatively about the film later, "That one, yes, is extremely bad. When my Italian agent found out I had starred in it, he practically exploded. "John, you can't make movies like that! Don't you take yourself seriously?" The rest of the cast included
Olinka Hardiman
Olinka Hardiman (born 16 January 1960) is a French model and actress. She is best known for her strong resemblance to actress Marilyn Monroe, whom Hardiman has occasionally portrayed in pornographic parodies. She is also known by other pseudony ...
who also appeared in ''Tentazione'' in one of her rare non-
hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography, or hardcore porn, is pornography that features detailed depictions of sexual organs or sexual acts such as vaginal, anal or oral intercourse, fingering, anilingus, ejaculation, and fetish play. The term is in contrast wi ...
roles. The film was shot in the 13th century castle of Pereto in the
Abruzzo region.
Release
Although ''Blood Delirium'' was submitted to the Italian ratings board where it passed with a V.M.14 rating on 8 August 1988, the film was released
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
in Italy by the distributor Azzurra. The home video version removed most of the film's gorier scenes.
Reception
Robert Firsching of
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
opined that ''Blood Delirium'' was a "ridiculous horror film" that was "
Absolute trash, this one is for completists and masochists only."
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
External links
* {{IMDb title, 0094762
Italian horror films
Gothic horror films
Direct-to-video horror films
Films about fictional painters
Films shot in Abruzzo
Films set in castles
Films with screenplays by Sergio Bergonzelli
Films directed by Sergio Bergonzelli