Blood Beat

A samurai in Wisconsin, and not just any old samurai but a ghostly one with telekinetic powers. But what else would you expect from a film shot in Wisconsin by a French crew with American actors and edited in Paris? And did I mention the woman who spontaneously orgasms every time it claims a victim?

This oddity starts off cliched enough as as brother and sister Dolly and Ted come back from college for Christmas holidays. Ted's girlfriend Sarah is also along for the trip, which is a good thing since there is a present for her under the tree despite the fact Ted didn't tell anyone she was coming...

We quickly settle into the usual family drama set up Dolly upsets everyone with her plans to drop out of college. Mom and Dad are having issues because she would rather paint than be there for him. And to top it all off Mom and Sarah have this weird deja-vu thing followed by a staring contest

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The weird kicks into gear the next day when they all go deer hunting and Sarah freaks out at the thought of shooting Bambi. As all of this is going down a random hunter is meeting a nasty end at the hands of someone or something unseen, and of course our happy group stumble across the messy, (or as messy as the budget will allow), aftermath. That night Mother has an odd seizure like incident of guided painting while Sarah finds a chest with a samurai’s armor and weapons, a chest which of course vanishes when she tries to show the others.

And then all incomprehensible hell breaks loose. A samurai bathed in a ghostly blue light starts killing people. A kitchen comes to malevolent life. Sarah lies on the bed, apparently masturbating, body arching and sounding damn sure like she's cumming every time the samurai claims a victim. A fleeing victim leads the armored entity to the family's house and it all ends in a battle of psychic powers complete with animated rays shooting from people's hands...

  Now maybe it was the mix of French filmmakers and Midwestern talent or just good old 80's drugs but this film is just messed up. I mean after a night of terror do the main characters get out of Dodge? No they go deer hunting and run into the samurai in the woods, and still just go back home afterward. A gutted body in the woods and a man killed by an arrow on their doorstep don't scare them off either. And just how/why is a mystic Japanese warrior stalking the backwoods of Wisconsin?

This is one of those films where they tossed wild batch of ideas into a pot, heat till it boils, then toss the resulting stew against a wall and see what sticks. Everything from WW2 stock footage, (mushroom cloud included), to electronically processed voices and deer hunting, complete with real, gutted deer are part of the menu, and even if it doesn't all stick, it's an oddly tasty stew. Granted it's best served with a side order of hash, or at least a few beers, but it is oddly tasty.

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                                                          Blood Beat (1983) Trailer