BLOOD AND LACE (1971)

Director: Philip S. Gilbert

Writer: Gil Lasky

Producers: Ed Carli, Gil Lasky

Cast: Melody Patterson, Gloria Grahame, Len Lesser, Vic Tayback, Milton Selzer, Ronald Taft, Terri Messina, Dennis Christopher, Maggie Corey, Peter Armstrong, Mary Strawberry, Louise Sherrill, Joe Durkin 

Prostitute Edna Masters (Louise Sherrill) and her “john” (Joe Durkin) are asleep in her bedroom when they are beaten to a pulp with a claw hammer. Then the killer sets the house on fire. Edna’s teenage daughter Ellie (Melody Patterson) is the only witness. Now orphaned, Ellie is placed in the Deere Youth Home. Ellie resents being cooped up in the county orphanage and the harsh discipline and chores imposed on her by Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame), the orphanage director. Ellie’s resentment turns to terror when she becomes convinced that a disfigured man with a hammer is stalking her. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

If the famous Theatre of Grand Guignol in Paris were still around in 1971, Blood and Lace would have been perfect subject matter for one of their hysterical and grisly plays. Here we have people in dire situations with little hope resulting in treachery, madness, and death. The tone of this thing is an indicator of the sort of mood the '70s horror film would often strive for.

Blood and Lace is kid-centric horror that was all the more intense for its young audience because it was reminding them just how scary their world can be without parents. This horror can really get under a kid’s skin, as it seems to be a perversion of the fairy tale. As in many fairy tales, kids are the ones most at risk here, but the time is modern, there is no magic, and morality is seemingly obsolete. Only the evil menacing lost children is the fairy tale touchstone that may feel familiar, but this was rarely ever the case in horror films that would usually play for kids in the weekend matinees.

As many have noted before, this was pretty damned strong stuff for a GP rated film. In the early days of the film ratings system, GP was the equivalent of today’s PG. That meant that any kid could see it and probably got more than they bargained for. With its themes of family dysfunction, corrupt ethics, lust, madness, and murder amidst the setting of an orphanage, Blood and Lace always manages to feel really inappropriate. That’s what makes it so memorable. 

The opening sequence of the killer’s POV shots in Blood and Lace has often been considered a precursor to the openings of the later '70s classics Black Christmas (1974) and Halloween (1978). Whether this was an actual influence or not, it was certainly creative and creepy. 

Critics have always been eager to bash this film. I think that most critics miss the whole point of Blood and Lace. It is striving for the uncomfortable contrast of the mundane with the morbid. The dismal confines of an orphanage harboring gruesome secrets while personal conflicts spiral out of control create a tense dynamic. Having kids living in the midst of this evil gives the story a disturbing edge.

Although Melody Patterson is portraying the minor Ellie Masters, she is an experienced enough actress to give a strong performance. She can be as spirited, petty, stressed, or terrified as the situations demand. We root for her when she slaps her fellow orphan and hunky love interest Walter (Ronald Taft). Of all the characters in the story, we empathize the most with her.

This perverse fairy tale’s “witch” is Gloria Grahame’s Mrs. Deere. Being hopelessly devoted to her late husband, she has developed some peculiar notions about death. Mrs. Deere is probably insane and is truly despicable. Each of her orphans mean nothing more to her than a $150 per month payment from the county. She seems to resent all of the kids under her care, keeps them busy with chores, and slaps the shit out of them when they get out of line. She makes things even worse for the kids that try to run away.

My favorite performer is Len Lesser as the boozing orphanage handyman Tom Kredge. He is also fond of slapping kids around in this slaphappy flick. However, that’s just child’s play compared to what he can do with a meat cleaver. While he functions as Mrs. Deere’s henchman, he is often in conflict with her. Their scenes together are some of the best. They indulge in a lot of dark humor whether they are cooperating or are at odds with each other.

Prolific character actor Milton Selzer is on hand as unethical social worker Harold Mullins. He and Mrs. Deere have an “arrangement.” Mullins steers the county’s orphans Mrs. Deere’s way so that she gets paid and he gets laid. The carnal favors Mrs. Deere performs keep Mullins from being too thorough in his inspections of the Deere Youth Home. 

Another familiar face from television is Vic Tayback as County Detective Calvin Carruthers. He is trying to locate the murderer of Ellie’s mother and is concerned that Ellie may be in danger. Like Harold Mullins, Carruthers is another county worker whose sense of duty is ethically suspect. The scene they share together at a bar early in the film is well written and well played. It serves to establish the seedy and slippery morality of these two characters and the tone of the entire story. 

The other principals in the cast are three of Ellie’s fellow orphans. Ronald Taft, as Walter, seems like the nice, handsome guy that we expect heroic things from, but he turns out to be unreliable. Terri Messina, as Bunch, is the frustrated and flirtatious sixteen-year-old girl that is eager to grow up. She is actually quite endearing. In an early role, Dennis Christopher appears as Pete, the always hungry and nosy kid that never seems to get any respect, yet almost exposes the sinister shenanigans of Mrs. Deere and Tom Kredge.

In its final act, the film builds to a frantic culmination of confrontations and revelations. There is a quick succession of twists at the conclusion leaving us with the unsettling notion that there are no more heroes, kiddies. Blood and Lace is deemed a proto-slasher by many and certainly brandished the nihilism horror would keep slinging throughout the '70s.