Mardi Gras Massacre

Mardi Gras Massacre
Directed by Jack Weis
Produced by Jack Weis
Written by Jack Weis
Starring Curt Dawson
Gwen Arment
William Metzo
Laura Misch Owens
Music by Dennis Coffey
Mike Theodore
Release date
  • August 11, 1978 (1978-08-11)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Mardi Gras Massacre is a 1978 American horror film written and directed by Jack Weis. It is a semi-remake of the 1963 film Blood Feast.[1] The plot follows a serial killer roaming the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, sacrificing women to a Peruvian god. The film is notable for its reputation as a "video nasty," having been banned in the United Kingdom upon its release and given an X rating in the United States.[2]

Plot

In New Orleans, Louisiana, a man named John arrives at a bar searching for the "evilest" prostitute he can take home. He is directed to Shirley, who agrees to leave with him for two-hundred dollars. At his home, he asks her to lie on a table. She undresses, and John re-enters the room in a robe and wearing a mysterious metal mask. He begins massaging her, and then ties her to the table and eviscerates her, removes her heart, and offers it on an altar in an Aztec sacrifice to the goddess Coatl.

Sergeant Frank Hebert and his partner are assigned to Shirley's murder case after her body is found on train tracks in the city. When questioning other local prostitutes, Hebert meets Sherry, and discovers from her that the man whom Shirley had left with the night she died wore an unusual gold ring.

Meanwhile, John continues to stalk local strip clubs and bars for further female victims, performing the same evisceration and sacrificial murders on them. Hebert eventually comes upon a delivery man who helps lead police to the apartment belonging to John, where he has three women held hostage for a ritual sacrifice planned for the Mardi Gras celebration.

The police raid the apartment and save the three women, but John escapes on foot, finds a car, and begins a high-speed chase that ends with him crashing in the Gulf of Mexico. When they pull the car from the Gulf, they find the ritual mask, but John is nowhere to be found.

Cast

  • Curt Dawson as Sergeant Frank Hebert
  • Gwen Arment as Sherry
  • William Metzo as John
  • Laura Misch Owens as Shirley Anderson
  • Cathryn Lacey as Disco Girl #1
  • Nancy Dancer as Disco Girl #2

Release

Mardi Gras Massacre was released in the United States on August 11, 1978, and was given an X rating by the MPAA.[3]

The film was on the UK government's list of Video Nasties in the 1980s and has not been resubmitted to the BBFC for a certificate since.[4]

Home media

The film was released on DVD by Code Red in September 2011[5] and was later released on Blu-ray in 2016.[6]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "Mardi Gras Massacre". TV Guide. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  2. ↑ Campbell 2008, p. 28.
  3. ↑ "Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ Rockoff 2002, p. 167.
  5. ↑ "Maria's B-Movie Mayhem: Mardi Gras Massacre". DVD Talk. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Mardi Gras Massacre". Mondo Digital. September 22, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2017.

Sources

  • Campbell, Ramsey (2008). The Grin of the Dark. Tor. ISBN 978-0-765-31939-5.
  • Rockoff, Adam (2002). Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978-1986. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9192-6.
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