Color Me Blood Red (1965)

Any splatter film fan will be familiar with the works of Herschell Gordon Lewis, the godfather of gore, and his pioneering works of the ‘60s and ‘70s so I won't get into his extensive career here. But did you also know he wrote Everybody’s Guide To Plate Collecting?

Ok but let’s focus. I found this old busted up VHS tape at a flea market a few years ago, and had no clue who Lewis was. I just knew I was drawn to the guts all over the cover. Color Me Blood Red is the final film in Lewis’ “gore trilogy,” though he would revisit the genre a number of other times throughout his career. While not as appreciated as the previous two, Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs, this outing is just plain awesome for a number of reasons. 1) It's semi-autobiographical 2) the obvious promotion of the “paddle wheel” water bicycle 3) And some incredible quotes: “Listen, pal, you'd be rude, too, if you saw your girl tied up, and a man with an axe in one hand and a bloody mess in the other. And a corpse outside there on the beach.” Remember though, it’s just a movie, it’s just a movie, it’s just a movie.

Oh and if you’d like to get into plate collecting, here are the steps you need to take.

Buy the whole trilogy here.