| Blood Rage | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Grissmer |
| Produced by | Marianne Kanter |
| Written by | Bruce Rubin |
| Starring | Louise Lasser Mark Soper |
| Release date(s) | 1987 |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Blood Rage (Nightmare at Shadow Woods) is a 1983 slasher film written by Bruce Rubin and directed by John Grissmer. It was produced by Marianne Kanter and starred Louise Lasser.
Contents |
Todd and Terry are twins. They are blonde, cute, bright and identical in every respect, with one exception. One of them is a murderer. This starts one night at a drive-in theater when a teenager was slaughtered in the back seat of his car while his girlfriend watched. Todd is found guilty for the heinous crime and is locked away in an asylum.
Years passed and Terry lives happily with his mother (Louise Lasser), who smothers him with enough love for two sons. All is fine until one Thanksgiving when they receive news that Todd escaped. Terry goes on a killing spree to ensure that Todd goes back to the asylum. His first kill is his mothers fiancée, when he chops off his arm with a machete, before stabbing him to death.
Meanwhile, Dr. Berman and her assistant, Jackie, go out in search for Todd. Jackie assistant meets a sticky end, when he is stabbed by Terry. Dr. Berman also suffers the same fate. Whilst in the woods looking for Todd, she comes across Terry, who cuts her in half with the machete, leaving her to die.
After the killings, Terry changes from his bloody T-shirt in to a vest. He then proceeds to the place where his new neighbour, Andrea, is babysitting a young new born baby. They then begin a mini relationship, until the parents come home. Whilst that was happening, a friend of Terry's, Karen (who Terry has feelings for), bumps into Todd thinking he is Terry. So when Todd announces himself to her, she panics and runs away, telling her friends.
Karen later tells Terry about seeing his brother. He then disappears into the night in search for him, whilst Karen, Gregg, Brad go back to Andrea's house for a party. Terry tells Maddie that Todd has escaped. She starts to panic. Meanwhile Todd comes across Dr. Berman's split body and breakdown over it, trying to move the body back together. Back at the young born baby's house, the parents are looking forward to a night together - until Terry knocks on the door. The father answers the doors and is decapitated. The mother goes to check where the father is and discovers his head hanging from a rope. Suddenly, Terry jumps out of know where and kills her.
Later on, Andrea and Gregg leave the party to play tennis. They are unaware that Terry is watching them. They both leave soon after and have sex on the diving board by the swimming pool. Terry surprises them and kills them. He later meets up with Brad and Karen. Brad goes off to find the now extinct Gregg and Andrea. When getting in the car, he meets Todd, who asks him to help him get Terry as he is killing people. Brad doesn't believe him, that is until Todd holds a gun up at his head. Karen and Terry meanwhile are have a sexual moment together. Brad knocks at the door and Terry answers it and sees Todd holding a gun at him. Todd later disappears. Brad and Terry go running off to find Todd, but Brad meets his maker when Terry stabs him in the neck with a carving fork.
Karen finds Terry and discovers his secret, when he attempts to kill her. He chases her all over the place, and in the process she discovers Brad's body. She runs to the young baby's house and discovers the mothers corpse. She takes the baby and runs for her live when Terry enters the house. Whilst all that is happening, Maddie finally discovers Terry's secret when she finds his bloodied T-shirt in the bin. She goes in search of her fiancée, only to discover him dead.
The final showdown between brothers come at the swimming pool and they both battle for survival. They both tumble into the water, Todd becomes weak and almost drowns. Maddie then appears and shoots Terry - killing him. Maddie and Todd embrace. Although Maddie thinks she has killed Todd, and when Todd tell her who he really is, she picks up a gun and shoots herself in the head. Karen shocked runs away, whilst Todd's fate is unknown as the police arrive making the audience wander what will happen to him now.
Although the film was shot in 1983, it was given only a limited release theatrically in the United States by the Film Concept Group under the title Nightmare at Shadow Woods in 1987. It was released on VHS by Prism Entertainment through Paramount Home Video the same year under the title Blood Rage.[1]
Nightmare at Shadow Woods (which was also the cable television title for this film) was heavily edited, abbreviating much of the gore of the original 1983 version. However, the 1987 VHS Blood Rage version by Prism Entertainment mentioned above is a different edit of the theatrical release of the same year (Blood Rage is not to be confused with the 1979 film Bloodrage, aka Never Pick Up a Stranger). The Nightmare at Shadow Woods version is missing an early scene where Maddy visits Todd at the mental hospital, but includes a swimming pool scene not found in the Blood Rage version. The Nightmare at Shadow Woods version had a budget DVD release in 2004 by Legacy Entertainment, but as of September 2011 is out of print. The Blood Rage version has not been officially released on DVD as of September 2011.