The Film (2.5/5)

After suffering years of abuse by his father, a young deaf accountant starts to discover his love of the color red. This soon turns into an impulse for blood and recreating cuts and wounds. Before long he is breaking into grave sites and robbing corpses of random body parts. But there may be hope for him as he falls in love with a dreamy neighbor girl. The only issue is she has a love for dancing and rooftops.

BLOODLUST (1977) was released in some areas as MOSQUITO, which honestly a more fitting title for this bizarro adult fairy tale. As a character study its fast and weird, but it plays better when you go in expecting more of a vampire type story compared to a serial killer. While moody and full of late seventies style, BLOODLUST is a bit of disappointment.

The pacing is the biggest issue with a great opening and closing acts, but the middle drags on. It has a uneasiness that starts to pop up its head. The treatment of women and their attuite to sex is the most distasteful. With many scenes with uptight hookers, and an out of nowhere lesbian sex scene that is intercut with some death footage. The workplace scenes are played out in a normal manner, but some of the abuse delivered by the coworkers feels unnecessary and more like filler.

In terms of performances, Werner Pochath makes an interesting lead. There is some moments of true human emotion and tragedy. But these are few and far between. But the film’s biggest asset is its musical score by David Llywelyn.

Audio/Video (4/5)

Mondo Macabro brings BLOODLUST to shiny Blu-ray disc with two language tracks. The German 2.0 DTS-HD MA track is the clearer of the two. There is plenty of rich sound effects and vivid music. The English 2.0 DTS-HD MA track is softer and has a few sudden drop outs of sound. One point at the 30-minute mark the sound completely cuts off. English subtitles are included.

The 1080p HD picture is softer during the night scenes. There is some minor motion blur and some print damage. The colors are clear and look great, especially the reds. The black levels are also sharp.

Extras (3/5)

First up is an interview with the assistant director Marijan David Vajda on how the project came into being and the filming process. There is even some mention of the notorious “Vampire of Nuremberg” story. Next up is a longer interview with actress Birgit Zamulo who goes into depth on how she entered the move business and her love affair with Pochath. It’s a sweet and honest interview with plenty of awkward human moments. The highlight of the disc. Rounding out the disc is the original UK trailer and 13 minutes of Mondo Macabro previews. Love their theme music!

Overall (3/5)

BLOODLUST is a moody oddity, but it left me feeling cold and disinterested. Worth a viewing for die hard fans of 70’s sleaze.