Classic Horrors Club

We never learn how or why the spirit of a Japanese samurai is haunting a rural home in Wisconsin of all places, but if you can accept the fact that it simply is happening, the rest of Blood Beat (1983) somehow seems a little less wacky. Writer/director/editor/co-composer Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos came to Chicago from his native France in the late 1970s and supposedly began developing this, his first feature film. He had written a movie in France for his father, Henri, but his film career ultimately stretched no further than Blood Beat.

At first, the production reads like a collection of things gone wrong that somehow overcame the odds to reach completion. For example, Zaphiratos set the story at Christmas because he loved winter in Wisconsin “with three to four feet of snow everywhere, minus twenty degrees.” Yet the movie was filmed in early spring, so there was no snow, and the film even opens with a shot of the countryside thawing. But then, the more you read and learn about the final product’s drug-induced creation and execution, I’m not sure Zaphiratos cared if or when things went wrong.

Contrary to most comments I’ve seen or heard about Blood Beat, I found it to be mostly straightforward. It also exceeded my expectations for being entertained. I was involved with the characters and the story and impressed by the quality of what would normally be cheap-looking special effects of the era. The pulsing blue lights emanating from the samurai ghost and the pulsing red powers shooting from the heroes looked like they were part of the film, not superimposed on top after the fact. That seems like faint praise, but have you seen any early-80s horror/sci-fi productions, even from the major studios?

The movie opens during the aforementioned thaw with Gary (Terry Brown) hunting deer early in the morning. He returns home to his partner, Cathy (Helen Benton), excited to tell her children that they’re getting married, but dejected to hear that Cathy never wants to be married again. He sulks and goes outside to skin the deer, now hanging from a tree. He perks up when the children arrive: Cathy’s daughter, Dolly (Dana Day), her son, Ted (James Fitzgibbons), and his girlfriend, Sara (Claudia Peyton.) There’s a mini-stare down between Cathy and Sara, indicating… something.

I was about to issue a spoiler warning when I realized my words are only a reflection of how I interpreted the plot, not necessarily how it was intended to be interpreted. If you’re still concerned, skip this paragraph. It turns out Cathy is psychic and her connection to Sarah manifests when she’s painting. Sarah becomes possessed by the samurai spirit to wreak havoc upon the family and their neighbors… sort of. She’s either tossing and turning in bed or writhing in ecstasy while the actual spirit is swing his sword. These scenes and ones where she and Ted have sex provide the obligatory nudity required for a slasher.

As far-fetched as this sounds, scenes in Blood Beat evoked other films for me. When Gary is trapped in the kitchen during an extended display of poltergeist-like activity, and various pantry items fly through the air to pummel him, I experienced flashes of Carrie (1976.) The way the camera sometimes moves through the woods made me think momentarily of The Evil Dead (1981.) The tone sometimes reminded me of Tourist Trap (1979.) And the psychic powers of siblings reminded me. in concept, not execution, of The Fury (1978.) None of these were strong enough to say the movie is, for example, “The Evil Dead meets The Fury.”

As for the title, at first I didn’t think much of it. However, I’ve since learned that the words “blood beat” are a reference to the accelerated heartbeat experienced while high. Since Zaphiratos was admittedly under the influence during production, the poltergeist-like scene described above might accurately depict such an experience. There’s a persistent, throbbing beat throughout with flashes of color with a soundtrack that’s a variety of music, from heavy-80’s synth to classical. If nothing else, this scene alone is unsettling and effective enough for me to recommend Blood Beat.