NIGHT OF BLOODY HORROR (1970)
Directed by Joy N. Houck Jr.
Starring Gerald McRaney and Gaye Yellen
"Your penance is death!" a priest tells a woman during confessional, just before stabbing her in the eye. At least it's supposed to be a priest. It's really just a killer disguised as a priest. Pretty clever, eh?
The scene is one of the many highlights of this more or less unwatchably bad early 1970s horror films. Bad acting, bad sound, bad special effects, bad writing—this film just about has it all. The film follows the exploits of the victim's boyfriend Wesley (McRaney) who is still mourning the loss of his woman a year after her untimely death. After being beaten up by a band of thugs, he's rescued by a beautiful nurse. Their romance is then depicted through a series of pathetic photographs of the two going on long romantic walks, kissing during sunsets, etc. as lame music drones on in the background.
Of course, this girl turns up dead, an axe in her chest. We're supposed to think Wesley killed her. Naturally, the killer really turns out to Wesley's own mother. Why did she do it? "Because Wesley can't have any friends!"
How she managed to change her voice to that of a man's and pose as a priest at the beginning of the film is never explained. Absolutely, positively, the most pathetic motion picture ever made, anywhere. Not as fun as the bad movies of H.G. Lewis ("Blood Feast"), but for sheer, unadulterated stupidity, this film definitely outdoes all others. The gore effects are especially ludicrous. "Mother!" screams Wesley at the end. The mother of all out-of-print, really bad movies.