The Bloodstained Lawn – Italian: Il prato macchiato di rosso - is a 1973 Italian horror film written and directed by Riccardo Ghione. It stars Marina Malfatti (Seven Blood-stained Orchids; They’re Coming to Get You; The Red Queen Kills 7 Times), Enzo Tarascio (The Designated Victim; The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave; The Dead Are Alive), Nino Castelnuovo, Daniela Caroli, George Willing (Necropolis; Who Saw Her Die?), Claudio Biava, Barbara Marzano (Torso; The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance), Dominique Boschero (Libido; The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire; They’re Coming to Get You) and Lucio Dalla. The film’s working title was apparently Vampiro 2000.
Plot teaser:
A couple of wandering hippies meet a man by the name of Antonio who takes them to the home where he lives with his sister and brother-in-law. There they meet several strange characters: a gypsy woman, a prostitute and a disturbing drunk. The host tells them that he is a producer of wines and loves to entertain strange people. In fact he is a madman who has created a mechanism that can suck blood from human bodies…
Reviews:
“The underlying concepts are watered down by the ample scenes of nonsensical behaviour – like our hippy lovebirds showering in wine, and skipping hand in hand to some groovy hipster music playing in the background. All this aside, The Bloodstained Lawn is a decent romp, far more interesting than it really deserves to be, and well worth checking out if you like your Euro-thriller/horrors with a curious edge.” The Gore Splattered Corner
“Sometimes a film uses tropes that are recognisable from the vampire genre and it is enough to see it as a take on the genre. I felt that this did, but it is entirely up for debate and I expect that many will disagree. The film is also very surreal – and I don’t just mean the flamboyant ties, tied as bowties, worn by Enzo Tarascio’s character Dr. Antonio Genovese.” Taliesin Meets The Vampires
“Unbridled kitsch dominates every shot, putting it in the same category as Ed D. Wood’s or Ted V. Mikels’ most staggering works. To find other films of this ilk you have to seek out Cesare Canevari’s ‘opera omnia’ or the rarest Renato Polselli films. This is not your usual so-bad-its-good film; in fact it’s not that bad… it’s simply the UGLIEST! Every aspect of Il prato from dialogue to photography, from costumes to sets, is the epitome of Seventies ribaldry. The script is decidedly delirious and the actors all appear to be high on drugs. Never mind the clumsy social message – the wealthy bourgeoisie draining the blood of the homeless to get richer – just enjoy the mind-boggling experience.” Simone Romano, Delirium fanzine
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