Three sets of women and their husbands are asked to spend three days in their late father’s house in a secluded location before his will is read. But the people there to look after them seem very odd indeed, especially a very creepy man called Colin who the audience has seen kill two people earlier in the film and then goes on to eat a live rat- a huge red flag in anyone’s book.

Blood Rites was originally called The Ghastly Ones on it’s intial release in 1968 and is a film by the cult filmmaker Andy Milligan who has a reputation wherein some people love his work and others hate it. He seems to be a prime example of a ‘marmite’ film director.

Where do I stand on the film? It’s OK. It’s certainly not a bad as others have found it and it’s certainly watchable, primarily as it passed the ‘mobile phone’ test in that I didn’t feel the need to check my phone once. The shocking gore effects were handled pretty well despite of the film’s micro-budget, as does the rest of the film. Apprently, the budget was so low that Milligan carried out several duties to save on costs, including making the period costumes. And he does a good job. Yes, the film is rough around the edges but, so what.

That being said, I wouldn’t exactly be eager to watch this again. But, I’m glad I’ve finally seen it. And Blood Rites accomplishes something else that the neysayers didn’t expect- it wants me to see more of Milligan’s films. Thank God for physical media and labels releasing back catalogues of cult filmmakers for directors like Milligan (the label in this case is Severin Films).

Worth investigation.

2.5 out of 5 stars