Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J Warren, 1976-1987 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J Warren, 1976-1987 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 29, 2020

It might be an interesting bi-continental quiz to ask film fans in the United Kingdom if they recognize the name Herschell Gordon Lewis, while at the same time asking film fans in the United States if they recognize the name Norman John Warren. My hunch (and it’s only a hunch) is that Lewis might fare a bit better than Warren (meaning at least in part that British cineastes might be more globally aware than Americans), but that said, the two men are at least passingly comparable in that each offered exploitation outings that tended to feature both scantily clad (and sometimes naked) women and horror elements in about equal measure. Arrow released the massive The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast* a few years ago which aggregated a bunch of Lewis’ films (there are other compilations available, including The Lost Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis* and Shock and Gore: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis*), and now Powerhouse Films’ Indicator imprint has aggregated a quintet of Warren films to whet fans’ appetites. As with some of Lewis’ efforts, the Warren films are often low budget affairs, but they arguably tend to be a cut above (no gore pun intended) some of Lewis’ films in terms of general production values and even performance acumen. All five films in this set have either already received Blu-ray releases in the United States, or are about to as this review goes live (in the case of Inseminoid), but Powerhouse's website lists this set as offering debuts of the films on Blu-ray for the United Kingdom market.

* Note: The links points to United States releases since there are reviews for some of those which some readers might be interested in perusing, though there are UK releases of both The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast and Shock and Gore: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis.

For reviews of the five films in this set, please click on the following links:

Satan's Slave Blu-ray review

Prey Blu-ray review

Terror Blu-ray review

Inseminoid Blu-ray review

Bloody New Year Blu-ray review

Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J Warren, 1976-1987 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J Warren, 1976-1987 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J Warren, 1976-1987 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplemental material on each disc is detailed in the above linked reviews. Powerhouse provided only check discs for purposes of this review, but from their listing on their website this looks like another typically very handsomely packaged release which includes a slipbox and insert booklets.

Bloody Terror: The Shocking Cinema of Norman J Warren, 1976-1987 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even Norman J. Warren seems to recognize that his horror films are not going to make most fans' all time classics list, but each of the films in this set is at least passingly interesting, if for no other reason than to see how almost shamelessly Warren and his creative team utilized ideas and styles from other horror outings. Powerhouse has assembled a set with generally solid technical merits and some outstanding supplements, for those who are considering a purchase.