Jack Weis' Mardi Gras Massacre is a semi-remake of Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast (1963), a film where a religious zealot mutilates and sacrifices young women to an ancient Babylonian god. Except in Mardi Gras Massacre, it's about a religious zealot sacrificing young prostitutes to an ancient Aztec god. So there are several scenes where the villain hires a prostitute, chains her to an altar, and guts them from genitals to gullet. It may just be me, but I could swear that they used the same torso prop for each of the murders. Anyhow, just like in Blood Feast, this film also has a sub-plot about the cops trying to solve the string of murders. What's more, one of the cops gets a sub-plot of his very own where he gets into a relationship with a prostitute! And guess what? It goes nowhere! I'll give Weis some credit: he at least knows how to frame a shot and take advantage of the fact that he was filming on location in New Orleans. But the acting is still incredibly stilted, the effects amateurish, and the murder scenes deliriously repetitive. At least in Blood Feast the murder scenes changed things up from kill to kill. The best part in Mardi Gras Massacre was a scene where the villain decided to let one of his victims escape because she was too innocent and pure-hearted for his purposes. But she insists on "getting it on" because he already paid her. And guess what happens? He murders her. Shocking, I know.
4/10
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