This Gory ‘80s Thanksgiving Slasher Flips the Script on Killer Twins

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Twins have been a tantalizing narrative device for all kinds of movies, from lighter fare like The Parent Trap all the way to deep, difficult cinema like David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers. Something about the mystery and connection between identical twins in particular makes for interesting content, no matter the genre. And the horror genre is no different, as demonstrated in John Grissmer‘s low-budget slasher, Blood Rage. In a sort of strange subversion of John Carpenter’s Halloween, Grissmer conceived of a plot in which somebody escapes from an asylum, but that person was never the real killer. With a sinister and fun dual performance from lead actor Mark Soper, and tons of nauseating gore effects courtesy of Ed French, Blood Rage is a worthy entry to any scary movie night.

The Twin Terror of ‘Blood Rage’

The movie starts with a collage of young people at a drive-in theater, mostly pairing off boy-girl to “watch” the feature presentation. The opening seems quite concerned with this preparation, even showing a shady looking young man (cameo by Ted Raimi) selling condoms in the men’s restroom. During this revelry, we see young twins Terry and Todd witnessing their mother Maddy (Louise Lasser) kissing a man. This sets Terry off, and he commences to murder a random teenager in anger, blaming his flabbergasted brother for the crime. Poor Todd ends up spending the rest of his childhood in an insane asylum, before escaping on Thanksgiving Day ten years later. This escape happens to coincide with Maddy’s happy news that she and her boyfriend Brad (William Fuller) are getting married. Brad happens to own the sprawling, secluded apartment complex Maddy and Terry live in, and the murderous twin is not happy to hear of his mother’s engagement. Now set off once again, and with a convenient scapegoat for his crimes in his escaped brother, Terry begins a blood-soaked murder spree across Shadow Woods Apartments.

The 15 Creepiest Horror Movie Twins, Ranked

“Come play with us, Danny…”

Grissmer makes great use of the confusion caused by identical twins, with hapless victims never knowing if they are talking to Todd, who they think is the killer, or Terry, who is actually the killer. Mark Soper plays both roles, but his performance as Terry is really something special. The film never explicitly says why Terry starts killing literally anyone he sees, but he seems to have a problem with sex. But apart from that, he really just seems to enjoy killing, with Soper supplying a sadistic, almost playful character to the role. Louise Lasser delivers an earnest, if a bit melodramatic, performance as the twins’ mother, exemplified in the tonally confusing ending. And though there are more than a few clunky performances from the other actors, Soper’s delivery is more than enough to keep all eyes glued to the screen.

Ed French Puts the ‘blood’ in ‘Blood Rage’

Mark Soper as Terry, stabs James Farrell as Artie in Blood Rage. — Image via Film Limited

Makeup effects artist Ed French has worked on some pretty big projects in his career, from cult classic Sleepaway Camp all the way to massive films like Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Here, we see him going delightfully over the top with gore effects, with machete dismemberments being the order of the day. In particular, there is one scene in which a man’s beer-clutching hand is chopped off, resulting in a classic blood-spurting wound. Blood Rage has a bisection, complete with subsequent disembowelment, a decapitation, and a sickening split skull that is sure to entice any splatter film lover. All of these effects look believable and horrifying thanks to French, and they really do a lot to add to this B-movie’s cult appeal.

John Grissmer’s twin horror may not be the most original idea to start with, but he does turn the “killer twins” trope on its head by making only one twin evil. And the plot device and mystery of this setting is fun to watch play out on-screen. Mark Soper gives a really underappreciated performance as the murderously chipper Terry, and Ed French supplies plenty of blood and gore to keep horror fans interested. It is not a perfect film, and some of the performances are a bit amateurish and out of place, but for a B-horror, it more than meets its mark. Blood Rage is a fun gore flick in classic ‘80s fashion, with a lot to offer to slasher fans and splatter fans alike.