Director: Jackie Kong
MPAA Rating: NR
Runtime: 88 Minutes
Purchase: Amazon
This product was provided for free for the purpose of this review.
Of all the ’80s genre distribution companies that were born out of the home video market, Vestron Video is one of my personal favorites, so I was ecstatic when I found out that Lionsgate decided to reboot the brand and begin releasing new Blu-ray versions of some of Vestron’s classics. The first two releases to hit store shelves are 1986’s Chopping Mall and 1987’s Blood Diner, both of which I’m familiar, having covered the first on our Grindhouse Weekly feature and the second for my personal #52filmsbywomen challenge.
Blood Diner is an outrageously gory horror comedy from director Jackie Kong that was originally pitched as a sequel to the Herschell Gordon Lewis classic Blood Feast but later morphed into its own stomach-churning beast. The film revolves around two brothers running a small diner on Hollywood Boulevard who, after resurrecting the brain of their murderous uncle, decide to go on a killing spree in order to fulfill an ancient Egyptian prophecy.
Aiming to be as over the top, bloody and offensive as possible, the film – while made for just over $300,000 – manages to still provide some wonderfully cheesy gore effects and is certainly not a film you’ll forget watching anytime soon. What’s more is that Blood Diner was directed by an Asian-American woman in her early 20s, a rarity even for today in Hollywood.
Kong rarely gives interviews regarding her movies, but she was gracious enough to provide one for the new Blu-ray release, which, in addition to talking about the production of the film itself, features her commentary about the state of gender equality in Hollywood, a topic that should continue to be part of the conversation until there are more working women directors.
In addition to the good, not great, video transfer, there are five making-of featurettes that include the aforementioned interview with Kong, along with much of the cast and crew behind the production. Trailers, TV spots, archival footage and a stills gallery are also on the disc, so there are plenty of supplements for fans to sink their teeth into. The Blu-ray also gets bonus points for the high-quality menus featuring the classic doo-wop soundtrack featured in the movie.
Ultimately, the style of humor in Blood Diner is not really my thing, but the film itself is still a fun watch despite not producing many laughs in my household. Fans still rocking the bootleg VHS version of this one will finally be able to upgrade their copy, and I’m all about preserving these ’80s gems.
