Backyard Bloodbaths

Backyard Bloodbaths is a great collection of DIY films, most of which were shot on everything from 16mm film to S-VHS tapes and digital. I have been loving everything Bleeding Skull has been releasing, and this is no different. I sincerely don’t know how they not only collect these underground gems but also get amazing commentary from almost all the filmmakers. Backyard Bloodbaths is a collection of films that are nearly all horror movies, specifically made on close to zero budget, that feel like they were made by friends shooting horror films in their backyard. This theme feels true for almost every film; a couple were more like college film projects, and one feels almost removed from the theme, but is deserving of its own release.

The short films included in this release are a low-fi answer to the question of what if Todd Haynes’ Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story was a short film about serial killer Richard Chase? The Psychotic Odyssey of Richard Chase is probably my favorite of the three short films. The 6-minute short covers the history of Richard Chase, aka the Vampire of Sacramento. We see his childhood trauma, which manifests in his murders shown in excruciating gore, and his later incarceration. The entire film was shot with Barbie dolls instead of actors. Hilarious and effective, this one is worth watching!

The next short is a more modern take on Tetsuo the Iron Man. A.I. Mama is a five-minute short film by Chicago-based filmmaker Asuka Lin originally released in 2020. This film takes place in one room as the wires and tubes connecting a computer squirm and come to life while a screen plays very cool visual art mixed with very impressive stop motion animation. It’s a horror to behold!

The final short in this release is a very convincing 60’s influenced animated short, sending up the old Weird and Eerie publications of the 50’s. BLOOD BATH: TALES OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS tells the story of a drug party gone wrong. Two gentlemen go to a party where they take LSD, and all hell breaks loose. In a very cool vintage style with psychedelic interludes, this short is well worth watching.

The three features are the big draws to this release. The first is a Super 8 shot film by some kids in England called Summer Horror Day. Inspired by Evil Dead and The Three Stooges, this film is chock-full of cheesy monster masks and kids running around with their heads in their shirts, pretending to be headless zombies. This one is cute and fun while being grotesque in every way. This one is a great and goofy time; you can tell in the commentary track that they had such a fun time making this movie.

The second feature is that 777 is hard to follow most of the time, but it's incredibly fun and weird. The film, sourced from its original S-VHS master, looks perfectly gritty in its black and white. 777 is at times hard to follow, but centers on a nightmare town where, seemingly along with the protagonist, everyone in the town is a serial killer. With funny running gags and some truly great gore, 777 is remarkable, and more people need to see this crucially underseen gem.

The final picture in this nightmare collection is 2016’s Black Mamba, directed and starring Belinda M. Wilson, who, after seeing this film, should be considered the east coasts answer to Neil Breen. The only difference between Breen and Wilson is that she has worked in the industry. Despite her industry bona fides, Black Mamba is a greenscreen atrocity, and it is incredibly entertaining throughout. This film is the only one that feels out of place in this collection, simply because it deserves its own release or a package release of Black Mamba and Wilson’s other features. Where all the other films feel like they match the theme of backyard bloodbaths, Black Mamba is its own anthology film where a witch in the suburbs grants people their desires with her magic, only for them to be cursed by their own hubris. This collection is well worth the sum of its parts, and anyone will have a great time with any of these films.

Vital Disc Stats: Blu-ray 
Backyard Bloodbaths hits our 1080p Blu-ray collections thanks to Bleeding Skull via OCN Distribution. This collection is released on a single Blu-ray disc housed in a clear case, indicative of all Bleeding Skull Releases, and includes a cover with original artwork inside and outside.

Each film in this release was sourced from its original masters, which were shot on different formats ranging from 16mm, Super 8, S-VHS, and Digital, so the visuals are as good as they can be on Blu-ray in 1080p. None of the films is terrible to look at, considering the lack of mastering. The two oldest films, The Psychotic Odyssey of Richard Chase and Summer Horror Day, are the only two that look rough due to the masters they were scanned from.  These films all look serviceable for what they are, low-budget films, a step above home movies. The lo-fi quality of these films makes each of them incredibly more entertaining than if they were crystal clear.

The audio of this release is in DTS-HD MA 2.0. Much like the video of the films in this release, the audio is obviously low fidelity and adds to the DIY feel of the films. Some audio, especially in 777 and Summer Horror Day are hard to hear sometimes, due to the amateur nature of the films. The audio is incredibly muffled because it wasn’t recorded with good equipment. Despite this fact, the low quality is part of the whole deal with DIY films.

Usually, Bleeding Skull has phenomenal extra features included in their single film releases, but the lack of supplements in their collection releases is usually sparse. What's incredible is that they collected commentary tracks from each filmmaker and some of the cast, which is so fun to listen to; each commentary track is well worth listening to just hear the amazing reminiscing from making the films. The only film without a commentary is Black Mamba, which just has an interesting introduction to the film from Wilson. 

• SUMMER HORROR DAY Commentary with Nike and producer David Singer
• 777 Commentary with cast and crew
• BLACK MAMBA Video introduction by Wilson
• THE PSYCHOTIC ODYSSEY OF RICHARD CHASE Commentary with Carey Burtt
• A.I. MAMA Commentary with Asuka Lin and star/sound-designer Kei
• BLOOD BATH: TALES OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS Commentary with Jason Willis

Backyard Bloodbaths is the perfect collection for either a bad movie night or an amazing horror movie night. The three features are great exemplars of DIY horror. Each is full of vision, cheap scares, cheesy practical effects, or, in the case of Black Mamba, digital FX. The shorts are all cool and interesting in their own weird, gory ways. The audiovisuals of this release are competent for the source materials, and none of these films would be better enjoyed if the picture was clear; the low fidelity leaves the audience in the dark—sometimes literally—and activates the imagination of the viewer.  I would definitely recommend picking up Backyard Bloodbaths because this is the only place you can see any of these films. Recommended.