Bloodsuckers from Outer Space Blu Ray Review (Vinegar Syndrome)

Bloodsuckers from Outer Space is a 1984 horror comedy written & directed by Glen Coburn (Tabloid & Hollywood Deadbeat). It premiered at Joe Bob Briggs’ Drive-In Movie Festival in October 1984. This low budget film made in Texas is considered a cult classic by genre fans. This was Dennis Letts feature film debut. Karl-Lorimar Home Video gave the film it’s first home video release on VHS in 1986. Shriek Show & Media Blasters released it on DVD in 2008. Then it got a limited 30th Anniversary Edition from Whacked Movies & MVD. Vinegar Syndrome has given B.F.O.S it’s definitive home video release in 2018 on both Blu Ray & DVD, you can now give away or throw out those old versions because they can’t compare to Vinegar Syndrome’s extensive & upgraded restoration. They are the BEST at that! That’s not even all of it, they also provided some KILLER extras on this!

Newspaper photographer Jeff Rhodes (played by: Thom Meyers from The Nail Gun Massacre, Tabloid, Trespasses, & Harley) is always looking for a big story to change his career & he just found one that might achieve that goal! A small town Texas community is starting to become a little smaller when all kinds of locals end up dead. No blood is found from the victims which confuses the police & it has them clueless about the situation. They don’t want Jeff spreading any of this news to the citizens to cause panic. Uncle Joe (Robert Bradeen) & Aunt Kate (Billie Keller from American Playhouse) try to ruin Jeff’s dream of a successful career when they make him choose either his passion or to help with the family farm. If he doesn’t help them he might lose his inheritance which puts his future at a big risk. Jeff’s brother & scientist Ralph Rhodes (played by: director Glen Coburn from Fatal Skies, Tonight You Die, Tablet of Tales , & American Freakshow) has came up with some theories about the crazy scenario with his staff. The Government still isn’t sure what to do to fix this problem that keeps spreading. General Sanders (played by: Dennis Letts from Cast Away, Passenger 57, A Perfect World, & Fire Down Below) wants to destroy everything & everyone taking no risks of the infection getting bigger than it already is. Jeff & his new companion Julie (played by: Laura Ellis from Dangerous Curves) are the only ones willing to save this small town from all the madness! Can they do it before the Government eliminates everything & leaves no witnesses?

Bloodsuckers from Outer Space reminded me of an older Troma production. One of the better ones when they were pumping out low budget efforts all the time back in the day. All the characters in this were really wacky & off beat. The zombies & special effects actually had a George Romero vibe to them which was cool. The director delivered enough splatter to satisfy any horror fan. Some of the over the top moments were hilarious especially the fight scenes but others were beyond awful. The acting was pretty horrible & the only one that stood out was Dennis Letts. The script had some decent material but the performances didn’t help the cringe worthy dialogue at times. I guess it works since this is a spoof & it kinda adds to the charm of this production. This is definitely something you have to turn your brain off to enjoy. It’s a fun film to riff with your friends while drinking some beer. I am shocked this was never featured on MST3K. Is this a bad movie? HELL YES! Is it entertaining & worth checking out? HELL YES! Honestly, it’s still better than most zombie movies made today.

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation. This 1080p (1.78:1) 2K transfer is restored from it’s 16 MM negative. Bloodsuckers from Outer Space is very low budget so it’s never looked great but Vinegar Syndrome gave the film it’s the biggest upgrade in quality that it’s ever going to get. This straight to video project definitely has been elevated! The 1.0 DTS-HD MA track is very solid, the soundtrack & score stand out the most here. Especially the theme song, it always gets stuck in my head because it’s so damn catchy! English SDH are also included.

Let’s discuss the special features on this disc from Vinegar Syndrome! Audio Commentary with actor/writer/director Glen Coburn, lead actor Thom Meyes, & cinematographer Chad D. Smith. Not going to lie, this is a little distracting with the weird echo & background noise through out the whole track. The quality of it is very low but it’s still a entertaining extra. They talk about the locations. They chat about the cast & crew for Bloodsuckers from Outer Space. They joke about the cheapness of some things & the restricted budget they had. They tells various stories about the production including taking out their frustration on furniture after filming & destroying it to relieve some stress. They originally wanted Adam West for the President in this but he wanted too much money. They all sounded like they had a blast making this film. They forget to introduce themselves until the very end. “34 Years Later” is an almost 52 minute making of documentary for Bloodsuckers from Outer Space. it features interviews with various cast & crew members from the low budget production. It goes through the challenges of making the film. It mentions mixing up professionals with amateurs while creating this. Director Glen Coburn talks about early horror & science fiction being an influence to him. He said he always wanted this to be funny. They had to create the wind in most of the scenes.

It chats about the acting & performances. They said it added to the comedy for the people who didn’t know what they were doing. They go into detail about their characters. They talk about the special effects & soundtrack for the feature. They tell stories & personal connections from the production. It pretty much covers everything about this feature & it’s the best addition to this release! “Back to Blood Sucker Town”is an almost 16 minute featurette going back to the original locations for the film. It talks about having limited time to shoot at some of these places. It also has interviews with various cast & crew members from it. It has some quality issues but it’s still cool to see them go back to where they made this all those years ago. “Bloody Arm Rip 101” is an almost 5 minute segment on how to re-create one of more known scenes from the film. It’s from the directors of Atom the Amazing Zombie Killer Richard Taylor & Zack Beins. They talk about Bloodsuckers from Outer Space being a huge influence for them. It’s a pretty hilarious learning experience on how to do some cheap special effects. “Still Gallery” is a little over 10 minutes & it’s loaded with pictures. A limited edition slipcover version is available direct from Vinegar Syndrome. Don’t wait too long to order that one if you are interested because they sell out fast. Recommended for fans of zombie movies, 80s horror, Troma, & so bad it’s good entertainment! It’s available everywhere right now. Check out this silly undead feature from Texas!!!!