Tubi Thursday: The Flesh and Blood Show (1972)

 Let's jump back to the '70s to see a Film that sort of revolutionized the Genre.

Granted- the Genre didn't exist at the time, but still.

It is...

A man shows up at two ladies' apartment with a knife wound.  He asks for help and works his way inside.

He falls over and...

It was a fake.  Womp womp.

He's an Actor and so are they.

They are part of a makeshift troupe (with Stage Actors and some down on their luck Movie Actors) hired to do a Play.

They have to practice and live together for the next week.

Tensions run a bit high with some of them, with the constant practice not making things better.

One couple is conflicted when the guy won't stop looking at another Actress.

That night, there's a scream and one of the Actresses goes missing.

The Police are called, but the body is missing and the Cops think that it was a prank.

They bring in a new Actress and meet up with an old man in town too.

Lots of wandering around though.

Given that it is the '70s, they just needed a talking dog.

A few of them get picked off, but are thought to be missing.

They eventually figure out that there is a connection between this Theater and the old man from earlier.

A practice with the remaining group is interrupted...

...and we get the prolonged explanation via flashback.

The guy was doing Othello, discovered that his wife was cheating on him with his Co-Star and buried the pair alive in the bowels of the Theater.

Wrong Shakespeare, but you do you!

In the aftermath, the Cops arrest him (as they figured things out), we get everything explained and then we're out on a semi-META line.

The End.

A Film that, while not great, was ahead of its time.

If you didn't spot the connection, the Film is similar to many of the early Slasher Films. Those were all whodunnits (before just being versions of a Jason Voorhees killer for a while).

There's a clear throughline from this 1972 Film to, say, 1980's Prowler (especially with the older, revenge driven killer) or 1981's My Bloody Valentine.

This one doesn't have the style or grace of other Films that would define the early Slasher prototypes, of course. 
This isn't Halloween or Blood and Black Lace.

The Pacing is not great here and it is a bit of a test of one's ability to keep interested at times.  It isn't done badly- it is just not done all that excitingly.

The Film had a unique gimmick- as seen on the Poster- with the Flashback bit being in 3-D.  Of course, the digital print is not in 3-D, but you do still get the notice...

A Film that is notable for doing many things that far more famous Films would do later.  If only it did them more interestingly here, this would be less of a Cult Film.