Posted December 25th, 2009 by Jamie Lisk

• Wide Release
• Director: Julian Roffman
• Written by: Anne Edward Bailey , Ben Kerner
• Running Time: 80 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: R - Restricted
• Cast: Barbara Lord, Robert Christie, Ron Hartmann, Peter Falk, Sammy Sales, Jack Betts, Bill Bryden, George Sperdakos, Ron Taylor, Michael Zenon, Bill Kowalchuk, Kenneth Wickes, Carol Starkman

 

This 1959 film seems almost like a pre-cursor to such films as “Fun” and “Heavenly Creatures” in hindsight, but where “The Bloody Brood” moves away from the other two, is in its story structure. It’s a plot driven piece that seems more concerned with solving a murder than with diving into the psychology and reasoning behind the character's actions. In the first scene, we are introduced to two young fellows, Nico, Peter Falk, and Francis, Ron Hartmann, lounging out in a little "beatnik" coffee house called “The Diggs” with their friends, spewing casual poetry and typical-of-the-era dialogue laced with such words as ‘hip’, ‘’cat’ and ‘kicks‘.

 

 

After buying a paper from an elderly drunkard, the “beatniks” gather around him as he suddenly keels over and dies from a heart attack. Nico, more than any of them, seems fascinated as he watches this old man die. He explains to his friends that they should simply enjoy it -- enjoy watching death of a fellow human being. A plan is soon hatched in Nico‘s head. He decides that rather than letting death come naturally, as it did with the drunkard, he’s interested in seeing (and feeling) what it would be like to actually kill somebody. He explains that he wants to give death meaning, so to speak. "Death is the last great challenge to the creative mind," he confides to his co-hort, Franics. It’s just a matter of picking out their guinea pig.

 

 

At first we assume that Nico is just another face in this group of pot-smoking, poetry spewing “beatniks“, but as the film moves forward, we soon realize that he is really their self-appointed leader, and not out of want, but out of necessity. See, Nico is a drug dealer and he has been using the lot to buy, move and sell, his supply. Pushing away from the stereotypical “beatnik-delinquent“ portrayed in such films as Roger Corman‘s “Bucket of Blood“ or Paul Frees’ “The Beatniks”, these ones are fairly well-rounded people. They all have day jobs, and only seem to gather afterwards at the coffee house to smoke, drink and get all philosophical and stuff. Nico’s right hand man, Francis Hanes, Ron Hartmann (1994's "The Santa Clause"), is a lowly television commercial director, who believes that his artistic vision is, for whatever reason, not being appreciated by his friends or business contemporaries. Nico is, of course, the lone exception, or at least that‘s what Hanes believes. The audience will for sure see it differently. Intellectually, Francis is on par with Nico, but rather than being his equal, he has become somewhat of a lap-dog for Nico’s sometimes bizarre whims -- like paying for his newpaper or... killing somebody. Wait, back it up, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.

 

 

While partying at the apartment of one of Nico’s business associates, the aforementioned guinea pig -- a messenger boy named Roy, Bill Kowalchuk (2001's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer And the Island of Misfit Toys") arrives with a package. Even though the home owner isn’t there, Roy becomes enchanted by Nico and at a few of the more attractive female guests and agrees to come inside and party with the group. Nico’s devious plan for murder is soon about to become reality. This is where the film switches gears, moving away from the “beatniks” and to a straight-arrow college student named Ciff (Jack Betts). That night Cliff receives an upsetting phone call from his brother Roy, the messenger boy. Roy is in severe pain, as he tells Cliff that his stomach hurts and that he doesn‘t know what to do. The call is cut short, as the line abruptly goes dead. A quick trip to the hospital reveals that Cliff’s brother has died -- apparently from eating a hamburger laced with ground up glass. The lead investigator on the case, a Detective McLeod, Robert Christie (1986's "Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star"), reveals to Cliff that his brother died from "perforation of the upper and lower intestine.” It's sounds like a pretty horrible way to die, no matter how you slice it.

 

 

Believing that his brother was murdered, Cliff sets off to find his killer -- or killers. He starts by checking his brother’s route list, eventually coming upon the apartment where Nico and his pals partied at the night his brother died. He discovers, almost inadvertently, from a fellow named Dave, Ron Taylor (1964's "Nobody Waved Good-bye"), seemingly the only jobless ‘beatnik’ in the group, that the owner of the apartment is out of town and that some guy named Nico is house-sitting for him. Cliff, reasoning that he might have a lead, agrees to join Dave down at the “The Diggs”. Cliff, despite his business attire, attempts to pass himself off as an old friend of Nico’s -- who, thankfully, isn‘t present. He manages, slowly, to curry favour with the group, even catching the eye of one of Nico’s girls, Ellie (Barbara Lord). Unlike the other pot-smoking, slang-spewing nonconformists, Ellie is less showy, more quiet, self-assured and intelligent. She's apparently latched onto this group, hoping that it can make up for the alienation she feels from her family. Ellie immediately senses that Cliff doesn’t fit in with this crowd, even calling him a square after he tries to introduce himself. Cliff is, of course, smitten.

 

 

The next night, Cliff arrives back at “The Diggs”, this time dressed to fit in. The group merges to ‘the apartment’ where Cliff manages to get Ellie alone. He attempts to tell her about his brother but they are interrupted by, of all things, the police, who the "beatnik’s" insist are coming to shut down the party. Cliff finally encounters Nico, the following night, who has just settled some backroom business with two of his more thuggish supplier "friends", Studs, Bill Bryden (1961's "The Mask"), and Weasel, Michael Zenon (2003's "Highwaymen"). The meeting is awkward, with Nico asking Cliff where they've supposedly met before. Nico isn't comfortable with Cliff's answer. After executing an almost Machiavellian plan, Nico comes into possession of Cliff’s wallet. He checks his identification and realizes that the last name corresponds with the last name of the messenger boy that they killed a few nights earlier. Hanes, through facial expression alone, conveys sheer horror, realizing that his and Nico's foolproof plan might not be so foolproof after all.

 

 

Upon leaving, Cliff is beaten up outside the coffee house by the same two thugs that Nico settled with earlier. Later, he reveals to Detective McLeod the goings-on of Hanes, Nico and the rest of the group. McLeod urges him to be careful, and that he has his back, unofficially, of course. Cliff rushes off to meet with Ellie, eventually telling her everything. Although she knows that Nico and Hanes are capable of many things for 'kicks', she doesn’t actually believe that they would feed somebody a hamburger laced with glass. In hindsight, however, she admits to Cliff that Roy may have eaten a hamburger at the party. Cliff is unwavering and Ellie agrees that she would be willing to testify but only if he can prove to her that Nico killed his brother.

 

 

This sets up the film’s dynamic conclusion which begins with one of “The Diggs” second rate poets, Paul, Kenneth Wickes (2003's "The Republic of Love") reciting almost verbatim, a poem written by Cliff, himself. The poem, which mentions a hamburger laced with glass, ushers forth the truly thrilling ending, and an almost disorienting plot twist involving the two thugs, that, most assuredly, such contemporary crime director’s as Fernando di Leo, Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, probably took notes about.

 

 

Julian Roffman (1973's "The Pyx") is a true talent, whose greatest work, 1961's “The Mask” is still touted as one of the truly great 3-D horror films ever made. Before that, “The Bloody Brood” garnered some acclaim as a very smart, well paced, well-acted piece that doesn’t rely so much on manipulation or exploitation of the beat generation as it does on telling an interesting and exciting story. There‘s no room for stodgy violence, unwanted gore, or even stereotypical characterizations, as Roffman is more concerned with developing a thrilling genuine-feeling plot, while simultaneously trying to make his characters seem as real as possible. This film doesn’t look to indict the “beatnik” culture, as other lesser films might. Instead, it portrays them as likeable outsiders, seemingly unaware of two sociopaths that lurk within in their pack. Another thing that really stood out for me about “The Bloody Brood” is the interesting “hip-for-the-times” slang. Although, I'm out of touch with most of the 50's era slang-dialogue, it was still interesting to listen to -- almost like tapping into another language, a language that gave insight into a very interesting time in North Amerca.

 

 

Peter Falk (2001's "Corky Romano"), who had appeared in only one other film before “The Bloody Brood”, 1958’s “Wind Across the Everglades” where he was paid about three-hundred dollars a week, proved himself a truly capable and talented actor here. Falk is positively flawless playing Nico, a brilliant sociopath, who has a knack for making money, but lacks one crucial thing for holding it together, a conscience. He's manipulative and cold, but still manages to charm everyone he meets. His ability to charm would bode well for Falk in later years with the loveable "Columbo" character that he would become most famous for. Interestingly, a year after "The Bloody Brood", Falk would earn a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work in 1960’s “Murder, Inc.”.

 

 

Jack Betts, who played Cliff, also carved out quite a career for himself after debuting in “The Bloody Brood”. He went on to play the spaghetti-western anti-hero Django, in 1970‘s “One Damned Day at Dawn... Django Meets Sartana!” Later that year, he would take the opposite role playing Sartana in 1970’s “Django and Sartana... Showdown in the West”. His career has been going full steam ever since, including appearing in 2002's block-buster "Spider-Man" and 1999's cult-comedy "Office Space".

“The Bloody Brood”, which has also been released as "Psycho Beatnik Killers” in recent years, is an interesting and exciting film that I highly recommend.