RIP: BLOODSUCKING FREAKS Director Joel M. Reed Dies at 86 After Contracting COVID-19

Some very sad news this morning as we just learned that Joel M. Reed, director of the 1976 cult classic Bloodsucking Freaks, has passed away at the age of 86 after contracting COVID-19.

Reed was also the filmmaker behind such flicks as Night of the Zombies and Blood Bath.

If you’d like to learn more about Reed, Adrian Esposito & Jerry Landi’s documentary Reed Unbound: The Joel M Reed Story is expected to be released sometime this year.

Check out the NSFW trailer below.

Reed Unbound: The Joel M Reed Story chronicles Reed’s Incredible life and films as well and how these past few years Independent filmmakers have used Joel M. Reed in their films too.

Meanwhile, Bloodsucking Freaks takes place in New York’s Soho district, where the master of ceremonies Sardu runs the Theater of the Macabre, which specializes in acts where people are tortured and dismembered. The spectators dismiss it as fakery but the gore is real. Behind the scenes, Sardu and his dwarf assistant Ralphus torment and mutilate women for their own pleasure, as well as sell girls they have abducted into slavery. When the critic Creasy Silo contemptuously dismisses the show, Sardu has him kidnapped and tortured.

What was your favorite film directed by Joel M. Reed? Make sure to hit us up and let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram

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