I had a vague sense of Déjà vu as I watched this 1980’s slasher flick. I’m watching the film, finding little things here and there familiar. It wasn’t until the very last couple of lines of the film, that my memory suddenly kicked in I realised that i had seen this film before. Blood Diner had been a popular film for me and my friends when we were younger. We had watched it so often that we would often quote entire sections of the film to one another. I’m trying hard to remember the last time I would have seen it, probably at some point in the mid 90’s, but It’s funny how you can so easily forget something so memorable, especially this silly but fun gore fest!

Krang was having a bad day….

How could I have forget about this great horror flick? This was a film me and my friends would watched over and over again, acting out scenes and laughing over the funny dialogue (the very last line..).Had I forgotten about it because it was a bad film? Was it so bad that my brain had locked it away deep inside my memory? Well actually, despite it being almost 30 years old (27 to date) ,it’s still pretty good, in a really goofy kinda way.

Neck-nominating the wrong way!

So the plot follows Two brothers, played by Rick Burks (In researching this film I was actually saddened to hear that Rick Burks was killed a few years after Blood diner was released.  So Blood Diner was his only leading role. ) and Carl Crew, who run a diner. Thier undead uncle, who is now just a brain in a jar, has given them a task to gather body parts in order to bring an ancient goddess to life. Lets face it, it’s not Shakespeare! The films screenplay is never going to win awards, but the films use of sex and gore more than fill the huge gap where a story should go!

The Mighty Sarlacc wife.

The good news is that Blood Diner really does live up to it’s name, right from the get go, there is lots of gore, and it’s the good type. Really over the top and cheesy gore that makes you laugh. It’s classic 80’s stuff, and great fun to watch. Throw in some nudity and add a pinch of weird and boom..Blood Diner!

And there really is some weird things going on here. There is a weird little cowboy puppet that sits in a cafe and has odd little conversations with the chef and even a sequence where musicians in a club, perform dressed as hitler. here is no explanation to what the hell either are doing in the film and the puppet really freaks me out. They spend a lot of time on him and i’m not sure why?

Peter Jackson before Lord of the Rings.

So my brain failed this movie. It locked it away and let the memories gather dust. And that’s no reflection on this gorky slasher, because Blood Diner is a truly fun fun film. It’s heart is firmly in the right place, usually discarded just to the left of the severed rib cage of some half naked corpse. The black humor works, the silliness is enjoyable and the gore is plentiful and satisfying. Whilst not the most definitive 80’s horror, it certainly sits up high in my opinion. I wonder why it flew under so many peoples radar back in the day?

I forgot about this film and that’s the real shame here. I just wish I can un-remember a few other movies i’ve watched over the years (godzilla..cough).