Blood Diner (1987)

Blood Diner is a strange, gory romp written by a man who holds acting credits for Deathbed, Surf Nazis Must Die, and Terror from the Clit (where he's listed as "clit master"). It's also directed by Jackie Kong, a woman who's film credits are far too few in our opinion. Together they set a high bar for ridiculous, and raise it at every turn.

The plot unfolds something like this: Anwar Namtut has been cornered by the police. He turns to his young nephews to save him (by waiting 20 years to unearth his brain and put it in a jar) so he can continue his quest to resurecct accent Egyptian goddesses.. Meanwhile, his nephews have established an insanely popular vegetarian restaurant where they feed their patrions people disguised as veggie burgers. Gorey wackiness ensues.

Things to watch for: A demanding brain in a jar, topless aerobicizing class being filmed by a toppless camerawoman, barf gags, clever low-budget gore gags, wacky slapstick comedy, a ventriloquist chef, a professional wrestling pitstop, and so, so much more.

What we learned: Jackie Kong is someone we discovered through watching The Being. Not long after, Trash Film Debauchery screened Blood Diner at the Trylon microcinema, and our love was solidified. Few ladies were working in the capacity she was in that genre during that era (with some notable exceptions like Mona Fong, Catherine Cyran), it's always nice to find more ladies who bucked the male system to be awesome in their own rite! It's also exciting that she may be on her way to making another movie, if she can get the funding together for it.

Fun tidbit: Producers set out to make a full on sequel to Blood Feast, but were forced to settle for a homage. Though 20 years later, one of them would play a role in producing Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat as well as a remake of Wizard of Gore.

Viewing note: If you want to watch Blood Diner, the VHS and DVD are crazy expensive. We recommend the "horror" movie pack we have linked below which goes for $6.50. (Who considers Earth Girls are Easy a horror movie?) This set includes some of our other underrated favorites Parents, and Fido!)