Wesley Stuart (Gerald McRaney) is a troubled young man who suffers from debilitating headaches and blackouts. Wesley lives with his domineering mother, Agatha Stuart (Evelyn Hendricks). He moved in with his mother after spending the last thirteen years in a mental institution due to the trauma he experienced over accidentally shooting his younger brother Jonathan. Wesley is engaged to Susan Collins (Lisa Dameron). When she is murdered, Wesley goes on a drinking spree.
A year later, after a night of drinking, Wesley is mugged by three men who beat him up and steal his money. The men are interrupted by Kay Jensen (Charlotte White). Kay is a registered nurse. She takes Wesley home with her and takes care of him. The two begin dating and fall in love. One night they are hanging out on the beach when Wesley gets another massive headache. He goes down the beach to buy some beer. When he returns, he finds Kay with a hatchet in her chest. She soon dies.
The police think that Wesley has murdered both women. Agatha writes to Wesley’s doctor, Dr. Bennett Moss (Herbert Nelson) telling him that she believes Wesley’s “sickness” has returned and asks him to come. Wesley is questioned by a couple of overly ambitious detectives but ultimately released.
When he arrives home Wesley finds a woman sitting on his doorstep. Angelle Miliot (Gaye Yellen) is a reporter looking for a story. He agrees to meet her at a local nightclub. At the club a patron recognizes Wesley as the murder suspect of the two women. A fight ensues. The police take Wesley away again. This time he is released into Mr. Moss’ custody. Dr. Moss begins to piece together what is going on, but it may be too late.
“Night of Bloody Horror” was released in 1969 and was written and produced by Joy N. Houck Jr. It is a low budget “B” horror movie and psychological thriller, filmed in “violent vision”. Trying to call the film a splatter movie is a little generous. There isn’t as much blood here as you would expect. It falls more in line as a proto slasher movie.
I’m not sure where the title of the movie came from. It seems to me Wesley’s entire life is a bloody horror, not just one night. It was a decent storyline, but the execution was not very good. The acting was also a little off at times. Part of the problem with the movie is the film stock quality. A restoration would help, but seeing one in the near future is not likely. Looking at the movie as a whole it has lots of potential but there is a lot of bland in between the murders. If you are looking for a lot of violent slasher elements, this will whet your appetite, but not satisfy your hunger.
The film stars a very young Gerald McRaney in his feature film debut. The rock group playing at the nightclub was called The Bored. This is not the same group that was formed in 2018 in Minnesota or the one from Australia created in 1987.
As a promotional gimmick, theaters offered a thousand dollars cash to people whose relatives died while watching the film.