Filmed in 1980 at the height of the slasher and not released until two years later, Blood Song stars Frankie Avalon, which is mindblowing that an actor that adorned the bedrooms of teenage girls a few decades earlier is now menacing their daughters with a hatchet and, strangely, a wooden flute.

Frankie plays Paul, who watched as his father came home to catch his wife in bed with another and killed them both before taking his own life. Ah, slashers, you seem to come at us with transgression but under your bloody hood beats the heart of a puritan at times and at others, the soul of a man who desperately knows that his wife has the eyes on the crotch of every man she meets and you can’t escape that gnawing feeling.

Meanwhile, Donna Wilkes (Angel, Jaws 2, Grotesque, Schizoid) is Marion, a girl forced to wear a leg brace after the drunk driving accident her father put her through. She can’t wait to escape home, which is filled with rages and screaming and recrimination. However, she can also see Paul’s murders, as they shared the same blood from a transfusion.

Sure, alright. Science.

That said, this is a grimy and brutal film that has no easy ending for the final girl.

Based on a short story by Joseph Shink, who adapted the screenplay with Frank Avianca and Lenny Montana, this somewhat neglected film was directed by Alan J. Levi, who mostly worked in television.

We also took a look at Blood Song as part of our “Exploring: Video Nasties” featurette (Section 3 — non-prosecuted) and our “Drive-In Friday” featurette with our Musician Slashers night of films.

You can watch this on YouTube.