The Bloody Brood (1959)

Simply A Masterpiece

Just perfect...

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Upon watching a review of this film I instantly became curious about it. A juvenile delinquency film staring Peter Falk as a murderous counter culture member? Count me in.My preconceived notion about this film was that it was going to be another cheesy 1950s scare flick, somewhat in the vein of Ed Wood's 'The Violent Years.' What I got, however was a very well acted, well put together and memorable film which even my friends who are not into '50s B-movies seem to enjoy.The film focuses on two characters, the murderous thug Nico (Peter Falk) and Cliff (Jack Betts) the brother of one of Nico's victims. Nico is an implied drug dealer and popular member of the local counter culture, who becomes obsessed with watching people die after witnessing a man have a heart attack. Eventually, he decides he wants to see another person die, so he and a friend kill a delivery boy by feeding him a laced hamburger.The police are unable to solve the murder due to the lack of evidence which is generally involved in motiveless crimes, so Cliff decides to take matters into his own hands.I commonly regard this as one of the best B-Movies the 50s has to offer for reasons other than, 'so bad it's good.' The characters are interesting and well played; I really cannot think of a single actor who played their role poorly. I find the character of Nico's friend Francis to be one of the best acted. Francis was one of the murderers and was instantly paranoid upon witnessing the death of the delivery boy. His paranoia and anxiety is well played by the actor. It almost makes this film a case study in human behavior when at risk of being caught for a crime.Nico is interesting too, as a murderer he has a calm confidence about him, right up until his end. He is sly and cunning, and seems to understand the human condition well. Peter Falk does a wonderful job demonstrating his acting ability, making Nico a character the viewer loves to hate.I highly recommend this film to essentially anyone, it's available to view freely online and I recommend that you take a look. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Highly recommended.

The Bloody Brood would be a much forgotten film except for the presence of Peter Falk in his first big screen role. In his second big screen part that Abe Reles in Murder, Inc., Falk got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. I have no doubt that his casting in The Bloody Brood led to the latter breakthrough part.In this film Falk plays part hoodlum, part beatnik who when he sees an old man who delivered newspapers to the club he frequents die of a heart attack, he decides just for kicks to kill somebody. As has been pointed out before, echoes of Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and I also might add Compulsion which came out the same year as The Bloody Brood.To satisfy his sick humor Falk feeds a telegraph messenger boy a hamburger with ground glass in it. The police are stymied in their investigation, but the kid's brother Jack Betts doesn't stop until he has the culprits identified and pulls a trick from the beatnik lifestyle to expose the culprits. I should also say that Falk's own greed has a lot to do with his eventual problems.The Bloody Brood was an independent production shot in Canada and at that time Canadian production facilities weren't the greatest. Some of the noir stuff earlier in the decade had better values. Still Falk's performance is mesmerizing and gave a big clue as to what a great talent he developed into.

I gave the above summary because many might just assume that this low budget film stinks because it's included in the "50 Movie Pack--Chilling Classics" DVD set. This set and others by the same company are mostly films that slipped into the public domain because no one wanted them--they were THAT bad!! And, in most cases, the prints are just awful--often being dark, fuzzy or out of alignment. However, in the case of THE BLOODY BROOD, this film isn't bad at all--at least when you consider its rather low pedigree.This film is a very low budget production that stars a familiar face (Peter Falk) as the bad guy. He's the unofficial leader of a group of beatnicks who generally don't look like beatnicks (especially Falk--though what can you expect from a counter-culture film made in Canada?). Everyone in the group comes to him for inspiration, leadership and it's implied that he's their drug connection (though oddly they NEVER said he was dealing drugs--I guess it could have been uranium or stolen lawn jockeys or whatever other illegal activity he was doing).One evening, just for kicks, he gets the idea to kill someone for laughs and gets one of his flunkies to help. The unsuspecting victim is a poor delivery boy who is fed a sandwich laced with glass! When the kid dies, his brother vows to continue the investigation that the police don't seem all that interested in pursuing.Generally, the acting is pretty good compared to other similarly budgeted films and the plot is pretty good as well. It's a nice variation on the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case that was dramatized in COMPULSION. While not as slickly produced and lacking the stars of COMPULSION, in some ways I preferred THE BLOODY BROOD since when the film ends there is an appropriate comeuppance--something that never really happened with Leopold and Loeb.FYI--For a laugh, watch the scene where they show a close up of the Maynard G. Krebs lookalike as he plays the bongos. If you pay attention, you'll see that his hands and the music aren't even close to being in sync and the tune is significantly faster and different than the hands would indicate--now THAT'S talent!

The first Canadian exploitation film ever made, with a way young Peter Falk playing a beatnik-gangster-mole who feeds a delivery boy 'a hamburger full of ground glass' - that phrase becomes a mantra as the Wonderbread protagonist-come-lately sleuths through the shocking and unseen world of the young bohemian! The beatniks are not shown as evil, they're just stupid dupes - that's nice. They're also viewed at a long arms-length via our virtuous heroes (there's also a girl, who is saved from an interesting life by mister blowdry). "The Mask" is later and greater Roffman, though it too depicts subcultural life as immoral and despicable while it cashes in on its allure. But why do ya think they call it 'exploitation'? It's got some energy, it's got Peter Falk, and it's competently shot when it's indoors. What's "Canadian" about this movie, I hear the tenured laggards inquire? Here's what's Canadian about it: it looks like Brits trying to look American only it's whiter than either.