Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Steineded How sad is this?

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

romanorum1 The opening scene presents a gruesome hammer-murder of a prostitute and her customer in an unusual killer's POV (point of view) camera shot. Right after, an attractive young woman – Ellie Masters (Melody Patterson) – awakes from a nightmare and screams. She is the daughter of the murdered woman. Very soon, as she is without parents, Ellie is sent to an orphanage run by twisted Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame) and creepy handyman Tom Kredge (Len Lesser). They have the knack for capturing fugitives and keeping them in deep freeze, after they are dispatched by Kredge. Detective Calvin Carruthers (Vic Payback) supposedly wants to help Ellie. His motives are morally ambiguous, to say the least. Another strange dude is Mr. Mullins (Milton Selzer), a social worker who enjoys the favors from Mrs. Deere for looking the other way. A teen-aged girl is tied up in the attic and deprived of water for not folding her napkin. Meanwhile there is a strange dude with a chilling mask lurking about the place. What does he want? Does he want to kill Ellie, thinking that she saw him murder her mother, whom Ellie despised? Rapes and killings abound. So yes, it's a sick movie all-around, but quite interesting. Logic is left outside the door, but the ending is a real grabber. In short, this is a trash-lovers delight, with nary a sympathetic character. It was filmed by American International Pictures. Gloria Grahame was an actress from the 1940s to the 1980s; some of her movies are "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952), and "Oklahoma" (1955). Melody Patterson had starred in the TV sitcom "F Troop" in 1965-1967. Len Lesser was featured in both movies and in TV, such as "Seinfeld." Vic Payback was in both the movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974), and in the TV version, "Alice." Milton Selzer was more known for his TV appearances than film.

The_Void Despite the fact that it's trash, I have to say that I really enjoyed Blood and Lace. I'm really not sure where the 'lace' part of the title comes from (perhaps a rip-off of Bava's masterpiece Blood and Black Lace?), but there's a bit of blood and plenty of other sickness as this film features a sadistic orphanage, hints of incest and a whole host of older male characters desperate to get it on with the central character - a teenage girl. The plot has a number of different angles springing from the numerous characters that have an interest in the proceedings, and the film starts with a brutal murder of a mother/prostitute and one of her clients, committed with a hammer. This leaves her daughter Ellie without anyone to look after her since nobody knows who her father is, so she is sent to an orphanage. The orphanage is run by a woman named 'Mrs Deere' and a handyman named Tom. There's also a social worker who stops by every so often, and a police officer with an interest in Ellie that goes a little past the call of duty...It would be hard to argue that this is a bona fide 'good' film, but as a piece of seventies exploitation; it's a damn good film! This sort of flick really should just entertain and that's what it does. I imagine that certain themes on display would have been a lot more shocking in 1971 than they are today (though I'm not really sure how shocking considering the other films on offer around the early seventies), but personally I'm pretty much desensitised to being shocked by this sort of film anyway. The acting is pretty much atrocious all round, but lead actress Melody Patterson stands out in spite of her obvious lack of talent for being really cute! Older and more experienced performers Len Lesser, Gloria Grahame and Milton Selzer manage to impress a little more, but clearly this isn't an actor's film. The opening hammer murder sequence is the goriest and most brutal part of the film; from there the shocks are delivered by the male actors lusting after the teenaged lead, though the film doesn't feature any sex or nudity. The plot is always entertaining enough, and the ending revs up the stupidity to an irresistible level. Overall, Blood and Lace is pure trash and I really mean that in the nicest possible way! This film comes very much recommended to all the right people.

matthew-hays For those who love trash, this movie has everything! From its lurid, brutal double murder sequence at the opening (love that hammer-cam!), "Blood and Lace" is an entirely unforgettable film. I first saw it as a kid and was amazed at how terribly nasty and cheap it all was. Seeing it as an adult was even better. Everything about this film, from its acting to its writing, is fabulously over-the-top and kitschy. There are numerous ludicrous plot twists, and the sheer insanity of the set-up (nefarious orphanage management makes money by killing the orphans, keeping them frozen and then, when inspectors show up, explain that the kids just aren't feeling well as a cover) is so incredulously bizarre it makes you wonder which brand of glue the screenwriters were sniffing when they came up with this. I love it!

haildevilman Rated GP, that's right. What we now call PG. But you knew that.A sick little PG as well.Boarding house for wayward girls and of course the Madam has a dirty little secret or three.Gloria Grahame was the best actor here. When I found out later she was a previous Oscar winner (for The Bad And The Beautiful) I wasn't surprised. She played the role Joan Collins tried to play for years.Vic Tayback (Mel from 'Alice') showed he's got some dramatic range. He played the one likable male.I can't mention the twists at the end. See it for yourself. It's slow going in places, but worth it.