Blood Tracks

Blood Tracks

Directed by: Mats Helge Olsson

Sweden/USA, 1985

Horror, 95 min

Distributed by: Studio S Entertainment

Mats Helge Olsson’s rock’n’roll horror, Blood Tracks finally hit's Scandinavian DVD. Yes the “infamous” Swedish slasher that stars pseudo famous rockers Easy Action, skanky naked English birds, cheap eighties effects and a family of mutant cannibals stalking and killing the cast…
It’s The Hills Have Eyes with hairspray, death and loads of snow.

It’s a Mats Helge Olsson film! You shouldn’t really need any more reasons than that to check this out. Mats Helge Olsson director of low-budget backyard productions such as The Ninja Mission, The Forgotten Wells, Russian Terminator and Fatal Secret to name a few. And you should never forget that Mats Helge worked on several flicks with David Carradine, who just kept on coming back for more cheapo action! Many refer to him as the Swedish Ed Wood, but that would be kind of unfair, as Mats Helge Olsson stands in a league of his own… I’d rather say, the Swedish Bruno Mattei if I was going to pull a parallel to someone else. One of the last productions Mats Helge worked on officially was part one of a proposed TV serial called Nordexpressen 1992, which was produced by the company I work for and starred several of my long time colleagues in key roles. The guy who shot it, and also worked with Mats Helge on his final TV movie: Grottmorden (The Cave Murders) 1994 doesn't want to talk about Nordexpressen and instead hides behind his rather successful series of Swedish Police flicks. But, Oh the stories the others have told me, it would make you laugh till you puke!

Blood Tracks is already something of a cult movie due to the fact that it’s been pretty hard to find uncut before this DVD premiere. It was available on oldschool VHS back in the day and it has a reputation to live up to. This release seems destined to become a cult classic in it’s own rights as the disc, wait, TWO DISC set comes packed with hilarious time period documents. Among the bonus time capsule of shitty rock, unbelievably high hair and obscenely tight pants supplements, you’ll find the complete illustrated guide to Easy Action’s discography, A gallery of Blood Tracks cover art through the years, a rock video, the original trailer, a surprise Easter egg, A Hot Summer Night which is a fantastic “eighties” promotion movie for Blood Tracks - with the cast in character! And theres a unique never previously released bonus single with the band on the second disc. But what may be the cream of the crop is the 26 minute newly recorded interview "Blood Tracks - Easy Action cover their trail" on the making of the movie. This was shot just a few weeks back, and edited by yours truly, My first editing gig for almost ten years it paid nothing, and took way too much time from my other projects. But it was fun and all in the spirit of independent filmmaking. Rallying up a couple of mates, Fast Eddie B. and fellow blogger Ninja Dixon on cameras, my mate and film trivia savant Stefan Nylén whipped this production into action for real when he got Peo Thyrén and Bo Stagman to sit down with journalist Stefan Malmqvist and talk about the good old times. If nothing else it’s a great study in how two people who participated in the same film, have two completely different opinions about the movie and making it. Hopefully not the last supplementary feature 2 Geeks w/ Glasses get to make for Scandinavian discs.

Blood Tracks is somewhat required viewing, as it is such a fun little oddity - a Swedish Slasher, quite unlike anything made here before… well not really, there where other films that dabbled in the genre too at the same time, but there’s something about the movie that is highly entertaining. An enthusiasm and drive, which a lot of Swedish movies these days lack. A big Hell Yeah to the staff at Studio S Entertainment for their enthusiastic restoration, and deluxe packing of this final presentation of Blood Tracks in its uncut, uncensored version. Oh, they all speak English and play some tracks between posing and dying. Blood Tracks is perhaps best seen in the company of your mates on a Friday night somewhere between the crate of beer being emptied and you coming down off the high from the fumes of your glam rock hairdo.