The best thing one could say about Bloodsucking Freaks is that it's a failed comedy. Director Joel M. Reed's 1976 sleaze classic manages to irritate the sensibilities of even the most jaded viewer. But in the end, it never manages to be truly offensive. Troma has released a 'collector's edition' on DVD, for those who can take it.

Theater impresario Sardu (Seamus O'Brian) has open his latest theatrical disaster, "The Incredible Torture Show" (the film's original title) in a small off-Broadway playhouse. The play features a plotless stage show filled with second-rate Grand Guignol. Little does the audience know that all the mutilations and deaths are real. When theater critic Creasy Silo (Alan Dellay) berates Sardu, he is kidnapped and imprisoned in the theater, along with a host of wild, caged women, leather-bound mistress, and the freakishly cheerful Ralphus (Luis deJesus), Sardu's murderous henchdwarf.

The slight plot is really just a clothesline, along which Reeds hangs any number of perverse fantasy. Sardu plays darts on a girl's ass, poker with body parts, invites friends over to perform the titular deed. It would all be shocking and nauseating if it weren't so poorly rendered. And so adolescent. Where Bloodsucking Freaks really shows its colors is in its utter immaturity. Its shocks are the purile drivel that enflame the minds of junior-highschool boys.

If anything makes it tolerable, it is that it is presented as comedy rather than tragedy. Unfortunately, it falls flat far more than it amuses. One could complain about the misogyny of it all. Or its willingness to offend everyone possible. Or even the vibrant, sardonic performances of the principals. But that is giving the film more credit than it deserves. With the production values of cheap porn, and acting and direction of equal caliber, there is little to recommend to even the most forgiving horror fan. As a cultural artifact, and as an example of the worst uses of creative energy, however, Bloodsucking Freaks is a must-see. Just remember, if you are offended by it, the joke is on you.