5 Feet of Fury

Killer turkey-man ‘Blood Freak’ (1972): ‘The ultimate Thanksgiving film on so many levels’ (video)

DangerousMinds:

Finding himself sandwiched between Bible-thumping good-girl Angel and her bad-girl sister Ann, a muscle bound biker named Herschell (Steve Hawkes, star of two obscure Tarzan films) falls under Ann’s seductive spell when she offers him some weed. Quickly becoming a writhing, spastic addict – “I have a feeling I’m hooked!” – the big galoot then gets a job at a turkey farm where he’s fed meat treated with an experimental drug and, like any junkie who eats tainted turkey meat, turns into a man with a giant turkey head.

More on Blood Freak here:

 Without much attention to science or plot logic, Herschell begins fiending for joints in a manner that suggests Hawkes and Grinter may have confused “mary jane” with “horse.”

And this is without even getting into Herschell’s new gig at the world’s most ominous poultry farm, which is run by one of Angel’s square-ass Christian buddies but also supports a lab full of shifty scientists working on, uh, bird-meat stuff. Word to the wise: Proceed cautiously anytime anyone casually slips “If you want to make a little extra money, you can help us with our experiments!” into the conversation on your first day at work. (Then, say NO.)

(PS: Another “1972 crazed Vietnam Vet” movie — Deathdream, a.k.a. The Night Andy Came Home, —  airs on TCM this week.)