Blood Shack (1971)

"The Chooper will get you!" - Daniel

A young women inherits a ranch with a haunted shack.
Starring: Carolyn Brandt, Jason Wayne, Ron Haydock, all of the rodeo horses

Link to IMDB

Daniel

Somewhere in the middle of the Arizona desert there is a shack with a bad reputation. For the last 150 years local legends have warned people to stay away from this "blood shack," because anyone that spends time inside will be killed by a ghost called The Chooper! (It honestly is chooper not chopper.)

A man named Daniel is the caretaker of the property and he's always busy trying to keep curious folk away and the local kids safe, but the occasional person is still able to get into the shack, where they are promptly murdered by a masked man in black pyjamas that appears from nowhere!



Carol arrives on the scene after inheriting the ranch where the shack is situated, and she unexpectedly wants to keep the old family property for herself. She is often pestered by a local guy named Tim who is desperately trying to buy the land for his own cattle, but Carol feels a connection to the land despite the spooky shack attacks.
And then everyone goes to the rodeo. Twice.

Tim                                                                             Carol

Blood Shack is only 55 minutes long (and 15 of those are just rodeo filler,) and this merciful brevity is what keeps it entertaining, because if it was longer it might become unbearable.
It's barely even a movie in the traditional sense, instead feeling more like a collection of scenes stringed together to trick you into thinking there's a plot. I'm willing to bet there wasn't a script for the wonky dialog, especially since most of the story is told with a monotone narration of Carol's thoughts.

"Peanuts, that's what they named the pony." - Carol, narrating the rodeo

Chooper's gonna choop

We do get a resolution to the land dispute between Carol and Tim, and you better believe that The Chooper will also have an opinion on the matter! There's actually a twist at the end, and although it's not surprising it had me laughing that they even attempted to explain things.

With a very bizarre, almost cartoonish home-made presentation, it defies classification into any genre except for the "What-the-heck-am-I-watching" genre. This keeps it fun and oddly charming, and it's easy to find laughs at the amateur attempt at making a movie with nothing more than a handful of dollars and an old shack... and tickets to the rodeo.

Be sure not to miss:
- Texas sized biscuits sound good. Tim agrees.
- Don't give a monologue to a 5 year old child that has never acted before.
- A 70 minute version also exists, which adds nothing except even more rodeo filler!

Internet review:
"This movie gave me cancer." - Buffalo Terrance Bill

Should I watch it?
Yes, although I do realize this means I can't realistically expect anyone to ever take my advice again.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube.

Blood Shack gets...