Herschell Gordon Lewis is considered to be the inventor of the contemporary 'splatter film' His early movie success came with low budget nudie film in the early 1960's.

As the novelty and popularity of mainstream sex farces like "Adventures of Lucky Pierre" began to fade, Lewis decided to give audiences something new by offering a story with deranged and graphic murder that made the Grand Guignol, Southern Gothic movies of the 1950's seem like Disney films. The result was Blood Feast, about an insane caterer who sacrifices his victims to the goddess Ishtar and then uses their flesh in his meals.

Lewis' first three gore films are called The Blood Trilogy collectively, and all are noted for their laughable acting and less than realistic FX.

The bright red blood in Lewis' films compensates for its utter lack of realism by being so generously used in scenes that place morbid creativity above sophistication or believability.

Fans of Chainsaw Massacre, Hostel, Saw and the modern examples of gore may find some humorous insight into the origins of the genre with the Blood Trilogy.