Let's get one thing out of the way - I like Peter Falk. In this movie he's restrained, cold, and creepy. Shame the rest of the cast are rubbish.Nico is a fireside philosopher to all the beatniks at the local hangout, giving them their kicks via parties and monologues about life in general, but he's also making his cash from selling them gear and has the mind of a lizard. He's down on the squares and after witnessing the natural death of a newspaper salesman, he plots to up the ante by murdering someone. Thing is, that someone has a brother who won't stop until he find's the murderer.To put it simply - when Falk is on screen this film is a hoot. He's really playing a man without a soul who has to go to extremes to even feel anything (and even then there's doubt regarding whether or not that happens). He uses every single other character in the film and only looks vaguely surprised when it all backfires. However, a good half of the film is set around the victim's brother, and this makes the film slow to a crawl.However - worth a look for Pre-Colombo Falk playing the bad guy, other than that, this film is for squares, daddy-o.

Along with the much superior Bucket of Blood, this is another example of late 50's beatsploitation. Despite its horror title, The Bloody Brood is a crime-drama set in a Beatnik cellar bar. Similar to Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, this movie has two bored intellectuals deciding that they would like to kill someone just for kicks. This they duly do by feeding a message boy a hamburger laced with broken glass. Yech!Sadly, there is not a lot in The Bloody Brood to recommend. Peter Falk is good in a very early role, while the Beatnik vibe is mostly quite amusing. Other than these two factors though, this isn't very good at all. While it's mercifully short, nothing much of interest actually happens. It isn't really directed with much impetus and the whole plot line about the brother seeking vengeance for his brother's death is pretty tedious. Not too hip nowadays daddy-oh.

I gave the above summary because many might just assume that this low budget film stinks because it's included in the "50 Movie Pack--Chilling Classics" DVD set. This set and others by the same company are mostly films that slipped into the public domain because no one wanted them--they were THAT bad!! And, in most cases, the prints are just awful--often being dark, fuzzy or out of alignment. However, in the case of THE BLOODY BROOD, this film isn't bad at all--at least when you consider its rather low pedigree.This film is a very low budget production that stars a familiar face (Peter Falk) as the bad guy. He's the unofficial leader of a group of beatnicks who generally don't look like beatnicks (especially Falk--though what can you expect from a counter-culture film made in Canada?). Everyone in the group comes to him for inspiration, leadership and it's implied that he's their drug connection (though oddly they NEVER said he was dealing drugs--I guess it could have been uranium or stolen lawn jockeys or whatever other illegal activity he was doing).One evening, just for kicks, he gets the idea to kill someone for laughs and gets one of his flunkies to help. The unsuspecting victim is a poor delivery boy who is fed a sandwich laced with glass! When the kid dies, his brother vows to continue the investigation that the police don't seem all that interested in pursuing.Generally, the acting is pretty good compared to other similarly budgeted films and the plot is pretty good as well. It's a nice variation on the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case that was dramatized in COMPULSION. While not as slickly produced and lacking the stars of COMPULSION, in some ways I preferred THE BLOODY BROOD since when the film ends there is an appropriate comeuppance--something that never really happened with Leopold and Loeb.FYI--For a laugh, watch the scene where they show a close up of the Maynard G. Krebs lookalike as he plays the bongos. If you pay attention, you'll see that his hands and the music aren't even close to being in sync and the tune is significantly faster and different than the hands would indicate--now THAT'S talent!

The first Canadian exploitation film ever made, with a way young Peter Falk playing a beatnik-gangster-mole who feeds a delivery boy 'a hamburger full of ground glass' - that phrase becomes a mantra as the Wonderbread protagonist-come-lately sleuths through the shocking and unseen world of the young bohemian! The beatniks are not shown as evil, they're just stupid dupes - that's nice. They're also viewed at a long arms-length via our virtuous heroes (there's also a girl, who is saved from an interesting life by mister blowdry). "The Mask" is later and greater Roffman, though it too depicts subcultural life as immoral and despicable while it cashes in on its allure. But why do ya think they call it 'exploitation'? It's got some energy, it's got Peter Falk, and it's competently shot when it's indoors. What's "Canadian" about this movie, I hear the tenured laggards inquire? Here's what's Canadian about it: it looks like Brits trying to look American only it's whiter than either.