Blood Salvage, Organ Harvesters and Beauty Queens

The most remote parts of rural America hold many surprises for main stream Americans. Moonshine and marijuana crops aren't the only deviant industries thriving away from metropolitan sophistication. Today we look at 1990's "Blood Salvage," where down-home preaching and organ harvesting play havoc on a stunning beauty pageant hopeful.

She's blonde and, as her white swimsuit suggests, pure. April (Lori Birdsong) has come to a rural peach festival to compete in a pageant. Uh oh, a disease has relegated April to a wheelchair, but her charm just may win her a crown. She captivates the judges and the owner of a towing/salvage company, Jake (Danny Nelson). Jake, also a pastor, can't control his drool and he knows he must have April. Bad news for April and her family; Jake and his two boys, Hiram (Christian Hesler) and Roy (Ralph Pruitt Vaughn), bump cars off the road, and tow them and their occupants to their salvage yard. There, Jake turns into a mad-scientist and surgically removes the organs of out-of-towners to sell on the black-market.

As Jake and his two boys abduct April and her family, the fun begins. April's mom, dad (John Saxon), and little brother will suffer such gruesome fates. Jake has plans for April, however. As both boys want to rape April, Jake wants her for himself. The white-clad pageant beauty won't be soiled without a fight. As Jake harvests organs, he also keeps his victims alive so he can visit the well repeatedly. Oh yes, Jake is a pastor, remember. As he cuts out organs he preaches sermons to the no-longer-whole miserables locked in his barn/lab. Being a widow for so long, Jake is ready for April and he readies his lab for a special surgery.

What does Jake have planned for the beauty in white? Will April ever walk again, and if so will she be able to mount a counter-attack on Jake and his boys? Is "Blood Salvage" a thinly veiled metaphor of rural America's rejection of the over sexualized culture overtaking society? You will cheer so hard for April to walk again, even more so than our parents cheered for Heidi to walk. I will say, the urgency for April to walk beats that of Heidi's, as Heidi wasn't going to get her organs pulled out...I don't think. Fans of "Motel Hell" will love "Blood Salvage," directed by Tucker Johnston.