Director Brad Grinter worked as a part time film instructor and used some of his student's tuition money for his own film projects.

Blood Freak was shot entirely in Florida using student actors from Grinter's film class.

Grinter was a nudist and made several nudist films, frequently called "nudie-cuties," and shot on location at nudist camps in Florida.

Grinter's directorial debut was Flesh Feast [1970], the last movie to star actress Veronica Lake. This other film oddity (about a woman who finds the secret to eternal youth in flesh eating maggots, eventually getting revenge on Adolf Hitler!) was supposed to bring Veronica Lake back to prominence but disappeared quickly after a brief run in grindhouses and the drive-in circuit. And Lake died penniless in 1973.

Grinter was inspired by another Florida gore filmmaker, Herschell Gordon Lewis, to make the film Flesh Feast.

The lead character in Blood Freak is named "Herschell" in tribute to HGL.

Steve Hawkes (born Steve Sipek) is originally from Croatia and came to America to film a series of Spanish language Tarzan movies for the South American market.

Hawkes was a huge Johnny Weissmuller fan, and later would meet him and travel to personal appearance shows with him. Hawkes also claims to be the only person who has a complete collection of all of Weissmuller's films.

Hawkes came in first place in a Mr. Canada contest.

While Hawkes was filming Tarzan and the Brown Prince in Florida in 1972, a fire broke out during a botched special effect that left Hawkes badly burned. (You can see his scarred arms in certain scenes in Blood Freak.) Hawkes claims that a lion actually saved his life by pulling him out of that fire.

The Tarzan crew left the U.S. for South America shortly after the fire incident to avoid legal trouble, leaving Hawkes behind to heal.

Hawkes met Brad Grinter shortly after the accident. Needing money to pay off his medical bills, Hawkes agreed to star in a few "nudie-cuties" with Grinter. The two then collaborated on Blood Freak.

Hawkes currently runs an animal sanctuary in Florida.

On July 13, 2004, Hawkes's pet tiger Bobo escaped from his compound in Loxahatchee, Florida and was shot and killed the next day by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Officer, an incident that attracted national media attention.

On July 19, six days later, Hawkes's house caught on fire. A recently installed air conditioner malfunctioned and sparked the blaze. Fire crews had a hard time getting to the fire because Sipek has electrical fencing to keep his other exotic animals caged in. The fire was eventually extinguished, and all animals on the property were reported in good condition.

Hawkes and his animal sanctuary were featured on The Daily Show in 1999. (http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=122200&title=the-loin-king).

Compiled by Millie De Chirico

SOURCES:
www.imdb.com
www.allmovie.com
www.fright.com
www.thedailyshow.com
www.badmovieplanet.com/3btheater/
www.bleedingskull.com
www.thehotspotonline.com
www.dvdverdict.com
www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=73833
Interview with Steve Hawkes, http://www.tarzanmovieguide.com/hawkes.htm
www.grindhousedatabase.com