Beast of Blood

The Philippino B-movie maker Eddie Romero is probably best known for two WIP (Women in Prison) flicks starring the gorgeous Pam Grier, BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA (1973), which he directed, and fellow cult-director Jack Hill's THE BIG BIRD CAGE (1972), which he produced. The prolific Mr. Romero has been active in various sub-genres of low budget Exploitation cinema. His filmography includes several gory Horror films including this awesomely titled BEAST OF BLOOD (1971). While this incredibly cheesy but quite gory Horror effort is certainly not what one would call a 'good' film, it is certainly recommendable to my fellow fans of low-budget-Horror, and especially to admirers of Eddie Romero. BEAST OF BLOOD is actually a sequel to Romero's earlier Horror film MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND (1968), which I have yet to see.

After some mysterious attacks, the protagonist Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) returns to an island where an evil scientist is keeping his monstrous creation alive. Among his traveling companions are the sexy journalist Myra (Celeste Yarnall) and the equally sexy native chief's daughter Laida (Liza Belmonte)... BEST OF BLOOD is cheesy as hell, in an incredibly entertaining manner. Considering this is a very-low budget movie, the gory outbursts are very gory and very well-made. Especially the eponymous monstrous creature is made very well, even if its depiction on the supremely cool cover art is a little exaggerated. Both female leads take their clothes off for no real other reason than nudity at one point in the film. The acting performances are B-movie-standard-bad, but not abysmal, which adds to the trashy charm of the film. The one complaint I have about his amusing slice of sleaze-cheese is that BEAST OF BLOOD is quite a bit too long for its own good. Whit a running time of about 90 minutes a film like this one will inevitably get tedious at times. Still it is entertaining and shouldn't be missed by my fellow trash fans. One to avoid for those who find fascinating plots, logic and great performances essential in a movie, but warmly recommended to everyone who can enjoy low-budget cheese.

P.S.: The poster/cover artwork which shows the monster holding its own severed head must be one of the coolest B-movie posters ever.

BEAST OF BLOOD is the third installment in Uber-Director Eddie Romero's shock / schlock trilogy. Picking up where the second film left off, John Ashley stars as Dr. Bill Foster, who manages to battle a murdering monster about 30 seconds into the movie! Said monster winds up back on the island. Foster arrives later, accompanied by nosy reporter, Myra Russell (Celeste Yarnall) to hunt the creature.

Let the terror begin!

Not surprisingly, Dr. Lorca returns, this time played by Eddie Garcia. Lorca's henchman-in-chief, Razak is also back, with the magnificent Bruno Punzalan once again in the role. Ashley, as always, delivers his lines as though he's aggravated that someone has interrupted his nap. His acting style could be called anti-dynamic, seeming as if he might drift right back to dreamland at any moment! He is perfectly suited for this film.

The "Beast" takes an eternity to reappear, leaving us stranded in the jungle with Foster and Russell getting into scrapes with Razak and company. At his fortress homestead, Lorca reveals his latest, eeevil experiment, leading up to the big finish.

Romero's signature elements are all on hand: mad science, mutation, green slime, topless females, Ashley's sideburns, etc.

Another triumph for Filipino filmmaking...

BEAST OF BLOOD (3+ outta 5 stars) This is one of those iffy movies that I just can't quite bring myself to recommend to other people... though I have seen it many times and will probably see it many more. It is just so cheesy... the acting and voice dubbing so poor... the dialogue so overwrought... the storyline so clichéd... sex and violence for no reason but to show sex and violence... I mean, what's not to love about a movie like that? (Well, if you're in the mood for it, that is.) This is one of those cheaply-made horror movies from the Phillipines in the early 70s starring John Ashley. (Didnd't *every* movie made in the Phillipines in the early 70s star John Ashley?) In this sequel to "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" (which I have never seen, but, really, I don't think I need to) Ashley once again fights a monster inadvertently created by a mad scientist and tries to put a stop to his insidious experiments on human beings. That's all you need for a plot, right? So there's lots of fighting... and shooting... and lovemaking (Ashley manages to find not one but TWO willing females on the remote island... what luck)! I thought the movie was pretty cool when I saw it at the drive-in when I was 14... and dang it, I still think it's pretty cool! Why is it that bad movies made 30 or 40 years ago are so much more entertaining than bad movies made NOW?

"Beast of Blood" picks up where its predecessor, "Mad Doctor of Blood Island", leaves off, so in essence both movies are one long story. Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) is sailing away from the island when the monster of "Mad Doctor" causes the destruction of the boat. Bill is rescued, and one year later he returns to the island upon hearing stories of what may still be going on there, even though the villainous Dr. Lorca supposedly perished. He's now in the company of nosey, stubborn reporter Myra Russell (Celeste Yarnall) and a captain played by Beverly Miller (Miller also concocted the story for this entry). Of course, he learns that Dr. Lorca, now played by Filipino film veteran Eddie Garcia, is very much alive and still up to no good. Lorca is keeping the severed head of the monster alive in his lab, for one thing! This is overall not as much fun as one might wish it to be, as it has a mostly uneventful first half, and the movie does mostly consist of a trek / pursuit through the jungle. But, as with any of these Filipino horror movies, the inherent atmosphere of the locale comes through strong, and accompanied by the expectedly (and endearingly) grandiose music by Tito Arevalo, "Beast of Blood" does have the perfect "midnight movie" feel to it, and does have the legendary Eddie Romero in its director's chair; if you watch enough of these movies, Romero's is one name you'll start to see repeatedly. The acting basically gets the job done, with Ashley effective as the stolid hero. Yarnall, known for appearances in movies like "Live a Little, Love a Little", "The Velvet Vampire", and "The Mechanic", is super sexy and a commendably, fairly feisty type, and Liza Belmonte is also a real looker as helpful local Laida. Familiar faces Alfonso Carvajal as tribe leader Ramu and Bruno Punzalan as henchman Razak are fun, but not as much as Garcia, who seems to be relishing his role; Lorca cheerfully discloses at one point that he's "madder than ever". It's just too funny when Lorca is addressing the severed head, and even more so when the head is seen to speak! A pretty good finish and highly amusing gore and creature effects add to the appeal of this movie which if not great is still pretty good. Seven out of 10.

Dr. Foster (Ashley again-damn, look at those sideburns) comes back to Blood Island when the creature escapes (in a great opening sequence). Can the nefarious Dr. Lorca (now played by Eddie Garcia) be stopped.

While it all seems like a lot of fun, "Beast of Blood" is actually the weakest in the series. Sure, there's the requisite gore and nudity (including the creatures severed head-and when it talks!), and some nice action scenes come in. The thing is, the movie fails to keep one's interest as much this time, as there's a feeling of deja vu. Sure, the creature looks better this time, but you can only put up with it the premise of the series for so long before it starts to get stale.

Also, there isn't as much carnage from the creature this time around (and what happened to those killer trees?), meaning we have to put up with some tedium-such as scene after scene of people going through the jungle. Really, it grows quite tiresome.

"Beast of Blood" is far from horrible, but it's the weakest entry in the series, as it showing that the creators have milked the concept dry-in spite of some nice moments.