Brain of Blood

A bit of a disappointment, this one. It didn't have a lot of effects and wasn't really all that funny. Sure, the acting was bad, but bad acting alone is not enough. More effects, blood, cardboard sets, please!

If you like these old B-flicks, go see Baron del Terror (aka the Brainiac), it's much better.

BRAIN OF BLOOD is another dose of cinematic agony from Director Al Adamson.

When Amir (Reed Hadley), a foreign leader, dies, it's up to mad science to save him. Said leader is in the hands of Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor) and his assistant, Bob (Grant Williams), who plan on transplanting Amir's brain into another body, resulting in a new lease on life.

How could this possibly fail?

After a suitable subject proves to be too fragile, it falls to one of Trenton's henchmen to receive the transplant. Trenton must choose between a mindless giant named Gor (Tom Bloom), and a sinister "dwarf" named Dorro (Angelo Rossitto), who keeps women chained in the dungeon.

Can you guess who gets the brain?

Tragedy strikes and untold horror ensues. Or, something like that.

Mr. Adamson pulls out all the stops, making this movie as insufferably dull as possible.

BEST BITS AND BOBS: #1- Amir, wrapped in aluminum foil like a Thanksgiving turkey, ready for the roaster! #2- The international intrigue angle, added simply to pad things out, and as an attempt to make this movie interesting! #3- Bob's driving hat! #4- Gor's "makeup" (i.e., a rubber shower cap melted on his head)! #5- The constant water dripping in the dungeon, sounding exactly the same no matter what part of the dungeon the characters are in!

So, sit back, relax, and prepare for cranial blisters!

EXTRA POINTS FOR: Katherine's (Vicki Volante) mile-high, haymow of hair!...

1971's "Brain of Blood" was strictly work for hire as Al Adamson's addition to Hemisphere's trio of 'Blood Island' entries, minus the wooden presence of John Ashley (his "Beast of the Yellow Night" went out through Roger Corman's New World Pictures, so Hemisphere needed a replacement quickly), with Adamson's usual cast of characters for location shooting over 8 days in California rather than the humid Philippines (sadly, no scantily clad jungle beauties). Two ailing actors emerged for one last film role, TV veteran Reed Hadley as dying Kalid ruler Abdul Amir, and Incredible Shrinking Man Grant Williams, whose heroic Dr. Bob Nigserian is given the task of maintaining complete secrecy in keeping Amir's brain alive long enough to transplant from its current cancerous body to a younger, stronger one. Reliable Kent Taylor offers continuity from "Brides of Blood" as mad scientist Lloyd Trenton, the surgeon assisted by dwarf Dorro (Angelo Rossitto) in the delicate operation that will enable him to realize his goal of taking over a Middle Eastern nation. Problems arise when the doctor's mentally deficient henchman Gor (7'4 John Bloom) supplies damaged goods, requiring Gor's noggin to house the brain of Amir, coupled with a special tracking device in his skull that enables Trenton to bend this subject to his will. Meantime, Bob's car is forced off the road by a treacherous Trenton confederate (Richard Smedley), and even Amir's trusted fiancee Tracy (Regina Carrol) turns out to be a heartless harlot, another profiteer itching to earn the ultimate payoff. Apart from Amir's unhappy new countenance, scarred by battery acid, the only one standing in Trenton's way is Bob, the lone survivor of the wreck, but even he cannot prevent the inevitable from happening, a whole host of corpses left behind. It certainly delivers on its promise of blood and brains but very little else, a plot that just dangles like a loose tooth waiting to drop despite the high death count, the picture slowing to a crawl over the entire second half, essentially a simple minded chase picture with everybody on foot. Williams ably carries things along in a part tailor made for him, Kent Taylor repeating his mad doctor from "Blood of Ghastly Horror," Angelo Rossitto and Zandor Vorkov reunited from "Dracula vs. Frankenstein." Vorkov, better known as stockbroker Roger Engel, actually improves on his pasty faced Dracula as Amir disciple Mohammed, lasting a half hour before crashing in a blaze of glory, never again acting before the camera.

A man who goes by the name of "Amir" (Reed Hadley) is a rich and powerful leader of a country called "Kalid" and he is dying of cancer. Wishing to prolong his life he turns to an insane surgeon named "Doctor Trenton" (Kent Taylor) who guarantees him that he can transplant his brain from his diseased body into a healthy one. Of course, to do that Dr. Trenton needs a live human specimen and since there are no volunteers, he sends a mentally challenged and seriously deformed henchman named "Gor" (John Bloom) out to procure one. Unfortunately, Gor fails in his assignment and so Dr. Trenton is compelled to use Gor as the recipient of Amir's brain. But things don't go as planned. Anyway, rather than disclose the entire story and risk spoiling this film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that I don't recommend it to anybody but die-hard, Category-Z movie buffs. For starters, the special effects weren't very good and some of the scenes--like the initial surgical procedure or with the young lady named "Katherine" (Vicki Volante) wandering around in the dungeon--seemed to drag on forever. Likewise, I didn't especially care for the ending at all. Below average.

The ruler of the the nation of Khalid is dying, so he's secretly whisked off to the States so that Dr. Trenton can transplant his brain into a new body. The disorganized doctor starts the operation without actually having a body to move the brain to, so when his mentally challenged, extremely large, facially disfigured servant Gor screws up getting a body, the doctor puts the brain into Gor. Naturally, the patient is not happy waking up to find out that he's a giant with a badly scarred face. Mayhem ensues. Oh yeah ... the doctor's dwarf assistant keeps women chained up in the basement as blood donors (it seems that the good doctor is not worried about blood types), and one of them escapes.

If I had to pick a worst director of all time, I'd go with Al Adamson. People have made worse films than his, and at least a couple of his are mildly entertaining, but he has a long career of consistently not giving a crap about any of the films he made. That said, this one is one of his better films ... barely. While it has VERY long stretches of nothing happening, it has about 10-15 minutes of inspired nuttiness. It was made around the same time as "Dracula vs. Frankenstein", so both Dracula (Zandor Vorkov) and the Frankenstein monster (John Bloom) are in this one, along with Angelo Rossito and the ever-present Regina Carrol.