Le vampire a soif

A scientist (Robert Flemyng), working with genetics, creates a creature that is capable of transforming back and forth between a giant Death Head moth and a beautiful woman. The creature masquerades as his daughter when she is in her human incarnation and feeds on the blood of her victims when she is in the moth form.

So, Peter Cushing has allegedly said this was his least favorite role or the film he considered his worst. This is taken from IMDb, and there is no source or exact quote. I can see why he might say that -- this is not the best Cushing role by any means. But it is far from a bad film. Tigon gets a rough break, being treated as the third best British horror studio (behind Hammer and Amicus), but this does not mean their films are awful.

Apparently Basil Rathbone was going to play the part of the scientist. I think the only good that would come from that would be a slight increase in star power. Flemyng handles the role very well, and I am hard-pressed to say Rathbone could have improved upon it in any way.

I really see no different from this film and other horror films starring the great Peter Cushing. Nor do I see a difference in shape-shifting to a (were)wolf or a moth or a bat - it's still horror and this one is done tastefully as I would expect from a Peter Cushing film of this time era.

Beautiful Gothic imagery, a good suspenseful inspector/detective story blended in quite well with the horror we see on screen. I love some of the music in this film as well - works quite well - eerie sounding. The acting is good - it's as if the actors really believe they are the characters and this really is happening - just the way it is suppose to be, very convincing.

Good late night film - I quite enjoyed this one.

8.5/10

Ignore the most negative of the comments, "The Blood Beast Terror" is not total garbage. It has the Hammer Studio's feel which it was trying to imitate; with a decent imitation of the Hammer Victorian production design and a performance by Peter Cushing (as Police Inspector Quennell). It is also features one of the few available film appearances of Vanessa Howard, unfortunately she has only a supporting scream queen role as Quennell's daughter Meg. Check out "Girly" if you want to see a lot more of this underutilized actress.

"The Blood Beast Terror's" main weakness is its low budget which resulted in some horribly lame special effects, although the budget cannot be entirely blamed as just a little imagination in this area would have resulted in something far more effective. It also suffers from a condensed story that does not supply enough scientific details to make the basic premise interesting.

So instead of a sci-fi/horror picture, it is more of a detective story with some laughable horror elements. But it is a decent detective story with enough misdirection to produce several surprising revelations. Contrary to several other comments, I had no problem with the ending, finding the idea of a moth (even a giant one) being drawn to a flame quite appropriate, although so poorly staged as to be groan inducing.

There is some great comic relief in the underplayed performance of Glynn Edwards (as Sergeant Allen) and the overplayed performance of Roy Hudd, as the jaded morgue attendant who casually eats his meals off the slabs in the morgue (complete with cadavers). There is unintended comic relief in the casting of 30 year-old Wanda Ventham as the mad scientist's on-the-make "teenage" daughter. Nothing exceptional but a cut above much of the 60's cheap sci-fi and horror.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I've always heard atrocious things about this Hammer imitation, but it wasn't that bad IMO. It may be the only time I've seen Peter Cushing appear that he was walking through a role, though. He just doesn't seem very interested and I've read somewhere that he considered this his "worst horror film". I don't know whether this was his own approach to the material or the spawn of director Vernon Sewell. Maybe it was the part of a police inspector that didn't showcase Cushing to his best ability. I haven't seen THE REPTILE yet, but apparently this film is very derivative of it. I thought that the Deathshead moth creature was reminiscent of THE WASP WOMAN myself, but this wasn't a bad thing; the creature makes some pretty satisfying appearances and killings. The ending is very weak and the whole approach comes off on the superficial side. But one could do much worse for a horror movie. ** out of ****

Peter Cushing used to refer to THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR as the worst film of his prolific career, and this was enough to keep me from getting the SE DVD of it on R2 from DD Video when I purchased four more second-tier British horrors from the same outfit last year - namely, ISLAND OF TERROR (1966), NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT (1967), CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTAR (1968) and THE CREEPING FLESH (1973). Eventually, it was shown last Saturday night on an Italian TV channel in its original language with forced Italian subtitles, and I really couldn't let an occasion like that pass me by...

Tigon was always seen as a cut-rate Hammer and this film was clearly inspired by the latter's THE REPTILE (1966; one of the Bray Studio outfit's best of the decade, and which THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR can't hope to match) - where, again, we find a female monster 'created' by her eminent but misguided entomologist father (Robert Flemyng). The monster design (we're dealing with a giant Death's Head Moth here) isn't too bad, actually, and it's thankfully not over-exposed during the course of the film: besides, Wanda Ventham's character is interesting in that she doesn't bemoan her fate as usually happens in such genre efforts - rather, she's single-minded in seeking out her prey among Flemyng's naïve students and rugged helpers around the estate, all of whom are easily swayed by her attractiveness!

Aided by a fine score from resident Tigon composer Paul Ferris, the film creates a reasonable Gothic atmosphere throughout (with, at one point, even an amateur rendition/parody of a typical Grand Guignol performance set up by the students - and also featuring Ventham - in Flemyng's house). The script, incidentally, is by Hammer alumnus Peter Bryan (THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES [1959], THE BRIDES OF Dracula [1960] and THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES [1966]) and, while offering no real surprises, it's quite enjoyable for what it is - certainly better than its reputation would suggest! That said, the monster's come-uppance in an unconvincing and abrupt fiery ending is one of the lamest of its kind I've ever come across...

Cushing - with his customary fastidiousness and dry wit intact - is always a pleasure to watch; Flemyng, too, offers his unhinged medico routine - and it's interesting, to say the least, to witness this clash of Hammer and Italian horror acting styles! Notable among the supporting cast is Roy Hudd as a scurrilous morgue attendant.

At this stage, I don't know whether I'll eventually spring for the R2 DVD - since it contains a 25-minute career overview with Ventham - but, if it's ever discounted again by one of my British retailers of choice (and provided that it hasn't gone out-of-print by then!), it's worth considering. Another DD Video title I've long neglected is THE DEVIL'S MEN (1976), incidentally, also starring Peter Cushing - and, even though it's an equally maligned horror effort, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for such things...