The Blood Beast Terror

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 ****

You'll have to agree about one aspect of this movie…these British scriptwriters sure knew how to think up appealing titles! Look at this: blood + beast + terror … Separately, these three words already make every horror lover slaver. Together, they form the title to a seemly indispensable horror film. Sadly, this is a very wrong perception. The Blood Beast Terror is not a vital British horror picture. Especially not compared to so many other titles from that era. Although the plot of this film features a few promising and creative aspects (the still unknown universe of insects!), it develops itself very slow and tediously. The twists near the end don't really offer any surprises or innovative elements. Certainly not if you're familiar with the more famous Hammer monster movies like `The Reptile'. Peter Cushing stars as a cop investigating murders that are seemly committed by a giant death's head moth. Dr. Mallinger (Robert Flamyng) and the stunningly beautiful female resident in his mansion are behaving suspiciously, so Cushing goes undercover in rural Britain. His cute daughter and a bug-worshiping nerd accompany him. There's absolutely no tension to detect in this film. Maybe that's partially due to the far-fetched plot, but I rather blame the tame directing-skills of Vernon Sewell and the truly limited depth of this film. The characters in `Blood Beast Terror' are weak and uninteresting, while the make-up effects are downright ludicrous. The transformation-sequences that turn wench into moth are really, really cheap! And yes, I do keep in mind that the film is over 35 years old now. Even then, the special effects look stupid, mind you! In the same year of 1968, the production company (Tigon Productions) released `The Witchfinder General' starring Vincent Price. That film is at least a dozen times better and one of the most atmospheric movies I ever saw. A proof that the Hammer studios weren't the only ones who were able to create timeless, compelling horror. My advice: skip this one and continue your search for the more essential golden Brit-horrorfilms.

OK, not one of the better offerings of British horror, that's true. But it does have Peter Cushing who is always fun to watch and I have to give credit for the writers to try to bring a somewhat more original monster to the screen than just another rehash in the Vampire or Frankenstein vein. Well, come to think of it aside from making the monster a moth ,this really is just another rehashed Vampire story with a few elements from the Frankenstein storyline thrown in for good measure.

I cannot help but wonder if the monster was inspired by the legend of the Mothman, the legendary beastie from West Virginia. The resemblance is pretty close. A man sized moth creature with red glowing eyes.

Shame more people have not seen this though, it's not as bad as its reputation. I find it pretty enjoyable.

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.

A Hammer imitation from Tony Tensor's Tigon films, only made on a lower budget and with noticeably less enthusiasm, THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR is actually a lot more entertaining than it really ought to be. The film is obviously made on a lower budget than Hammer had to play around with at the time and this occasionally shows through, particularly in the creature's costume. However, once again a fine British cast are assembled for the job, veteran director Vernon Sewell puts in a solid if unremarkable job, the script is literate, the locations good and the movie well-filmed. THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR manages to be atmospheric in places, especially in the woods at night, and its colourful and enjoyable to look at throughout with adequate production values.

The saving grace of the film is Peter Cushing, who actually considered this his worst movie, but then perhaps he didn't remember NO SECRETS. Cushing is typically cast as the detective who investigates the series of (surprisingly bloody for the time) crimes but unfortunately he doesn't take much of a role in the action. Cushing fans will always remember his strenuous battles with Christopher Lee's Dracula and his surprising agility and strength in the physical scenes in his films, but there's none of that here. Still, Cushing is excellent as usual in his part, investing Quennell with mannerisms and typical quirkiness to make him an appealing character.

The film is rather episodic in nature, with lots of mini-climaxes before the ending, but thankfully its also rather short and doesn't outstay its welcome. There's a definite lull in the action about halfway through involving some amateur dramatics which seem to be out of place in this horror yarn, but otherwise its pretty solid. The scientific explanation behind the monster's creation is very hazy and disguised with lots of paraphernalia and props to make it seem believable and it just about works. As for the creature, it appears laughable rather than scary, with red ping pong ball eyes and a skin-tight costume with wings, but this adds to the unintentional humour rather than detracting too much from the flow of the movie.

Robert Flemyng (best known for his turn as the sleazy necrophiliac in Italy's THE TERRIBLE DR HICHCOCK) is very good in his part as the disturbed doctor who eventually turns his back on his experiments and proves to be an adequate foil for Cushing's hero. The female cast members take more prominent parts than usual, particularly Wanda Ventham as the young temptress. Vanessa Howard (GIRLY) is nice and sweet playing Cushing's daughter, but is a bit underused and isn't menaced enough, whilst Roy Hudd gets some great macabre humour as a morgue assistant who has his lunch at the feet of a corpse (although I was distracted by the "corpse's" feet, which kept twitching). Altogether, the positive points of this film outweigh the bad and fans of British horror may find it quaint and enjoyable, although it definitely could have been spiced up a bit with more action and excitement.