La bara del Dottor Sangue

The title has more punch than the story ultimately delivers in this mild shocker, yet another variation on the old "Frankenstein" theme. Kieron Moore ("Crack in the World") stars as Dr. Peter Blood, an intense scientist determined that his experiments in extending life will be successful. Unfortunately for him, he's not very good at what he does, either getting caught in the act or leaving critical evidence in his wake.

"Doctor Blood's Coffin" is mainly noteworthy as one of the horror pictures made in England by under-rated, Canadian-born filmmaker Sidney J. Furie before he hit his stride with "The Ipcress File". The story & screenplay are the work of Nathan Juran (credited as Jerry Juran), himself a famed director of such things as "20 Million Miles to Earth". But, alas, this yarn is lacking in truly interesting features, although the tunnel settings are somewhat unusual. (Said underground tunnels, originally used as tin mines, run throughout much of the locations.)

These locations are quite picturesque, and the film does look lovely in colour, although one can't help but think that it would have had even more atmosphere had it been filmed in black & white.

The picture also offers its audience an opportunity to watch gorgeous Brit scream queen Hazel Court in a contemporary-set tale, unlike the period pieces from the 50s and 60s for which one might already know her. She's quite a formidable leading lady, obliged to scream at one point, but indignant enough that she and Moore pontificate back and forth on what constitutes the "right" thing to do. The excellent supporting cast also includes Ian Hunter as Dr. Blood Sr., Kenneth J. Warren as the police sergeant faced with baffling deaths, the colourful Gerald Lawson as local funeral director Mr. Morton, Fred Johnson as amiable miner Tregaye, and Andy Alston as one of our demented antagonists' intended victims. You have to give this guy credit for his extended, arduous escape.

Overall, this is short on suspense and originality, and spends too much time with Moore as he aggressively pursues Court (not that you can blame him, of course); this doesn't stay on track all that well. Even the finale is underwhelming.

Five out of 10.

Six years before the world's first human heart transplant, Dr. Blood's Coffin saw Kieron Moore star as Dr. Peter Blood, a biochemist determined to bring a man back to life by giving him a new heart. Of course, this being a horror flick, Blood is seriously deranged, his procedure requiring the donor to be still alive while the transplant takes place.

In order to carry out his plans, Blood returns to his rural home village in Cornwall (where absolutely no-one has a West Country accent), and proceeds to drug and abduct locals, taking them down to the tunnels of a nearby disused tin mine where he has set up a rudimentary operating theatre using medical supplies half-inched from the local surgery run by his unsuspecting father.

When he's not injecting victims with curare (which causes paralysis) and playing God in the mine, Peter spends his time wooing his father's curvaceous widowed nurse Linda (Hammer babe Hazel Court). As time goes on, Linda becomes suspicious of Peter, leading to a shocking climax that sees the demented doctor reanimating the nurse's decomposing husband.

While all of the above sounds like a lot of ghoulish fun, Dr. Blood's Coffin is less entertaining than it might have been, suffering from too many dialogue-heavy scenes and a lack of genuine horror, the only slightly disturbing scenes being the hasty removal of organs by a flustered Peter (he's a fast worker, completing the surgical procedure in minutes). The finale, in which Linda's mouldy husband comes back to life is incredibly silly, but easily the most enjoyable part of the film, director Sidney J. Furie finally delivering on the movie's macabre premise.

Saw this one (again) on (Chicago's own) "Svengoolie" this weekend, and was amazed how interesting and well-done it was, considering the preposterously bizarre and grotesque underlying story. Also, how they make sympathetic, and almost get you to root for, the main character -- a guy who makes Dr. Mengele look like Hippocrates.

Meanwhile, it's striking how appealing Hazel Court is. Definitely a woman with a quality, she's developed nicely since "Devil Girl from Mars" (1953).

So, if you're up for a movie about a warped physician performing hellish experiments on (unwilling) human subjects, this is definitely the one to see. Mellow and affectionate.

As you watch this film your thinking that this is just another psycho doctor movie where he's hell bent on proving his experiments are correct but then the film becomes a minor Frankenstein entry, complete with a resurrected corpse. Good location shooting in a small Welsh village add flavor to this story and good color in the type of film. You would also think that this is a film from Hammer studios, but it is not. Hazel Court is good as the nurse but veteran actor Kieron Moore who has worked in other science fiction films is pretty good also. This is one of the few times he's played the villain and not the hero that saves the day. This does have its share of blood and the overall mood of the film is effective in a grisly way. Future director Nicolas Roeg is one of the cameramen on the film. Horror film fans should check this eerie little film out.

Local people are mysteriously disappearing in a small community in Cornwall, England, and it's no secret that it's all down to one Peter Blood, son of the local doctor. I started watching horror movies way back in the 1980's when I was a kid & I remember seeing this great sounding title in the TV guide, however for whatever reason I missed it and it's taken 30 odd years to finally watch it. And it didn't disappoint, though it's hardly a classic either. It is really nicely filmed in colour, with great coastal Cornish locations. The cast, which includes scream queen Hazel Court, is good. In particular I liked the character of Mr Mortimer, the drunk undertaker. There a few moments of gore, including quite graphic heart transplants, plus the zombie near the end is one of the earliest examples of a decaying corpse, which were to become so popular over the following decades. The only thing that let's the film down is that it can be pretty slow at times, but it is worth sticking with because the finale is pretty shocking.