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.

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.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a film as bad as this. Awful acting, All over the place plot, terrible special effects. There are some 'so bad its good' moments in here but not really enough to maintain interest. The woman who plays Tracey looks hideous. There are some fairly worrying scenes with a dwarf which leave you feeling ever so slightly violated. On the plus side the operation scenes are fairly amusing for the special effects as is the car chase where one car is "trying to force us off the road" without actually making contact. Guess the budget didn't stretch to trashing cars. Oh and what looks like a Postcard of the Taj Mahal is shown every time they cut to the fictional foreign country.

What would you expect from a film entitled "Brain Of Blood"? I settled down for a B-movie extravaganza of bad acting, a preposterous story, and horrendous directing. I was gobsmacked when, ten minutes into the film, I realised I wasn't going to get what I'd planned for.

This is not your average B-Movie.

No! It's your above-average B-Movie.

It's not great, but it ain't no stinker either.

Writers Samuel Sherman (story) & Joe Rodgers (screenplay) give the audience a semi-decent sci-fi thriller.

Amir is the ruler of Kalid. He's a good and caring monarch whose people love him. Unfortunately, he's riddled with cancer. Not knowing of a suitable successor for his beloved country, Amir risks it all on an experimental operation. A brain transplant. Things go disastrously awry when Gor damages the host body. Amir's brain ends up in the scarred body of mentally disabled Gor. This isn't the only blow Amir has to weather as conspirators have other ideas regarding his future.

It would be a stronger film had they managed the story concept correctly.

Though in Al Adamson's hands we receive a film of missed possibilities. Adamson tries his best behind the camera, and there are some interesting shots. I liked the operating procedure where he filmed part of it through a glass jar. The best part of this scene is when the camera pans to the bottom of the jar and we spot the white rat. Though this scene shows his inventiveness the rat breaks the spell.

It's this sort of thing that lessens the film. For example, they fly Amir from Kalid to America and then they transport him to the secret laboratory; which is one small room. The doctor begins the operation immediately and Amir's trusted confidant, Mohammed, is allowed to stay. Trouble is, they don't get him to scrub up or even don a gown. Evidently, hygiene isn't a worry when you're pulling a brain from a skull. This is a good thing. Especially considering the Doctor's assistant needs a chair to stand on... being a midget and all.

I can almost hear you groaning out there. I admit to sighing loudly and shaking my head when the midget appeared, so I can relate.

However, Adamson films the operation well. So if they paired the whole thing back, and Adamson concentrated on the relevant parts of the story, the movie would be stronger.

Since the Doctor is operating secretly, he requires a constant source of blood. This comes from the two female prisoners chained in the dungeon. Yeah, you heard that right. Why this couldn't be a cellar, I don't know(?) It's another element handled incorrectly. We later learn how massive the dungeon is. When I realised this I wondered, why does he have only one room for his lab(?). All these mishandled inconsistencies hinder the movie further.

Nonetheless, the film kept me in its grip... just.

This is because there are some good scenes, and these outweigh the bad. You can see the lack of budget in every shot. But Adamson tries to keep it interesting. He composes the opening sequence of Amir on his deathbed superbly. Even though you know we're not in a mansion or a castle, it doesn't matter too much. The direction holds it together, as does the acting.

This scene leads to one of the best opening credit's I've seen in a B-Movie. It made me reminisce about my youth when I watched Re-Animater and other Brian Yuzna films. It's similar in style and just as good.

I have to admit to having a fondness for the car chase. Even though Doctor Bob (Grant Williams) shouts, "He's trying to run us off the road!" the cars never get too close. I want to believe it's because one car is the directors and he's told them, "Scratch my car and you're fired!" Regardless, he deals with the chase admirably, using different angles. I especially liked the upward shot of the passing tree branches. This adds to the feel of speed, anxiety, and unease. At least he gets to set one car on fire.

As for the acting, this is well above average. It's the cast and their portrayals that are the glue to the film. Each gives a believable rendition, and it was this that kept me watching most.

There's only one person who lets the cast down. Regina Carrol, who plays Amir's aid and love interest, Tracy. Three things stand out in her performance. Her hair, which is so heavily lacquered with hairspray, she may be solely responsible for the hole in the ozone. The other two are her breasts... and Adamson's camera loves them. Not once does her acting ability surpass these attributes.

I would only recommend this film to B-Movie lovers and aficionados. This is chiefly because this is a bad film... but it's a good bad film. Everybody else should stay away. You won't appreciate the films badness.

Ratings: Story 1.25 : Direction 1 : Pace 0.75 : Acting 1 : Enjoyment 1 : Total 5 / 10

Transplant yourself into my Absolute Horror and The Final Frontier lists to see where this B-Movie crashed.

Take Care and Stay Well.

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.