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3.5/10
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An astronaut is killed on reentry to Earth, but his body is seeded with rapidly gestating aliens.An astronaut is killed on reentry to Earth, but his body is seeded with rapidly gestating aliens.An astronaut is killed on reentry to Earth, but his body is seeded with rapidly gestating aliens.
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I did however see this on TV in the late 60`s. Gemini/Apollo had already made the rocket and base seem ridiculous. Informal staff or what? I did stick with it and enjoyed the fleeting glimpses of the creature and plot weirdness. Possible shock landmarks: First movie with alien pregnancy? Near beheading? A previous review mentions a hairy chest.I recall that I too was smitten with Georgiana Carter somewhat and thought she had a contemporary beauty as compared to other 50`s sci-fi ladies. Unfortunately The Wild Ride with Jack Nicholson was all else she was in. Also thought Michael Emmet was OK in this and Attack Of The Giant Leeches. And of course Ed Nelson smokes cigarettes and adds energy to the proceedings. All in all one of my favorite 50`s schlock/sci-fi movies. Available at a nice price from Collectables. On the strength of being THE Georgianna Carter movie ** out of *****
America's first orbiting spaceship collides with a mysterious object and crashes to Earth, bringing with it an alien mother and her parasitical brood who are using the undead astronaut as an incubation chamber. After a number of inexplicable deaths, the humans decide to destroy the intruder but pause when the alien claims to be on a goodwill mission to save our species from ourselves. The film is a bargain-basement, Bronson Canyon blend of the vastly superior "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) and "Alien" (1979), but typical of a Corman opus (auteur brothers Roger and Gene were producers, Bernard L. Kowalski was director), is watchable in an eye-rolling way. The special effects aren't really special: the monster (recycled from a previous Corman film (typical)) is a hairy, beaked, lump that you never get a really good look at and the alien embryos look like fat seahorses. The acting is on par for a '50s B-monster outing, with the usual characters delivering the usual material (the 'science' in the script varies from reasonable to ludicrous (somehow eating a brain confers the power of human speech through photosynthesis)). 'Night of the Blood Beast' is a silly but short and watchable, although it never lives up to the lurid imagery on some of the posters and DVD covers.
Oddly compelling tale of astronaut (Emmett) who crashes back to earth following a failed mission into space, apparently deceased but showing no signs of rigor mortis or decomposition. His unusual state co-incides with the appearance of a large, alien creature that wants us to believe he's here to co-habitate with the human race, and that we should fear no evil. Scientists John Baer, Ed Nelson and Angela Greene disagree.
There's some sense in this nonsense, the dialogue, cinematography and suspense is generally pretty coherent and effective, but the second half of the movie descends into an abyss of absurdity from which there's no return. Baer, Nelson and McVey all deliver watchable performances and director Kowalski displays some skills, but the plot becomes puerile with the appearance of the creature and its suspicious motivations to rear its young on earth as a means of improving inter-galactic relations. So to does Emmett's laboured insistence that everyone should stop picking on it and just give it a fair go to prove its intentions are honourable. No mention of the poor victim sans head.
It really does deteriorate badly, which is a shame because the first thirty minutes promise a rousing climax, reminiscent of "The Thing", but ends up looking more like "Attack of the Crab Monsters", only minus the humour. Not the best AIP-Corman collaboration conceived.
There's some sense in this nonsense, the dialogue, cinematography and suspense is generally pretty coherent and effective, but the second half of the movie descends into an abyss of absurdity from which there's no return. Baer, Nelson and McVey all deliver watchable performances and director Kowalski displays some skills, but the plot becomes puerile with the appearance of the creature and its suspicious motivations to rear its young on earth as a means of improving inter-galactic relations. So to does Emmett's laboured insistence that everyone should stop picking on it and just give it a fair go to prove its intentions are honourable. No mention of the poor victim sans head.
It really does deteriorate badly, which is a shame because the first thirty minutes promise a rousing climax, reminiscent of "The Thing", but ends up looking more like "Attack of the Crab Monsters", only minus the humour. Not the best AIP-Corman collaboration conceived.
A space flight goes horribly awry! The ship crashes to the Earth! The lone astronaut is killed!
Or, is he?
Pulled from the wreckage and taken back to the base, Major John Corcoran (Michael Emmett- ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES) shows strange signs of life.
Plus, he may not have returned... alone!
Things get even weirder when an unseen entity makes its presence known, and the deaths begin. Annnnd, something is found in Corcoran's body that changes everything!
NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST is another hunk of low-low-budget, 1950's sci-fi cheeeze, made a classic through the influence of Roger Corman and his team. The monster costume, while obviously bargain basement, is endearing in a parrot / bear hybrid sort of way. Co-starring Ed Nelson (A BUCKET OF BLOOD), NOTBB is perfect for late-late night viewing...
Or, is he?
Pulled from the wreckage and taken back to the base, Major John Corcoran (Michael Emmett- ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES) shows strange signs of life.
Plus, he may not have returned... alone!
Things get even weirder when an unseen entity makes its presence known, and the deaths begin. Annnnd, something is found in Corcoran's body that changes everything!
NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST is another hunk of low-low-budget, 1950's sci-fi cheeeze, made a classic through the influence of Roger Corman and his team. The monster costume, while obviously bargain basement, is endearing in a parrot / bear hybrid sort of way. Co-starring Ed Nelson (A BUCKET OF BLOOD), NOTBB is perfect for late-late night viewing...
Considering that the crew appear to have constructed the prop space capsule out of a septic tank, this is a decent little el cheapo scifi flick.
A film buff with the slightest knowledge of the major auteurs goes into a B/W 1958 Roger Corman scifi film with a certain set of expectations. Within such parameters, this is a surprisingly well-made film, tense, moody, interesting, and moving along a pace that corresponds well with the plausibility factor. While none of the acting is spectacular, it is all competent and sometimes impressive. The script is surprisingly intelligent, especially considering the title. The title, however corny it may be, works well in this film due the portions of the plot dealing with the death and resurrection of an astronaut.
There is a small bit of FX and monster make up in this film; you will be thankful to find out that it does not clash with the septic tank space capsule.
Overall, this is an honest, well-constructed little drive-in type scifi/horror film that does the job it was designed for and more. It makes more sense, and is more satisfying than watching all the episodes of the new version of 'V.'
A film buff with the slightest knowledge of the major auteurs goes into a B/W 1958 Roger Corman scifi film with a certain set of expectations. Within such parameters, this is a surprisingly well-made film, tense, moody, interesting, and moving along a pace that corresponds well with the plausibility factor. While none of the acting is spectacular, it is all competent and sometimes impressive. The script is surprisingly intelligent, especially considering the title. The title, however corny it may be, works well in this film due the portions of the plot dealing with the death and resurrection of an astronaut.
There is a small bit of FX and monster make up in this film; you will be thankful to find out that it does not clash with the septic tank space capsule.
Overall, this is an honest, well-constructed little drive-in type scifi/horror film that does the job it was designed for and more. It makes more sense, and is more satisfying than watching all the episodes of the new version of 'V.'
Did you know
- TriviaWith a budget of about $68,000, it was shot over seven days. All of the interior scenes were shot at sound stages inside Kling Studios. Most of the exterior shots were filmed at Bronson Canyon, a set of caves at Griffith Park in Los Angeles that was a popular location for low-budget films. The exterior scenes of the tracking station were shot at a television station on Mt. Lee, not far from the Hollywood Sign. Screenwriter Martin Varno said it was the first television station built in Los Angeles, but was only being used for emergency broadcasts when this film was being shot there; it had also been used during World War II to broadcast to allied fores overseas. Varno secured permission to film there simply by calling Los Angeles city officials and asking, something he said nobody else considered trying because they assumed the city would not allow it. Varno was familiar with the station because his father, Roland Varno, appeared in the first dramatic television show released in Los Angeles and it was transmitted from that station. For this film, Los Angeles charged a fee of $8 per actor to shoot at the station, but the crew could be any size. All shooting took place outside the station. Most of the night scenes shot there were shot during the day, and the crew often had to find shadows to shoot in or block out the sun to give the impression of nighttime. Producer Gene Corman said of the shooting: "That was one of the more mobile units I've ever been involved with. Normally, everybody chases the sun; we were chasing the shadows."
- GoofsA close-up of the bottom half of the creature reveals that its feet are actually shoes.
- Quotes
Dr. Alex Wyman: A wounded animal that large isn't good!
- ConnectionsEdited from La Guerre des satellites (1958)
- How long is Night of the Blood Beast?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $68,000 (estimated)
- Runtime
- 1h 2m(62 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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