Beast of Blood

The Philippino B-movie maker Eddie Romero is probably best known for two WIP (Women in Prison) flicks starring the gorgeous Pam Grier, BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA (1973), which he directed, and fellow cult-director Jack Hill's THE BIG BIRD CAGE (1972), which he produced. The prolific Mr. Romero has been active in various sub-genres of low budget Exploitation cinema. His filmography includes several gory Horror films including this awesomely titled BEAST OF BLOOD (1971). While this incredibly cheesy but quite gory Horror effort is certainly not what one would call a 'good' film, it is certainly recommendable to my fellow fans of low-budget-Horror, and especially to admirers of Eddie Romero. BEAST OF BLOOD is actually a sequel to Romero's earlier Horror film MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND (1968), which I have yet to see.

After some mysterious attacks, the protagonist Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) returns to an island where an evil scientist is keeping his monstrous creation alive. Among his traveling companions are the sexy journalist Myra (Celeste Yarnall) and the equally sexy native chief's daughter Laida (Liza Belmonte)... BEST OF BLOOD is cheesy as hell, in an incredibly entertaining manner. Considering this is a very-low budget movie, the gory outbursts are very gory and very well-made. Especially the eponymous monstrous creature is made very well, even if its depiction on the supremely cool cover art is a little exaggerated. Both female leads take their clothes off for no real other reason than nudity at one point in the film. The acting performances are B-movie-standard-bad, but not abysmal, which adds to the trashy charm of the film. The one complaint I have about his amusing slice of sleaze-cheese is that BEAST OF BLOOD is quite a bit too long for its own good. Whit a running time of about 90 minutes a film like this one will inevitably get tedious at times. Still it is entertaining and shouldn't be missed by my fellow trash fans. One to avoid for those who find fascinating plots, logic and great performances essential in a movie, but warmly recommended to everyone who can enjoy low-budget cheese.

P.S.: The poster/cover artwork which shows the monster holding its own severed head must be one of the coolest B-movie posters ever.

Dr. Foster (Ashley again-damn, look at those sideburns) comes back to Blood Island when the creature escapes (in a great opening sequence). Can the nefarious Dr. Lorca (now played by Eddie Garcia) be stopped.

While it all seems like a lot of fun, "Beast of Blood" is actually the weakest in the series. Sure, there's the requisite gore and nudity (including the creatures severed head-and when it talks!), and some nice action scenes come in. The thing is, the movie fails to keep one's interest as much this time, as there's a feeling of deja vu. Sure, the creature looks better this time, but you can only put up with it the premise of the series for so long before it starts to get stale.

Also, there isn't as much carnage from the creature this time around (and what happened to those killer trees?), meaning we have to put up with some tedium-such as scene after scene of people going through the jungle. Really, it grows quite tiresome.

"Beast of Blood" is far from horrible, but it's the weakest entry in the series, as it showing that the creators have milked the concept dry-in spite of some nice moments.

This the direct sequel to Mad Doctor of Blood Island. Its the fourth (or third if you don't count the unrelated Terror is a Man) in the Blood Island saga. Literally picking up hours after the first film, the film begins on the boat sailing away from Blood Island. As John Ashley waxes poetic about his time on the island fighting monsters the man beast from the first film appears (he was seen to have secreted himself in a lifeboat at the end of Mad Doctor) and a battle occurs which destroys the ship and leaves Ashley as the only survivor. A year or so later Ashley heads back to Blood Island to investigate stories that weird things have begun to happen again despite the death of the evil Dr Lorca. On the island Ashley finds that many people he believed dead survived the final battle of the first film and that some how the "green men" have returned. It isn't long before its realized that Dr Lorca is back and up to his old tricks.

Finally watching this in close proximity to Mad Doctor I found that the film plays much better than it does as a stand alone film. I was never a big fan of this film prior to the back to back viewing because I always felt that it was missing something. What it was missing was the set up that the first film gives it.If you watch the two films together I think you'll find it a better film than when it's viewed all alone.

A sequel it is, but its not as scary (nor as gory nor as titillating). Sure there are some horrifying moments, but on some level this is more an adventure/ mystery film than a real horror movie. The man-beast is effectively off camera for most of the film following the opening battle (I have to say the make up here is infinitely better than in Mad Doctor). Some of Lorca's victims do cause mayhem, but the majority of the film concerns trying to find Lorca and the kidnapped reporter. Its not bad, but if you are expecting a straight horror film you may end up very disappointed, despite a great monster.

What can I say, I took it on its own terms and I liked it, high art its not. Definitely worth seeing especially as part of a double feature with Mad Doctor of Blood Island.

BEAST OF BLOOD is the third installment in Uber-Director Eddie Romero's shock / schlock trilogy. Picking up where the second film left off, John Ashley stars as Dr. Bill Foster, who manages to battle a murdering monster about 30 seconds into the movie! Said monster winds up back on the island. Foster arrives later, accompanied by nosy reporter, Myra Russell (Celeste Yarnall) to hunt the creature.

Let the terror begin!

Not surprisingly, Dr. Lorca returns, this time played by Eddie Garcia. Lorca's henchman-in-chief, Razak is also back, with the magnificent Bruno Punzalan once again in the role. Ashley, as always, delivers his lines as though he's aggravated that someone has interrupted his nap. His acting style could be called anti-dynamic, seeming as if he might drift right back to dreamland at any moment! He is perfectly suited for this film.

The "Beast" takes an eternity to reappear, leaving us stranded in the jungle with Foster and Russell getting into scrapes with Razak and company. At his fortress homestead, Lorca reveals his latest, eeevil experiment, leading up to the big finish.

Romero's signature elements are all on hand: mad science, mutation, green slime, topless females, Ashley's sideburns, etc.

Another triumph for Filipino filmmaking...

This is the third film in the "Blood Collection" series and it takes up where the last movie, "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" left off. As everyone knows from the last exciting movie, "Dr. Bill Foster" (John Ashley) and "Sheila Willard" (Angelique Pettyjohn) managed to survive the explosion at the lab of "Dr. Lorca" (played by Ronald Remy) and were last seen on a ship heading away from Blood Island. However, one of the green creatures had managed to smuggle himself aboard just as the film ended. Sure enough, he comes out of hiding right as this film starts and causes the ship to explode killing everyone on board except for Dr. Foster and the green creature-who is seen slinking into the jungle as the opening credits appear on the screen. We then learn that Dr. Foster was rescued by a native woman named "Laida" (Liza Belmonte) and was sent to a hospital on the mainland. Months later he decides to return to Blood Island and is followed by an attractive journalist named "Myra J. Russell" (Celeste Yarnall) who wants the inside scoop on what happened. Now, although this movie doesn't quite have as much eroticism as its two predecessors, it does have some decent jungle combat scenes if that's any consolation. Likewise, Celeste Yarnall filled in quite well as the mandatory damsel in distress. All in all then, I rate this movie about the same as the last two films and recommend that it be seen after "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" if for no other reason than to obtain some kind of continuity. Slightly below average.