Brain of Blood

A man who goes by the name of "Amir" (Reed Hadley) is a rich and powerful leader of a country called "Kalid" and he is dying of cancer. Wishing to prolong his life he turns to an insane surgeon named "Doctor Trenton" (Kent Taylor) who guarantees him that he can transplant his brain from his diseased body into a healthy one. Of course, to do that Dr. Trenton needs a live human specimen and since there are no volunteers, he sends a mentally challenged and seriously deformed henchman named "Gor" (John Bloom) out to procure one. Unfortunately, Gor fails in his assignment and so Dr. Trenton is compelled to use Gor as the recipient of Amir's brain. But things don't go as planned. Anyway, rather than disclose the entire story and risk spoiling this film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that I don't recommend it to anybody but die-hard, Category-Z movie buffs. For starters, the special effects weren't very good and some of the scenes--like the initial surgical procedure or with the young lady named "Katherine" (Vicki Volante) wandering around in the dungeon--seemed to drag on forever. Likewise, I didn't especially care for the ending at all. Below average.

BRAIN OF BLOOD is another dose of cinematic agony from Director Al Adamson.

When Amir (Reed Hadley), a foreign leader, dies, it's up to mad science to save him. Said leader is in the hands of Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor) and his assistant, Bob (Grant Williams), who plan on transplanting Amir's brain into another body, resulting in a new lease on life.

How could this possibly fail?

After a suitable subject proves to be too fragile, it falls to one of Trenton's henchmen to receive the transplant. Trenton must choose between a mindless giant named Gor (Tom Bloom), and a sinister "dwarf" named Dorro (Angelo Rossitto), who keeps women chained in the dungeon.

Can you guess who gets the brain?

Tragedy strikes and untold horror ensues. Or, something like that.

Mr. Adamson pulls out all the stops, making this movie as insufferably dull as possible.

BEST BITS AND BOBS: #1- Amir, wrapped in aluminum foil like a Thanksgiving turkey, ready for the roaster! #2- The international intrigue angle, added simply to pad things out, and as an attempt to make this movie interesting! #3- Bob's driving hat! #4- Gor's "makeup" (i.e., a rubber shower cap melted on his head)! #5- The constant water dripping in the dungeon, sounding exactly the same no matter what part of the dungeon the characters are in!

So, sit back, relax, and prepare for cranial blisters!

EXTRA POINTS FOR: Katherine's (Vicki Volante) mile-high, haymow of hair!...

I can't say I'm a fan of these 60's Blood Island Flicks (although, I wish I liked them), but in the early 70's, a knock-off, or something similar was created by Al Adamson (Dracula vs. Frankenstein) and Sam Sherman. Brain Of Blood is considered the black sheep of the Philippine gore series, mainly because Eddie Romero didn't direct, and, well, it was filmed in California, so it's an unofficial addition to the series. But whatever. Close enough. For something so shclocky and inept, we're working with a pretty decent premise, here. About the ruler of a fictional Middle Eastern country (Kaleed), who has recently discovered he is dying of a terminal disease. Amir fears for the future well-being of his beloved country. Although, there may be hope in the crazy Dr. Trenton, who believes he can perform successful brain transplants. Amir and his peeps have pretty much nothing to lose. Once Amir's brain is removed, the doctor figures now would be a good time to look for a new home for the brain. With very little time to spare, the brain ends up in the nearest available person... That's right, Gor. Gor is some kind of assistant/village idiot/monster, with a fake-looking, messed up face that makes him look kinda like the Toxic Avenger. So, yeah, Amir is now stuck in the body of a monster, and Dr. Trenton doesn't care because he now has plans of taking over the world, and there's pretty much nothing he can do about it. Although, Amir is a hulking, yet ridiculous-looking monster now, so, maybe something can be done. Yeah, so, this is genuine 70's Drive-In trash in all its inept, stock-footage-using glory. Not really gory at all, and if I'm not mistaken, this got a PG rating, but if you have a thing for the more low-budget Horrors of the early 70's, this one is one of the essentials. Highly recommended. 8/10

The film is not good by any stretch, but it's got elements sure to please the fans. A sadistic midget surgeon for one. There is a dungeon with chained women. I suppose the operation scenes are the coolest. I could not tell if the film used real operation stock footage, not that there are brain transplants in the real world. Well, I was not blown away, but I'm glad I watched it.

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.