Beast of Blood

1970 "See Human Heads Transplanted!"
4.9| 1h31m| PG| en
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A mad scientist creates a monster, but after its head is cut off, he keeps it alive in a serum he has invented.

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Scepter Industries Production

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Reviews

Alicia I love this movie so much
Acensbart Excellent but underrated film
Sameeha Pugh It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Witchfinder General 666 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.
Scott LeBrun "Beast of Blood" picks up where its predecessor, "Mad Doctor of Blood Island", leaves off, so in essence both movies are one long story. Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) is sailing away from the island when the monster of "Mad Doctor" causes the destruction of the boat. Bill is rescued, and one year later he returns to the island upon hearing stories of what may still be going on there, even though the villainous Dr. Lorca supposedly perished. He's now in the company of nosey, stubborn reporter Myra Russell (Celeste Yarnall) and a captain played by Beverly Miller (Miller also concocted the story for this entry). Of course, he learns that Dr. Lorca, now played by Filipino film veteran Eddie Garcia, is very much alive and still up to no good. Lorca is keeping the severed head of the monster alive in his lab, for one thing! This is overall not as much fun as one might wish it to be, as it has a mostly uneventful first half, and the movie does mostly consist of a trek / pursuit through the jungle. But, as with any of these Filipino horror movies, the inherent atmosphere of the locale comes through strong, and accompanied by the expectedly (and endearingly) grandiose music by Tito Arevalo, "Beast of Blood" does have the perfect "midnight movie" feel to it, and does have the legendary Eddie Romero in its director's chair; if you watch enough of these movies, Romero's is one name you'll start to see repeatedly. The acting basically gets the job done, with Ashley effective as the stolid hero. Yarnall, known for appearances in movies like "Live a Little, Love a Little", "The Velvet Vampire", and "The Mechanic", is super sexy and a commendably, fairly feisty type, and Liza Belmonte is also a real looker as helpful local Laida. Familiar faces Alfonso Carvajal as tribe leader Ramu and Bruno Punzalan as henchman Razak are fun, but not as much as Garcia, who seems to be relishing his role; Lorca cheerfully discloses at one point that he's "madder than ever". It's just too funny when Lorca is addressing the severed head, and even more so when the head is seen to speak! A pretty good finish and highly amusing gore and creature effects add to the appeal of this movie which if not great is still pretty good. Seven out of 10.
edwstraker Please forgive me but what follows are my memories encountering this movie 30ish years ago as a teenager of about 13 who had never seen an R-rated movie. I suspect only those of you who lived in the middle of North America cut off from the coasts will really appreciate this story. I lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada just above the barren expanses between us and North Dakota so that map goes. One of our main contacts with the outside world was a US border TV station with the call letters KCND. KCND knew Canadian advertising was central to its bottom line. It served admirably as a cross border institution serving both southern Manitoba and Northern North Dakota with offices in both countries before switching call letters to CKND. I don't know if K/C-C/K-ND survives today either as a US or Canadian outlet. Anyway this station had a movie on Saturday night at 10:30 PM which I think was called Chiller Theatre or something like that. As I remember, the movies were the usual stuff for the time, mostly 1950's fare which I still enjoy to this day. Then one night Beast of Blood appeared. From the opening I knew this movie was completely different. The camera effects, a hideous and to this day still frightening, dripping, oozing chlorophyll monster, a guy falling into a pit of wooden stakes pumping-- no gushing-- blood from his wounds... and John Ashley and Celeste Yarnell naked. I had never seen anything like it. The other two "Blood" movies followed on CKND one of which featured the mamorable, I mean memorable, Angelique Pettyjohn from Star Trek naked with John Ashley. Beast of Blood stayed with me for 30ish years. Then I saw the DVD and confirmed that in in the 70s my prairie TV station showed it completely uncut! I miss the renegade drive-in days. This, even though I saw my drive-in movies on TV.
dbborroughs 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.