Verdict
Summary
Severin’s presentation of these four films is fantastic even if only the first two films are what I’d consider to be solid exploitation / drive-in grindhouse delectables. The latter two films struggle to maintain a level of enjoyment despite a high quotient of sex, nudity, and gore.
Terror is a Man (1959) Plot:
A man is shipwrecked on an island populated by a mad scientist, a beautiful woman … and a creature.
Review:
A man named William (Richard Derr) wakes up on the shores of a small Philippine island after his ship and the whole crew goes down. A beautiful blonde named Francis (Greta Thyssen) is there to greet him like an angel, but he’s nursed back to health by the resident scientist / doctor on the island, a completely cohesive and literate man named Girard (Francis Lederer). Girard takes a shine to William, who gets his bearings and strength back in due time, but something hinky is definitely going on on this island. A humanoid creature runs amok at night, and the doctor confesses to him that the creature is his experiment that he’s been working on for years. The creature was a giant cat – a panther or a tiger of some kind – and with the process of genetic mutation, the scientist has created a man out of it. The thing still has the instincts of a cat (and the whiskers and furry face too), but the rest of it has the makeup of a man. When the creature escapes and runs amok, no one on the island is safe, and the monster will show its true colors … and its deadliest instinct to kill.
A jungle creature feature with surprisingly good production value for such a lowbrow concept (it’s basically Island of Dr. Moreau, but with just one creature), Terror is a Man is pretty much everything a fan of these types of drive-in movie fans could ask for. It’s in black and white, but I was impressed with the monster design, and the “scares” are still solid. There’s a warning “from the management” at the beginning of the movie that there’s a scene that is so terrifying that it urges you to close your eyes for a moment when the scene comes. I kept waiting for that scene, but I guess I’m too jaded to be scared by something like this. Oh, well. From directors Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero.
Brides of Blood (1968) Plot:
A small group of westerners come to a tropical island in the Philippines where a tribe offers virgin sacrifices to appease a monster.
Review:
A small boat with some western tourists from America land for a little getaway on a tropical island, not realizing that the island is home to a superstitious native tribe that sacrifices virgin women to a god or a monster that comes out once in awhile to devour manflesh. A handsome sailor named Jim (John Ashley) sets his eyes on a pretty native girl named Alma (Eva Darren) who knows what’s up on the island, but she’s been ordered to keep it a secret by the mad scientist on the island, a doctor named Henderson (Kent Taylor) who is keeping a terrible secret. There’s a buxom blonde too, a harlot named Carla (Beverly Powers) who struts her stuff in front of all the natives, and all this activity brings out the monster, a horrible creature with gloopy, melted skin and is some kind of atomic mutation from all the nuclear testing from the nearby Bikini Islands. The monster is part man and part foliage, and it has a plant army of grabby trees that ropes in unsuspecting passers-by with their vines and branches, molesting them to death. When Jim realizes that the scientist himself is the monster and transforms when he needs to feed on a virgin, he leads a small revolt, pushing the natives to go to war with it with their spears and their torches. At the end, Jim gets laid when Alma chooses him in an elaborate mating ritual.
Even more fun than Terror is a Man, Brides of Blood was shot in color with vivid, bloody deaths, lots of topless nudity, wildly interesting looking monster designs, and an overall pulpiness that I miss in movies made today. Filmmakers Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero delivered another entertaining horror movie for the drive-in crowd, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a winner.
Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1969) Plot:
An excursion to a tropical island for a tourist turns into a vacation of terror.
Review:
A young Filipino man named Carlos (Ronaldo Valdez) books a voyage back to the island where he grew up, and on the boat with him is a young doctor named Bill (John Ashley) and a blonde woman named Sheila (Angelique Pettyjohn) who aren’t “together” but soon will be. The ship drops them off, and the excursion is meant to be a vacation (more or less) for this bunch, but Carlos tries reconnecting with his roots, namely his mother, who now works for a distracted mad scientist (played by Ronald Remy). The scientist is disturbed by the fact that his latest experiment – a man / vegetation hybrid – has gotten loose from his laboratory, and is running amok in the jungle. Carlos’s childhood friend – a girl who has grown up to be one of the island’s bikini-wearing vixens – seduces him and helps him lose his virginity, all while doctor Bill and Sheila get it on in some of the island’s caves while swimming and enjoying the scenery. Oh, but watch out! The man / foliage monster is on the loose and tears people apart!
A virtual remake of Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero’s previous two flicks Terror is a Man and Brides of Blood, Mad Doctor of Blood Island has almost the exact same plot, set-up, and execution as those films, but with more explicit nudity and sex. Unfortunately, the film lacks any real scares this time and the creature design is less effective too, leaving only the naked flesh to rely on for thrills. This time, the entire endeavor feels tired and uninspired, which is too bad and a real shame for anyone looking for a fun time … on Blood Island!
Beast of Blood (1970) Plot:
After escaping Blood Island, a doctor returns for more terror.
Review:
Doctor Bill (John Ashley) hasn’t had enough of Blood Island, and his curiosity gets the better of him, nudging him back to the place where a mad scientist (played by Eddie Garcia with an eye patch) has been conducting experiments on people and plants, merging them together. Bill brings with him a beautiful blonde (Celeste Yarnall), but once back on the island he previously escaped from (see Mad Doctor of Blood Island) his wandering eyes latch onto a local bikini-clad beauty whom he left behind the first time. Meanwhile, the mad scientist kidnaps Bill’s blonde gal pal, hoping to lure Bill out to either kill him or silence him so that the island’s terrible secret never gets out again, and Bill joins some local island revolutionaries who’ve been experimented on and mutated by the scientist’s heinous lab jabs. With a mutant creature sitting in the lab with its head in a jar, we just know that at some point the head will be reunited with the rest of its body and have one last chance to run amok.
The fourth “Blood Island” movie from Eddie Romero, Beast of Blood is the most languid and slowly paced of the quartet, with very little monster action, although the monster itself looks really gnarly and unique. The plot here sags as it becomes a muddled jungle action / war movie rather than focusing on the creature feature aspects the previous three entries were best known for, and with even more sex and nudity than the others, the movie should be fun to watch, but it’s mostly a murky slog this time, which is a shame. All four movies are basically the same film redone over and over, and so if you’re looking to have a marathon of Filipino jungle monster movies, look no further than these four films.
Severin has just reissued these four titles in a two-disc Blu-ray set that comes incased in a hard shell slipcover, and the transfers are as good as you’re ever going to get for these films. Each feature is loaded with bonus material, and should keep the fans busy for hours.
Bonus Materials
- Man Becomes Creature – Interview With Hemisphere Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman On TERROR IS A MAN
- Dawn Of Blood Island – Interview With TERROR IS A MAN Co-Director Eddie Romero
- Terror Creature – Interview With Pete Tombs, Co-Author Of Immoral Tales
- When The Bell Rings – Interview With Critic Mark Holcomb
- TERROR IS A MAN Trailer
- TERROR IS A MAN Poster And Still Gallery
- BRIDES OF BLOOD Audio Commentary With Hemisphere Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman
- Jungle Fury – Interview With BRIDES OF BLOOD Co-Director Eddie Romero
- Here Comes The Bride – Interview With Hemisphere Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman
- Beverly Hills On Blood Island – Interview With Actress Beverly Powers
- Alternate BRIDES OF BLOOD ISLAND Title Sequence And JUNGLE FURY Title Card
- BRIDES OF BLOOD Teaser
- BRIDES OF BLOOD Trailer
- BRIDES OF BLOOD Poster And Still Gallery
- MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND Audio Commentary With Horror Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson And Howard S. Berger
- MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND Audio Commentary With Hemisphere Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman
- Tombs Of The Living Dead – Interview With Pete Tombs, Co-Author Of Immoral Tales
- A Taste Of Blood – Interview With Critic Mark Holcomb
- The Mad Director Of Blood Island – Interview With Co-Director Eddie Romero
- MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND Trailer
- MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND Poster And Still Gallery
- BEAST OF BLOOD Audio Commentary With Hemisphere Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman
- Celeste And The Beast – Interview With Actress Celeste Yarnall
- Dr. Lorca’s Blood Devils – Interview With Actor Eddie Garcia
- BEAST OF BLOOD Super 8 Digest Version
- BEAST OF BLOOD Trailer
- BEAST OF BLOOD Radio Spot
- BEAST OF BLOOD Poster And Still Gallery
