SnoReptilePlenty
Memorable, crazy movie
Usamah Harvey
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Fleur
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Michael_Elliott
Beast of Blood (1971) ** (out of 4) The third and final film in the Blood Island trilogy takes place hours after the events in MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND. As the film picks up Dr. Foster (John Ashley) is on the boat thinking he's going to safety but the green monster shows up and pretty much destroys the entire crew. The ship blows up and the doctor is the only one to survive. Flash forward a year and the doctor is going back to the island with a reporter (Celeste Yarnell) to see if the crazy doctor is still alive and doing more experiments (well of course he is). BEAST OF BLOOD might come across to many as being a disappointment because the horror elements aren't nearly as strong as in the previous two movies. I thought overall that this one worked quite well even though it plays more for a jungle-adventure movie than anything else. It's still got plenty of exploitation and this includes some rather hilarious death scenes. Since the majority of the kills are via gunshots you'll have a good time seeing how much blood they have pumping out of the wounds at all times. It seems they had the fake blood hooked up to water hose because that's pretty much how much comes out with each bullet wound. Another good thing that the film has going for it are the Philippeans locations. The jungle certainly adds a lot of atmosphere to the movie even though this one appears to be the slickest of the three. Ashley and his sideburns are once again back in action and it appears that he's having a good time even though he's phoning the performance in. Yarnell makes for a good sidekick and those wanting to see her naked will be pleased. There are, as you'd expect, some problems here and the pacing is one of them. The film never really picks up a good flow from start to finish but I will say that overall this here is probably the most entertaining as there's usually always something going on whereas the first two films had a lot of dialogue. The highlight of the movie happens before the opening credits when the monster goes around with an ax tearing up the boat crew. BEAST OF BLOOD isn't a classic but if you're a fan of exploitation then it's a decent close to the series.
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.
goodvibe-1
Actually, BOB is considerably better than the first film, MDof BloodIsle. I believe BOB could well stand alone without the first if need be. The use of cameras and lighting are improved, as well as the acting, with the exception of that boat captain! I rather like the jungle adventure that makes up most of ActII, but given a choice, I would like to have seen more scenes of the monster. As a fan of the genre, must say it's not a bad little film all considered...
