Terror of the Bloodhunters (1962)
BOMB (out of 4)
It's rather sad that the name Ed Wood has become known as the worst director in the history of cinema because it's simply not true. There are so many worst directors out there that never get the credit they deserve for being the absolute worst and I'd say anyone who'd call Wood bad had never seen something from Jerry Warren. Check out films like TEENAGE ZOMBIES, FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND and HOUSE OF BLACK DEATH and you'll come to realize that Wood deserves an Oscar compared to these duds. The "story" here takes place on Devil's Island where two new prisoners (Robert Clarke, William White) make their escape with a commandant's daughter (Dorothy Haney) but the three soon find their plan destroyed as they have to make their way through deep jungles and fight off snakes, disease and bloodhunters. Perhaps everyone, myself included, has looked at Warren incorrectly all these years. I guess you do have to give credit to someone who could sell an interesting story but do nothing with it. In TEENAGE ZOMBIES there were no zombies. In FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND there really wasn't an island or a Frankenstein doctor or monster. In this film there's not much of an escape, a prison or many bloodhunters. The film pretty much is one dialogue scene after another and after a while you have to wonder why the three bothered to escape from prison if the only thing they were going to do is sit around in the jungle and talk. This type of film could have worked had the screenplay been of any interest but it all sounds like the actors are making it up on the spot. It's boring, doesn't add anything to the film and whatever "message" it's trying to deliver gets dropped on its head. Clarke was an expert at Warren movies and he at least can act like he's having a good time. The rest of the cast are pretty forgettable and this includes Haney in a pretty bad performance. The film runs just over an hour and very little happens. In a common Warren touch, we do get quite a bit of stock footage of the jungle creatures including one really bad sequence where we see a snake come up on the trio. The snake is gliding through water yet none of the characters are by the water when the "attack" happens. Fans of Warren will want to check this film out but don't get your hopes up of getting any laughs or entertainment. However, if you are a fan of Warren then you know not to expect that.
