Brides of Blood

Island atmosphere with tropical music and friendly natives. An idyllic setting for a group of adventurers to find some peace. A doctor (Kent Taylor) and his horny wife (Beverly Powers) and a peace Corps volunteer (John Ashley) journey to this Philippine island to help and do research.

Unfortunately, things have changed and danger lurks. Has radiation from atomic tests in the 40s drifted to the island causing mutations? The fact that trees can attack like Harry Potter's whomping willow is some indication that things are not normal.

The natives have returned to previous customs by sacrificing naked virgins to be satisfied by someone or something; it certainly was some hideous creature! They stay with a strange man (Mario Montenegro), who has a staff of little people in his home. He also appears some 20 years younger than he actually is.

When it is time for the chief's granddaughter (Eva Darren) to be sacrificed, Jim (Ashley) swings into action to save her.

Later, Carla (Powers) is really desperately looking to get laid and follows Estaban (Montenegro). She meets the Tiki-headed monster instead. He will certainly ravish her, but not in the way she wants.

Of course, the finally defeat the monster by finding the cajones that had put aside.

I first watched this film in a drive-in theatre, when I was just out of high school. I must say it scared the begeebers out of me. And, that was doing something! I was already a dyed in the wool fan of Horror, and Sci-Fi movies. Even though it was filmed with a lot of night scenes, and there-fore hard at times to make out what you were seeing on a drive-in screen, and the special effects were not what they can do by todays standards, I still found it a very disturbing, and frightening film. If anyone else has seen it, please let me know what you thought at the time of it's release.

When I was little (the 70's), I used to love watching old horror films. Those were the days. They were on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons (in Chicago anyway). I remembered the "Blood Island" movies vaguely. I ordered this DVD and I am a satisfied customer.

Three Americans travel to Blood Island. Upon arrival, they see that things aren't right. The villagers don't seem happy and there is a reason why.

The movie arouses suspicion and sets an eerie atmosphere. I like John Ashley and he and Mario Montenegro give good performances. The DVD has a lot of fun trailers and extras. This is a unique and well done horror film. Check it out.

Brides of Blood (1968)

** (out of 4)

Crazy cult film from the Philippines centers on three researchers (John Ashley, Kent Taylor, Beverly Hills) who arrive on Blood Island to see if radiation has caused any problems. Soon they realize that certain trees are alive and attacking people but even worse is a deformed monster who the locals are giving "brides" to, which it then eats. BRIDES OF BLOOD isn't a well-made movie so if you're looking for class then it's best to go watch the Val Lewton horror movies. If you're looking for cheap exploitation then this here should be right up your alley. I will start off by saying the 92-minute running time is way too long for a movie like this because with an exploitation film you want the goods and nothing else. There are a few too many dialogue scenes that really stretch the running time out and I think the film could have been more entertaining without all of these. With that said, there are some really memorable moments to be found here and they're good enough to make this a cult film. The highlight is without question the monster, which is hard to describe because it's just something you have to see to fully believe. If I had to describe it I'd say it's a mutated pile of spinach with a mouth and pointy teeth. The look of this thing is so silly but at the same time you can't help but be entertained by it. Another good thing are the really bad special effects of the trees attacking people. There's a reason killer tree movies are kept limited and it's because the effects look so silly. It's obvious that in many scenes it's the actors "moving" the trees to make it appear that they're the ones moving and attacking them. The Philipeans setting is another major plus because it just gives the film a cheap look but it also contains some nice atmosphere that really jumps off the screen. Both Ashley and Taylor sleepwalk through their roles but they're still fun to see. BRIDES OF BLOOD certainly isn't a classic but if you enjoy exploitation then there's enough here to make it worth sitting through.

This plot synopsis may sound kind of vague...but so is the movie! U.S. government worker Jim Farrell (John Ashley) is going to a remote island to help the natives build houses and irrigation ditches. He's joined by doctor Paul Henderson (Kent Taylor) and his sex bomb wife Carla (Beverly Hills!). They encounter moving trees, strange vegetation and meet Stephan (Mario Montenegro) who seems to run the island (I think). There's also a hysterically stupid monster that pops up every once in a while to rape and kill the native girls. Why he does this is never explained.

Pretty silly with a (to put it nicely) pointless script. I realize this film (along with the other "Blood" pictures) have a following but I can't see why. It's full of hilariously inappropriate music and mismatched stock footage (the sunsets they see keep seeing never match the people looking at it). With the sole exceptions of Ashley and Montenegro the acting is pretty bad--Hills is easily the worst. The special effects are beyond terrible--I could actually see the wires holding the "killer" moth and moving the tree limbs! The get up on the monster was uproariously stupid. People took him seriously??? Still this is a prime example of late 1960s exploitation with minor gore and nudity (all female of course). It's amusing to realize that this played on Saturday afternoon TV uncut in the 1970s for all the kids to see! Not really good but, in a strange sort of way, kind of fun.

The DVD version by Image is a full frame version with scratches and jumps galore. The color is strong though. This is probably the only available uncut version we'll ever see. I give it a 4.