Blood Thirst

New York detective Adam Rourke (Robert Winston) is invited by a friend to help solve a string of murders that has young women killed and drained of their blood in Manila, capital of The Philippines. Filmed in black and white in 1965 this sat on the shelf before being released in 1971, playing the Grindhouse circuits. It must have looked dated even way back then. The barmy plot revolves around an hilarious but memorable man-monster who attacks lone women for their blood as part of a form of vampirism that is half occult and half scientific. The film is very talky, Winston's wisecracking cop quickly becomes tiresome, and there is more love story than horror, it's not until the final 20 minutes or so that this really lives up to its title. On the plus side the movie does have a film noir look about it, the jazzy musical score is pretty cool and we are treated to some very seductive female dancing. I had never heard of this title before despite being a horror fan for over 40 years, thank you to Talking Pictures TV (UK) for screening it. Bad movie yes but also worth a look if you like your horror a little less mainstream, AKA Blood Seekers.

I was pretty startled to find out that this film was made in 1971. It has all the earmarks of a 1950s B-lister - ambiguous horror, randy hero, tons of gorgeous dames, peril, black and white photography. There's barely enough horror in this film to call it such, and what there is, is extremely cheesy, but I found myself loving it nonetheless. The Manila, Phillipines setting is interesting and the strained one-liners of the hero (and his primary love interest) are gold-plated howlers. This is a fine movie to put on and mock, while having a few pina coladas, before watching something actually good (or at least, a genuine 1950s B-movie horror classic). You won't feel bad about not giving it your complete attention, but fulfilled when you do.

Passable early Filipino vampire effort, presented as a noir. Leading Lady's (Yvonne Nielson) dance sequences and secret ceremonies are highlights. The monster has quite an original look. Detective work is verbose, foreign actors' accents, making it more difficult to listen to.. As leading man, Robert Winston's James Bond wannabe's entitled male chauvinist attitude may disturb today's audience: When he is slapped for unwanted advances, he slaps back! He makes great efforts to be culturally sensitive, though, to dispel notions of Ugly Americanism. Manila locations provide good local "color:, though filmed in B&W..

Giving this film a 6 out of 10 warrants some explanation, my vote reflects my taste for this genre of film-making; low-budget, disposable, 1960's drive-in films. That said, this particular example is quite distinctive and well worth a look. Made in the Philippines (around '62 or '63, I would guess, despite its official release date of 1971) on an obviously limited budget, the picture is wonderfully well photographed in black and white with some moody, noir touches. The lead, Robert Winston, is quite good-looking, albeit modestly talented. There are a surprising number (for this period) of beefcake shots. I'm assuming that someone recognized that his gifts were not in the acting department. The usual, grinding expository dialogue is graced with some humor, I LIKE the monster, the scenery is interesting and, on the whole, it moves along quite nicely. Shlock filmmakers of the present day (and they are legion) could learn a bit from the the achievements of these frugal talents.

It's strange this film sat on a shelf for six years, because in 1965 (when it was completed) it would have been a perfectly viable mid-60s "bottom half of the bill" or drive-in feature. It's also beautifully lit/shot in a noirish style (I can't even remember there being any daylight scenes) for such a silly B horror. It's also odd that the lead actor apparently gave up acting after this, since he's very handsome and personable (and has a great Sean Connery-like build), even if the script leans too hard on giving him wisecracks that undercut the already pretty minimal suspense here.

Shot and set in the Philippines, the film nonetheless makes little effort to have much local character, instead going for sort of a generic U. S. programmer feel, with a brisk pace but little feel for suspense or atmosphere. So, it's a very good-looking low-budget movie that nonetheless doesn't seem willing to take its horror subject (vampire-like murders) seriously enough to actually be creepy. I'm not even sure why there's a rubbery "monster" (as separate from the vampire) that looks like it's out of "The Incredible Melting Man."

Interestingly, the director later was 1st A. D. on a terrific lineup of mainstream Hollywood films (including "Godfather Part II," "Towering Inferno," "Blade Runner" and "The Abyss"), but directed nothing again himself until Van Damme's much-liked first starring film "Bloodsport" nearly twenty five years later. I guess he just didn't have the hunger to make his own movies. He clearly had the technical expertise necessary, though this enjoyable genre throwaway suggests he didn't care enough to seek out good material to direct, or to elevate mediocre material beyond the above-average visual sheen.