Brain of Blood

A bit of a disappointment, this one. It didn't have a lot of effects and wasn't really all that funny. Sure, the acting was bad, but bad acting alone is not enough. More effects, blood, cardboard sets, please!

If you like these old B-flicks, go see Baron del Terror (aka the Brainiac), it's much better.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a film as bad as this. Awful acting, All over the place plot, terrible special effects. There are some 'so bad its good' moments in here but not really enough to maintain interest. The woman who plays Tracey looks hideous. There are some fairly worrying scenes with a dwarf which leave you feeling ever so slightly violated. On the plus side the operation scenes are fairly amusing for the special effects as is the car chase where one car is "trying to force us off the road" without actually making contact. Guess the budget didn't stretch to trashing cars. Oh and what looks like a Postcard of the Taj Mahal is shown every time they cut to the fictional foreign country.

1971's "Brain of Blood" was strictly work for hire as Al Adamson's addition to Hemisphere's trio of 'Blood Island' entries, minus the wooden presence of John Ashley (his "Beast of the Yellow Night" went out through Roger Corman's New World Pictures, so Hemisphere needed a replacement quickly), with Adamson's usual cast of characters for location shooting over 8 days in California rather than the humid Philippines (sadly, no scantily clad jungle beauties). Two ailing actors emerged for one last film role, TV veteran Reed Hadley as dying Kalid ruler Abdul Amir, and Incredible Shrinking Man Grant Williams, whose heroic Dr. Bob Nigserian is given the task of maintaining complete secrecy in keeping Amir's brain alive long enough to transplant from its current cancerous body to a younger, stronger one. Reliable Kent Taylor offers continuity from "Brides of Blood" as mad scientist Lloyd Trenton, the surgeon assisted by dwarf Dorro (Angelo Rossitto) in the delicate operation that will enable him to realize his goal of taking over a Middle Eastern nation. Problems arise when the doctor's mentally deficient henchman Gor (7'4 John Bloom) supplies damaged goods, requiring Gor's noggin to house the brain of Amir, coupled with a special tracking device in his skull that enables Trenton to bend this subject to his will. Meantime, Bob's car is forced off the road by a treacherous Trenton confederate (Richard Smedley), and even Amir's trusted fiancee Tracy (Regina Carrol) turns out to be a heartless harlot, another profiteer itching to earn the ultimate payoff. Apart from Amir's unhappy new countenance, scarred by battery acid, the only one standing in Trenton's way is Bob, the lone survivor of the wreck, but even he cannot prevent the inevitable from happening, a whole host of corpses left behind. It certainly delivers on its promise of blood and brains but very little else, a plot that just dangles like a loose tooth waiting to drop despite the high death count, the picture slowing to a crawl over the entire second half, essentially a simple minded chase picture with everybody on foot. Williams ably carries things along in a part tailor made for him, Kent Taylor repeating his mad doctor from "Blood of Ghastly Horror," Angelo Rossitto and Zandor Vorkov reunited from "Dracula vs. Frankenstein." Vorkov, better known as stockbroker Roger Engel, actually improves on his pasty faced Dracula as Amir disciple Mohammed, lasting a half hour before crashing in a blaze of glory, never again acting before the camera.

BRAIN OF BLOOD is another dose of cinematic agony from Director Al Adamson.

When Amir (Reed Hadley), a foreign leader, dies, it's up to mad science to save him. Said leader is in the hands of Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor) and his assistant, Bob (Grant Williams), who plan on transplanting Amir's brain into another body, resulting in a new lease on life.

How could this possibly fail?

After a suitable subject proves to be too fragile, it falls to one of Trenton's henchmen to receive the transplant. Trenton must choose between a mindless giant named Gor (Tom Bloom), and a sinister "dwarf" named Dorro (Angelo Rossitto), who keeps women chained in the dungeon.

Can you guess who gets the brain?

Tragedy strikes and untold horror ensues. Or, something like that.

Mr. Adamson pulls out all the stops, making this movie as insufferably dull as possible.

BEST BITS AND BOBS: #1- Amir, wrapped in aluminum foil like a Thanksgiving turkey, ready for the roaster! #2- The international intrigue angle, added simply to pad things out, and as an attempt to make this movie interesting! #3- Bob's driving hat! #4- Gor's "makeup" (i.e., a rubber shower cap melted on his head)! #5- The constant water dripping in the dungeon, sounding exactly the same no matter what part of the dungeon the characters are in!

So, sit back, relax, and prepare for cranial blisters!

EXTRA POINTS FOR: Katherine's (Vicki Volante) mile-high, haymow of hair!...

Since two of Al Adamson's previous monstrosities, "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" and "Horror of the Blood Monsters," both from 1971, are two of the very worst films that I have ever suffered through, it was with a distinct feeling of what I can only call cinematic masochism that I sat down to watch his 1972 offering, "Brain of Blood." And guess what? The impossible has happened, and I've finally seen an Al Adamson movie that I actually liked! While no one could honestly call "Brain of Blood" a good, well-made picture, at least it has a story that we can follow, hangs together fairly decently, and is actually fun and entertaining to watch, unlike the torture dished out by those previous films. The story here concerns one Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor, the star of 1968's "Brides of Blood"), who successfully transplants the brain of Amir, leader of the fictitious country of Khalid, into a younger, stronger body. There is one catch, however: The only body available belonged to Gor, Trenton's hulking, imbecilic, acid-scarred servant. And that's when the fun and games begin! As if a deformed monster weren't enough, the film throws in a gross-out surgical sequence, a high-speed car chase, a well-choreographed rooftop dukeout, assorted murders, explosions, corpses, an over-sized spider and on and on. Three members of "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" return here: the maniacal little person Angelo Rossitto, who here delights in torturing some female prisoners in the basement; the blonde gargoyle known as Regina Carrol; and Zandor Vorkov, the blue-faced Dracula himself. Gor, it must be said, looks absolutely ridiculous, his scarred-puss makeup job resembling nothing more than a rubber bathing cap with a side flap. Still, despite everything, the film works, and coming from Adamson as it does, must be deemed a minor miracle. Now: Should I try his 1978 opus, "Nurse Sherri"?