The Muthers (1976)

I pride myself on being a bit of a connoisseur of Philippine movies made for the drive-in market but will admit when Joe Bob Briggs showed this one it was new to me. Between being a big fan of The Last Drive-in as well as movies from the Philippines I had to check it out.

The action kicks off with a boat full of pirates lead by a couple lovely ladies, Kelly and Angie, who rob from the rich folks and share it with those living in their small village. We see this right away as they rob a yacht party. They also get into a tussle with a rival pirate crew led by Turko. This will be important later. When they get back to the village after the fight they discover that Kelly’s sister has run off and go looking for her. After a bit of poking around a government man shows up to let them know that the sister has been kidnapped and is being used as forced labor on a coffee plantation run by a bad dude named Monteiro. If they help them infiltrate the camp not only will they save the sister but will also be pardoned for being pirates.

Of course they agree and next we see them they have been captured and are in the process of being delivered to the camp. As they arrive Kelly sees her sister being taken off on a truck but can’t speak to her. Later we find out that she has escaped and fled into the nearby jungle. After seeing what happens to escapees that are caught the sister is found and murdered in front of the camp. The rescue mission now has become all about revenge. A bunch of people die, Turko shows back up in league with Monteiro, and eventually after much violence everyone gets what is coming to them.

I really wanted to like this one. Sadly, it just isn’t a good movie despite checking a lot of boxes. We get nudity, violence, revenge, and irredeemable bad guys. But this is all hamstrung by the movie pulling back before diving too deep into the reason you watch a flick like this. It almost seems like director Cirio Santiago “self-neuters” The Muthers to avoid pushing too many buttons. That is an awful idea since in a movie like this which seems tailor made for the drive-in circuit you are supposed to go places that big studio productions won’t. In that way they completely miss the boat… pun not intended.

Pew pew pew...

The action bits are okay. At times it is a bit awkward, especially when the actresses try to do their Kung Fu movies on much larger men. But there is a charm to those gags. We also get a lot of gunfights, girl fights, and even a snakebite! Then again, we get an extended sequence of them being chased thru the jungle by Monteiro and Turko after finally making good their escape from the camp. This leads to lots of them talking and walking which kills any momentum that the flick had managed to build up. For an eighty three minute long movie The Muthers feels extremely slow and tedious.

One more thing that I wanted to mention. Where the hell is Vic Diaz? I thought it was illegal to make a drive-in flick in the Philippines without casting him in a role! Okay I’m joking… sort of. Seriously though I was very disappointed with this one. It had a lot of the elements for success but simply fails to seal the deal. I can’t recommend it. If you want to watch a decent women in prison flick with a similar plot, check out Jack Hill’s The Big Bird Cage. And yes, if you were wondering, it does have Vic Diaz in it.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Checkered Flag or Crash (1977)

The drive-in theaters were filled with “car” movies for most of their existence. Though they really hit their stride in the seventies with flicks like Vanishing Point and Grand Theft Auto. I’ve watched just about all of them over the years so imagine how surprised I was to have found Checkered Flag or Crash. It stars Joe Don Baker, Larry Hagman, and Susan Sarandon as well as being shot in the Philippines. Car movie… check! Cast of actors I dig… check! Shot in one of my favorite locations for drive-in flicks… check! How have I never seen this before?

The story is very simple. Joe Don Baker is a driver who is nicknamed Walkaway because he is the only one that normally walks away from his many wrecks. He has been sponsored by a magazine to take part in a big rally race in the Philippines with the agreement that he takes a reporter along for the ride. What he doesn’t know is that it is a lady reporter played by Susan Sarandon. We also get a bunch of other characters including a pretty lady on a motorcycle, a French race car driver, a local driving a taxi, and a few more. I’m glossing over these because they don’t do much with them other than an occasional scene here and there. We don’t even find out what happens to any of them, though given the sheer number of crashes I’m thinking a lot of them died!

The race is being put on by Larry Hagman’s character. He is determined to finish the thing even after there is a flood and mudslide that forces him to choose a dangerous route where the racers will not only have to dodge each other but construction equipment as well. Why the rush? Well there is a toss away line about him owing “people” money that infers it may be the mob or some other organized criminal enterprise. Don’t worry though we never hear about it again. Heck they even hint that the promised prize money might not exist which is something else that is never resolved.

Checkered Flag or Crash has some serious issues. The plot is paper thin filled with, as I’ve mentioned above, far too many throwaway characters to pad the runtime. It would have been nice to see some of the subplots go somewhere, but that doesn’t happen at all. Even the main plot with Walkaway and the reporter doesn’t have a resolution. He basically is an ass to her leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere at one point, though she still cares about him. I suppose making your male lead be completely without redeeming qualities might have been a bad choice. I didn’t like any of the characters and that is an issue.

Most of the better car movies have human characters and a story that is set in and around the road/race/chase. Here it is all about staging the car crashes and stunts. There are a lot of them, though the way they are shot makes it difficult to follow the action at times. So not only do we not have much story to keep our attention what they try and hang their hats on, the stunts and racing, is also poorly executed. This is further hampered by them mostly using voiceovers from the actors as the cars roll by to tell the story.

Checkered Flag or Crash isn’t a good movie. I’m happy to have watched it as I’m a nerd for this sort of thing, but there are so many better options for casual fans that I can’t recommend it. Check out one of the other movies I’ve mentioned already or perhaps the more mainstream Cannonball Run or Gone in Sixty Seconds. These are way more entertaining.

 

© Copyright 2022 John Shatzer

Wonder Women (1973)

It has been a while since I got my drive-in movie mojo going here at the site, so I thought since I’m taking a break from my most recent marathon I’d get back to the good stuff. This flick starts off with some topless ladies swimming and then doing karate. This feeds into a montage of them kidnapping world class athletes and smuggling them to an island where the dreaded Dr. Tsu uses them as spare parts to fix what ails her wealthy clients. Need a set of eyes or maybe some new legs… she has what you need… for a price!

One of her most recent acquisitions is a Jai Lai player who is insured by Lloyds of London for a cool half a million. The company brings our hero Mike in on the recovery, and he starts to unravel what is going on. This is with the help of his side kick Lapu-Lapu, played by Vic Diaz. When the local mob run by Won Ton Charlie fails to kill him on Tsu’s orders, she sends one of her lady assassins after him. But old Mike is way too sexy for her and eventually she leads him to the hidden island where there is a big showdown. Much Kung-Fu is done, bullets are shot, and the requisite basement of freaks is released to go on a killing rampage. That is about all one could ask from a movie shot in the Philippines.

Let me preface my review with the following. This is not a great movie. The actions sequences are silly, the acting is a bit wooden, and the story is goofy. Objectively there is no reason that I should have loved this as much as I did. But I love these shot in the Philippines flicks so much. They have a certain charm where the filmmakers just go for it, regardless of if they have the budget or a cohesive story to tell. Here the story is straightforward and simple in that sort of men’s magazine two fisted adventure style. The ladies are lovely, bed the fellas, and can’t resist their utter manliness leading to them betraying their bosses. Totally cheesy in that awesome drive-in “B” movie fashion that puts a smile on my face. There is always something interesting on screen and I was never bored by it.

Vic Diaz! This guy was awesome.

The cast has a lot of familiar faces that worked in the Philippines. I’ve already mentioned Vic Diaz, who was a legend and appeared is so many great movies. Here he has a decent part and gets to play second fiddle to our hero. Mike is played by Ross Hagen, who did quite a few flicks overseas and was a solid actor in “B” movies. Nancy Kwan is great as the deadly Dr. Tsu. I also recognize at least one of the lady assassins from the Women in Prison flicks made around the same time. Though my favorite is an unexpected appearance by the legendary Sid Haig as Gregorious, Dr. Tsu’s business partner, That dude can pull a ruffled shirt off like no other.

We also get some generic monsters that sort of play a part in the end, as well as some spare organs floating in jars. But this isn’t one of those that is going to lean heavily into the horrific aspects of things. Again, it is more about the action sequences, including a car chase where lots of crazy shit happens, including a great stunt with a guy getting hit by one of the cars. Only this wasn’t a stunt as they didn’t close or control the streets as they were shooting. The folks running away from the taxis weren’t acting and neither was the guy who got hit by the car! Now that is guerilla filmmaking.

I had a blast with Wonder Women and highly recommend anyone that is into these actors or the drive-in movies of the seventies to track themselves down a copy. I guarantee you will have fun with it.

 

© Copyright 2022 John Shatzer

Night of the Cobra Woman (1972)

I found another shot in the Philippines movie to review here for the website. This one kicks off with some nurses looking for plants to help their patients. This must happen during World War II since a Japanese soldier shows up and rapes one of them, leaving her for dead. Luckily the other, Lena, went into a nearby cave and was bitten by a snake. One that just so happened to be a God! That allows her to save her friend because you know… snake magic!

The action then jumps forward to “today” being the early seventies when this was made. There is an American student in Manilla studying antivenom and she decides that she must find the legendary Firebrand cobra. That leads her to a still young Lena and all sorts of shenanigans ensue. When Joanna, the American girl, tells her boyfriend about her search he heads out to see Lena. That is a bad idea because not only is he bitten by a cobra, but Lena then falls in love with him. This is unfortunate since she isn’t kind to her lovers, draining them of their “years” and leaving them old men. Luckily, snake venom will temporarily reverse the process. This all leads to a big showdown where I think evil wins. Yeah, it really does.

This is a low budget cheesy drive-in movie that is silly in all the best ways. The story is a bit confusing at times but serves the purpose of getting Lena her victims while providing an excuse for her to disrobe. Most importantly is the plot is tight and there is always something interesting happening on screen. You will not be bored by this movie. The acting is passable, and the cast are trying their best with what is a silly idea. Speaking of actors, I absolutely love Vic Diaz in this movie. He plays a dual role as the hunchbacked child born of the rape as well as the Japanese soldier who fathered him. Neither role has any dialogue, but he excels as Lope, the hunchback, hopping and squealing thru his scenes. Seriously this dude is a treasure of the drive-in genre. I also did a double take when I recognized actress Joy Bang in the role of Joanna. She was in one of my favorites Messiah of Evil the following year. She didn’t work a lot seeming to retire in the early seventies, so it was neat to see her show up here.

Cobra Eyes!

The makeup effects are goofy looking though all the skin peeling did creep me out. Though that might just be a personal hang up. Unfortunately, the rest of the gore is real. There are cock fights, an eagle killing a snake, and another snake getting chopped up. I’m not terribly squeamish myself having grown up hunting but it sucks seeing animals killed for the purposes of entertainment. It didn’t spoil the movie for me as this was common in the Philippines and part of the culture, but it did bug me. If you are sensitive to that sort of thing, be warned.

I like this movie. It checks a lot of those must have drive-in movie boxes. A small cast doing their best. Just a couple locations for most of the shoot. Special effects on a low budget. And an attitude of just going for it. This isn’t a perfect flick at all, but Night to the Cobra Woman does have its moments. I recommend checking it out.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

 

 

The Blood Drinkers (1964)

 

note: This review is part of a bigger series the Filipino horror and exploitation movies of the late sixties, seventies and eighties. While it isn’t necessary to read those, I would recommend starting at the beginning as I refer back to the other movies covered in my reviews. Click here for the full list of what I’ve covered.

 

Before I jump into the review, I thought that I would share that I somehow managed to watch and review these movies out of order. Curse of the Vampires is the sequel to The Blood Drinkers, though not a direct sequel. The same creative team and some of the cast is in both movies, though they are portraying different characters and neither story seems to connect with each other. That is except for the main villains being vampires. Now onto the review.

 

The opening credits play over a horse drawn hearse bringing a coffin to an estate. A creepy bald guy in sunglasses with an entourage that includes a hunchback and dwarf cracks it open once safely inside to reveal a beautiful young woman. We find out that she is a vampire but is ill and needs a new heart. What better heart for her than that of her twin sister! Her mother is part of the entourage and initially seems okay with this plan. We find out that her ex-husband managed to hide one of her daughters away when they were infants, so they don’t know about each other. This becomes important as the “good” daughter is devastated when her adoptive parents are killed by the vampires and she finds out who her real mother is and that she has a sister. Toss in some houseguests including a young guy named Victor and the local priest and you have the team that is ready to battle the evil and save the girl.

 

This is a strange movie that I think I liked but honestly, I’m not sure. The plot is filled with holes that don’t make sense. For example, Victor makes a leap in logic and immediately blames Dr. Marco for the killings. Marco is the vampire as I realized I hadn’t mentioned that yet. Not sure how he knows that, but he goes to the police to get help. After that happens he leaves the woman he loves with Marco even after he knows he is a vampire and when she tells him she is scared. Why doesn’t he just jump in his sweet convertible and whisk her away? If the movie has some reason for that it never explains it.

 

The vampire sporting shades!

Another point of confusion is Marco has the sister for a while in the movie and yet he never tries to take her heart. It isn’t until everyone is literally at the gates that he tries to make good on his promise to save his love by murdering her sister. Toss in a WTH bit where the priest manages to pray the vampire curse away and we see Marco and his lady in the sunlight freed of their curse… until she twists her ankle. Then they are vampires again. Why? I really don’t get this movie.

 

The Blood Drinkers tries to help the audience with all of the logical loopholes by having the priest narrate the movie and explain what has happened between some scenes. The story does jump around quite a bit. Normally I hate this sort of plot device as it screams out of bad writing and a nonsensical script that can’t do the basics. Here it does a decent job of clearing some things up and moving the story along. It doesn’t make up for everything, but it does help.

 

Uh oh the screen is red!

This movie is really annoying me because I shouldn’t like it at all. While I won’t claim that this is a great flick it does have a certain cheesy charm to it. This was the first color movie shot in the Philippines but there is a twist to that. The “normal” scenes are what you would expect but when the vampires attack the screen has a red tint and when they are on screen but not attacking it turns blue. At least that is what I think they were going for. It is a little weird, but I dug it. There is also a goofy bat servant that is brought to the screen with a fake looking prop on a wire. It’s silly but I liked it. I’ve already mentioned the hunchback and little person… you can’t go wrong there. The actor playing Marco, Ronald Remy, is great in the role and is clearly having fun portraying the vampire. Overall The Blood Drinkers has a fun vibe that I enjoyed.

 

Here is where things get tricky. I liked the movie, but do I recommend it? That is a tough question. I have a soft spot for weird low budget movies from the sixties and seventies so this one is in my wheelhouse. I fear that if you aren’t of a like mind you might find it boring and slow. I’d suggest checking out the earlier Blood Island flicks I reviewed in the marathon. If you dig them then I’d recommend giving this one a chance.

 

This wraps up my first dive into the movies of the Philippines. I hope you enjoyed it and more importantly I hope I might have encouraged you into tracking down a couple flicks. These movies are unique, and while sometimes confusing, worth checking out. I already have started assembling a list for another batch of these so keep an eye out for the next marathon sometime next year.

 

 

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

 

Brain of Blood (1971)

  

note: This review is part of a bigger series the Filipino horror and exploitation movies of the late sixties, seventies and eighties. While it isn’t necessary to read those, I would recommend starting at the beginning as I refer back to the other movies covered in my reviews. Click here for the full list of what I’ve covered.

This might be the strangest of the movies that I’m going to be covering for my made in the Philippines series. While it was shot in California the movie was done in the style of these films and was made by the company releasing the legit flicks. The story is that the distribution company wasn’t coming thru with the money and that the latest movie, Beast of the Yellow Night I believe, wasn’t being released to them. So, they decided to make a movie in the style of the Blood Island series to fill the gap in their release schedule. I guess director and schlockmeister extraordinaire Al Adamson was around and could get it done quickly enough to get it in the drive-in by summer. And that is how we ended up with Brain of Blood.

Things kick off with the leader of a foreign country dying. Because he is such a wise leader his closest advisors decide to have his brain transferred into another body without anyone being the wiser. They fly him to the United States and the mad scientist they choose ends up putting the leader’s brain into his lumbering assistant’s body when the one acquired for the surgery is unsuitable. Some stuff happens including the scientist trying to kill off the leader’s friends, some girls chained in the basement being tormented by his other diminutive assistant, and a random assassin that shows up long enough to kill and be killed. Then mercifully the movie is over.

I love drive-in movies and many of those that I enjoy are bad. I say this because I’ve honestly never understood the love for Al Adamson’s work. He seems like he was a great guy and came to a horrible ending (he was murdered and buried under his own patio!) but his movies are terrible. Brain of Blood is a perfect example of this. By now if you have been reading my reviews you know I have an issue with movies not having a plot. Budget limitations doesn’t prevent you from writing a story that can be shot with what you have. But that isn’t even what the issue is here.

The movie has some stuff going for it. There is a bit of a budget, a decent monster, and the totally over the top bit with the girls being tormented by the dwarf assistant. Some scenery is chewed by actors and there is liberal use of cheesy effects to capture the car chase. All of this is okay and would normally work in favor of a movie like Brain of Blood. The problem is that Adamson clearly had no clue how to write a script. Characters, like the assassin that tries to kill the leader’s entourage, is introduced without warning or explanation. Suddenly there is a random dude trying to kill them and we are supposed to guess what is going on? Sure, they eventually have a scene after the fact that tries to tie it in, but that doesn’t prevent the audience from getting confused. This is typical of his work. 

Something else we get a lot of is padding. For example, the large assistant that is used as the new home for the transplanted brain has a messed-up face. Why? Don’t worry because right in the middle of the movie we will get an unneeded flashback showing you what happened. Again, they try and tie it in to things that happen later with the “monster” struggling with behavior from before. But then it has a totally different brain so why would it remember any of that? This is something that could have been at least sort of explained with a bit of dialogue. How does he remember stuff that happened when the body had its original grey matter? This is an example of a third annoying thing that Adamson has in his movies… giant gaping plot holes.

As an added bit of fun, the movie is also horribly boring. Long sequences of inane dialogue followed by scenes that hang around too long and then some that are completely unnecessary. Do I really need so see him park and pick up the lady at the airport? A quick establishing shot would have been enough. Really this is just a miserable flick in every way possible.

I feel the need to reiterate that in no way am I a movie snob. I love drive-in flicks and revel in their cheesy goodness. Are they all great? Of course not, but the good ones have a plot that is easy to follow and characters that are fun to watch. Neither of those qualities can be applied to Brain of Blood or in my opinion any of Al Adamson’s work. Well… okay he did do a Western that I really like. Sorry this is just a bad movie. I’m going to go back and find another Eddie Romero and John Ashley collaboration to cleanse my pallet. Clearly this isn’t recommended.

 

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

Twilight People (1972)

note: This review is part of a bigger series the Filipino horror and exploitation movies of the late sixties, seventies and eighties. While it isn’t necessary to read those, I would recommend starting at the beginning as I refer back to the other movies covered in my reviews. Click here for the full list of what I’ve covered.

I’m jumping around a bit here having covered the much earlier movie Curse of the Vampires last time. Twilight People is another collaboration between director Eddie Romero and producer/actor John Ashley. This was the movie they made before Beyond Atlantis, which I’ve already covered here. This also harkens back to another movie I’ve already covered, Terror is a Man, as it also is a Filipino take on the Island of Dr. Moreau story. Now that we have that sorted out let’s talk about the movie.

Ashley stars as our hero Matt. Things kick off with him getting kidnapped while diving in the ocean. He meets up with some strange mercenaries that tell him he is on his way to meet the great Dr. Gordon. Once he arrives it becomes clear that the good doctor is up to no good. He is experimenting on people adding different animal characteristics to them thru a procedure that is never completely explained. Lucky for Matt the doctor’s daughter, Neva, has the hots for him and eventually helps him make his escape. Along with them come some of the other victims of the mad scientist. This leads to a crazy ending that involves the mercenaries chasing them and then doing battle with the animalistic experiments in the local jungle.

This movie is so freaking weird and I love it. The plot is laser focused and gets right to the action with Matt getting kidnapped mere seconds after the movie opens. We are quickly introduced to the other characters and then the action proceeds. The chase in the jungle and the resulting gunfight is well executed. The performances are solid with Ashely especially doing a great job in the lead role. Unlike the earlier Blood Island movies and Beyond Atlantis he has to carry this one mostly by himself and does a great job. It is also fun seeing Eddie Garcia, who I mentioned in a couple of the other reviews already, in a smaller supporting role. Jan Merlin shines as the evil henchman Steinman. Solid cast and script make for an entertaining flick. But that isn’t all we get with Twilight People.

My absolute favorite part of this movie are the creatures. These are the unfortunate victims of the doctor’s previous experiments. What sort of fun do we get? There is a half man half boar, a half man half goat, a half man half monkey, a half woman half panther, and a half woman half wolf. But that isn’t my favorite of the bunch. That has to go to the half bat half man that spends the last ten of fifteen minutes flying around killing henchmen in an effect that has to be seen to be believed.

I seriously can’t stress enough how totally bonkers the movie gets when the experiments escape. All of the creatures have their moments to shine. The panther woman, played by a silent Pam Grier, slashes her way thru some bad guys. You also have a sweet love affair between the goat dude and the wolf woman. Oh, and the goat guy’s go to combat move is… if you guessed kicking people you are correct! We also get a “handsy” monkey man for some added fun. There is one final creature in the movie that I won’t mention here so as to not spoil a twist in the big finale.

So far this is my second favorite of these Filipino horror/exploitation movies behind only Beyond Atlantis. It has all of the silly and crazy stuff that I love to see in a drive-in movie along with the quality filmmaking and acting that I’ve become accustomed to when watching an Eddie Romero flick. I highly recommend Twilight People.

  

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

 

Curse of the Vampires (aka. Blood of the Vampires) (1966)

note: This review is part of a bigger series the Filipino horror and exploitation movies of the late sixties, seventies and eighties. While it isn’t necessary to read those, I would recommend starting at the beginning as I refer back to the other movies covered in my reviews. Click here for the full list of what I’ve covered.

The Escudero family is respected by their neighbors and owns a large villa. It is never explicitly said but they appear to be wealthy and influential. The movie kicks off with a large party with son Eduardo and daughter Leonore being watched over by their father. During the evening he has a heart attack which leads him to sharing a terrible secret with his son. The family has some curse on it that caused their mother to become a vampire. She is locked up in the basement to keep her from hurting anyone. Eduardo struggles with this and eventually goes to see her which doesn’t end well. She bites him turning him into a blood sucking fiend. 

From there things get even worse as Eduardo makes some more vampires. Tossed in with this Leonore is not allowed to marry her fiance, Daniel, because her father is afraid the curse might be passed on. Vampire Eduardo also has a weird fascination with her that leads him to some nefarious acts including causing an accident that kills Daniel and frees her up for him. Yeah it gets weird. Eventually the locals wise up and come to the house with torches and crosses. Eduardo is doomed but luckily ghost Daniel shows up to save Leonore’s eternal soul. I did say it got weird…

I’ve already covered some of the later movies from the Philippines including a couple that were co-directed by Gerardo de Leon who is responsible for Curse of the Vampires. Those Blood Island movies are much different from what we get with this one. While those movies are more exploitation and show us a lot of skin and some gore this plays more like a Gothic horror story. Think less H.G. Lewis and more Universal’s Dracula. This is also made for the Filipino market and not to import to the U.S. drive-ins. You get no American expats in the cast though we do get to see Beast of Blood’s Dr. Lorca himself, Eddie Garcia, playing Eduardo in this one. That was cool. I’m not implying that this is inferior to those

movies, just that it is noticeably different and might bug some viewers looking for more Blood Island flicks. It is also interesting to note that Curse of the Vampires wasn’t released in the states nor did they seem to have any plans too until four years later when they paired it up with the new Beast of Blood. That is a cool Garcia double feature.

There are some plot issues that aren’t ever explained. For example, why doesn’t Eduardo’s father kill his vampire wife long before things go this badly. A simple stake thru the heart does the deed to no one’s surprise which makes me feel like they knew that was an option all along. He also knows that Eduardo had been bitten by his mother so why not lock him up as a precaution? Later when the fangs are revealed he is shocked… so much so he drops dead! Why was this such a surprise for him? I won’t even go into the twist at the end with ghost Daniel showing up to save the day, sort of. Though it is entirely possible that all of this could be explained away as a cultural difference of their vampire legends where director de Leon and his audience are sharing an understanding that I as a western viewer don’t get.

While I was confused at times and will admit there is a bit where the movie drags a bit, I still enjoyed Curse of the Vampires. I don’t think I’ll go back and watch it again anytime soon, but I’m still very interested in seeing more of Gerardo de Leon’s work.

 

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

Beyond Atlantis (1973)

 

note: This review is part of a larger series that I’m doing on the Filipino exploitation and horror movies made in the sixties, seventies, and eighties. While it isn’t necessary to read those to enjoy this review, I do reference them so recommend that you start reading from the beginning of the series. The list of those can be found here.

The movie kicks off with a fisherman named Manuel, played by the legendary Filipino actor Vic Diaz, trading some supplies to a beautiful young woman. Taking the rare pearls he receives in payment to the big city he meets East Eddie, played by another legend Sid Haig. Realizing what is being offered Eddie tries to get the location of the woman’s island from Manuel but fails. He does however find out where the fisherman lives which is important later on. Using the few pearls he has Eddie recruits a couple other Americans named Logan and Vic to help him locate the source and harvest the rest. Along the way a lady scientist manages to cajole her way onto the boat by threatening to organize her own trip to the island and drawing attention to what they are up to.

The group arrives and after some shenanigans including the best use of crabs in a booby trap ever they finally meet the locals. The beautiful young woman is Syrene and her father is Nereus. He is king and she is princess. Their loyal subjects are strange fish eyed natives that we find out later are mutated due to their time spent diving underwater and inbreeding. If you haven’t figured it out yet they are the source of the pearls. There are also connections made between those living on the island and the ancient lost city of Atlantis as well as the royal bloodline being kept pure by them mating with outsiders. I suppose that explains the lack of fisheyes… Syrene is supposed to choose one of our protagonists to mate with and then they and the rest will be killed. Of course, they are blinded by the pearls and don’t realize the natives are using them as an excuse to delay their departure. It all ends in an explosive and somewhat odd manner.

By now the names of director Eddie Romero and actor John Ashley should be very familiar. Beyond Atlantis is yet another collaboration between the two, though not in any way part of the Blood Island series. It does follow the very familiar formula of outsiders arriving on an island, this time in search of treasure, and leaving it in much worse shape than when they arrived. Though I did notice the lack of monsters and nudity that dominated those earlier films. After some research I found that when they cast Patrick Wayne as Vic, he insisted the movie have a PG rating and thus a lot of the more exploitative stuff was left out. I know that might bug some viewers, but I feel like it gives the movie some of its charm.

I’ve already mentioned Ashley and Wayne, so I’d be remiss in not saying something about our other male lead, Sid Haig. He is simply awesome as East Eddie dropping some lines of dialogue that always make me laugh. The character is a shifty criminal type involved in all sorts of criminal behavior which is why we get lines like “Go pop for Poppa” when he is talking to one of his working girls. Haig brings a gleeful over the top performance that carries the movie. I get that I shouldn’t be rooting for the violent criminal, but I’ll be damned if I don’t want him to win! Dare I say there are some shades of Captain Spaulding in this character?

The only negative that I will bring up is that they seemed to be in love with some of the underwater footage that was shot. We do get several scenes of them diving to get the pearls as well as some general aquatic horseplay. While I don’t mind it that much it does drag down the pacing a bit and feels a bit like padding. Other than that the movie is solid in both the story and action. Like I mentioned in the synopsis we do get some explosions as well as a gunfight and even a random piranha scene! This movie has it all. 

I love Beyond Atlantis and consider it one of my favorite drive-in movies of all time. Director Eddie Romero had the formula down by this time and delivers a fun romp. The cast is excellent with Haig standing out from the others. When he passed away I started thinking about all the characters he portrayed over the years and I came to the conclusion that East Eddie is probably my favorite. Considering how many great roles he had that is saying a lot.

Is the movie a bit cheesy? It is, but that is why you watch it. Clearly, I’m recommending you check it out. When you do, I’d also recommend getting a copy of the new Blu-Ray from VCI. For years your only option was to pick up a VHS rip or a DVD sourced from a 16mm print. But this new disc has a transfer from a 35mm negative and looks amazing.

 

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

Terror is a Man (1959)

 

note: This review is part of a bigger series the Filipino horror and exploitation movies of the late sixties, seventies and eighties. While it isn’t necessary to read those, I would recommend starting at the beginning as I refer back to the other movies covered in my reviews. Click here for the full list of what I’ve covered.

Before I go any further I should note that this is an early movie and doesn’t technically fall into what I had intended to cover. Though while it predates the sixties and seventies Terror is a Man is sort of an unofficial prequel to the Blood Island movies I just finished covering. This was a one-off horror picture made by directors Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero. Ironically, they couldn’t get it released for years and when they did finally get it out in the US its success inspired the Blood Island flicks. With that connection in mind I thought I’d take a look at it. Now with that bit of history behind us lets dive in.

The movie kicks off with a man, Fitzgerald, washing up on a beach after being shipwrecked. He is found a Dr. Girard and his assistant. They take him to the doctor’s house to recover from his injuries. When he wakes, he not only meets the doctor but his lovely wife, Frances, as well. Why is Girard on the isolated island? Well it pretty clear that he is a mad scientist of sorts having created a process to give human intelligence to animals. That might explain why a half man half panther has chased all the locals off of the island! Toss in a subplot with Fitzgerald making passes at Frances and you have the makings of a decent monster movie.

Terror is a Man is a very good movie. It is an odd combination of the Island of Dr. Moreau and Frankenstein. The idea of monster being part human and part animal clearly is a reference to the Moreau story, which has been filmed several times. Keep that in mind as we will be talking about it again in this review series. The stranger being shipwrecked, the love interest in the household, it is all very familiar. I’m okay with this because it is done very well. The actor playing Girard brings a misguided and most importantly sympathetic angle to his performance. What he is doing is terrible, but he isn’t being evil about it. That was interesting and showed some thought in the plot and character development.

We also get a bit of Frankenstein as well. Dr. Girard has an Igor like assistant who has hatred for his creation. This leads to him beating him with a wooden stake and generally being cruel. In spite of all the killing that the monster does when released you sort of feel bad for it. It still is part panther, which is a predator. Toss in the beatings to twist up it’s growing intelligence and you can’t really blame it for what eventually happens. Hell at the end of the movie it is trying to save Frances, the only person that has shown it compassion. Even the monster has some depth to it, which is very Karloff like.

Clearly, I like the story and the time spent developing both it and the characters. But this is at its core a creature feature, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the special effects work and creature design. First up there is a very effective bit where they use a shaved pig (I’m thinking and hoping it was already dead) to emulate them cutting into flesh as they do surgery on the monster. This is in your face and really graphic for the ‘50s. You weren’t seeing anything like this in the movie made in America at this point. I got a real kick out of it. I also think that the creature design was extremely good. The panther mask looks fantastic and even allows the actor underneath to emote a bit, though mostly with his eyes.

In the end I found Terror is a Man to be an unexpected treat. If you have spent any time here at Crappy Movie Reviews you know that I’m a huge nerd of all things fifties horror and sci-fi. I grew up watching this stuff in the seventies on my local hosted late-night movie shows. Since then I’ve spent much time tracking them down on VHS, DVD, and finally Blu-Ray. Finding one that has slipped by me is very rare. The fact that this was my first viewing and that it is so damn good gives me hope that I have more hiding out there waiting for me to find. I highly recommend this movie and can’t wait to see what else the Filipino film industry has to offer.

  

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

Beast of Blood (1970)

 

note: This review is part of a bigger series on the Blood Island trilogy which itself is part of my look at the Filipino horror and exploitation movies of the late sixties, seventies and eighties. While it isn’t necessary to read those, I would recommend starting at the beginning as I refer back to the other movies covered in my reviews. Click here for the full list of what I’ve covered.

I guess that it would make sense that the next movie I cover be the third entry into the Blood Island series. Though some say there is an earlier movie and others say that there are sequels. I’m honestly just a bit confused by it. But if we are counting the creative team of Eddie Romero and star John Ashley then this is the third of the series. But then I think the pair worked on another movie that some people consider part of the trilogy… You know I think I’m just going to get to the review.

 

Unlike the first two movies that shared the setting of Blood Island but weren’t connected otherwise Beast of Blood is a direct sequel to Mad Doctor of Blood Island. Though they do use a convenient boat explosion to explain the characters that survived Mad Doctor not appearing in Beast of Blood. That might annoy some fans, but I applaud the effort made to explain it away. Who returns? Well we get John Ashley back again as Bill Foster. Also coming back is Dr. Lorca and his number one henchman Razak. And of course, the beast/monster from the prior entry also makes an appearance, though disappointing. I’ll have more on that later.

 

Things kick off with the explosion which is caused by the monster sneaking onto the boat at the end of Mad Doctor of Blood Island. The only survivors are Bill and the monster, though no one knows that the creature survived. After the opening credits we see that Bill is returning to Blood Island because he thinks Dr. Lorca is still alive and is basically coming to kill him for all horrible things he has done. Obviously, he is proven correct, but things get complicated when he discovers the doctor has a new hidden camp and an army of hired thugs protecting him. With a lady reporter he just met, some locals, and the crew of the boat in tow he heads into the jungle for a showdown with Lorca who is again terrorizing everyone with his renewed experiments.

 

In my earlier reviews for the Blood Island series I mentioned that I had been warning people off from watching these for years and I was confused by that since I’ve been enjoying them so much this time around. Well I think it all makes sense now. I’m not going to say that Beast of Blood is a bad movie, but it certainly isn’t very good either. After having watched the first two I have an idea, or expectations if you will, of what I’m going to get. That would be monsters and blood. Pretty simple stuff if you think about it. Most of this flick is spent with our protagonist, Bill, fighting the henchmen of Dr. Lorca. In fact, other than the two or three minutes before the opening credits where they establish the monster caused the boat explosion the they never share the screen together!

 

Think about what I just said. Beast of Blood basically doesn’t feature the beast. That is kind of disappointing, especially after seeing all the mayhem and fun from the previous installments. It plays a lot more like the war movies that director Eddie Romero worked on in the fifties and early sixties. Again, I won’t say that is bad, but it isn’t what I was expecting when I popped the Blu-Ray in. I was disappointed after having just watched the previous installments. When we finally do see the monster, it spends all of its time in two pieces, one head in a jar and the body strapped to the table. Don’t let the cover art fool you as they never get back together. Forever apart… that is kind of sad if you think about it.

 

I had pointed out that the creature work had dropped in quality and quantity from Brides of Blood to Mad Doctor of Blood Island and sadly we get another drop here. As I’ve already mentioned we don’t see a lot of the creature, but when we do it actually looks worse than it did in Mad Doctor of Blood Island. All we get is a mask over an actors head and another actor in a jumpsuit. During the shoot-out at the end of the movie between the henchmen and Bill’s impromptu army there are some gnarly bullet hits with spurting blood, but that is about it. That was disappointing.

 

In the end I dug the first two but can’t bring myself to recommending this one. Though if like me you are a completest, I suppose you will feel obligated to get the conclusion that you didn’t know you needed at the end of Mad Doctor of Blood Island. Crap did I just sell more copies of Beast of Blood? Damn it! Oh well I’m sure there are much worse movies to spend your money on.

 

 

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

 

 

Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968)

note: This review is part of a bigger series on the Blood Island trilogy which itself is part of my look at the Filipino horror and exploitation movies of the late sixties, seventies and eighties. While it isn’t necessary to read those, I would recommend starting at the beginning as I refer back to the other movies covered in my reviews. Click here for the full list of what I’ve covered.

The Filipino movie review series continues with this second entry into the Blood Island series from directors Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero. Also returning is actor John Ashley, although he is playing an entirely different character this time around. I probably should mention that the Blood Island movies don’t have a narrative that continues between them but are mostly similar in tone and those returning in front of and behind the camera. Now with that out of the way lets dive in.

The movie kicks off with a naked girl running away from a monster chasing her. Not the same one as from before, but a different one. She is presumably killed and then we are introduced to our main cast. Ashley plays a doctor, Bill Foster, come to the island to investigate the rumors of a new disease. There is a beautiful young woman, Sheila, come looking for her long absent father. He is the islands drunk, though he sobers up pretty quickly. There is also a local, Carlos, who has come to visit his mother with I think the intention of taking her back to the mainland with him. Now that the characters are established let’s talk about the plot.

The previous entry, Brides of Blood, had radiation mutating people and causing all the mayhem. Mad Doctor of Blood Island switches this up a bit with the mad scientist twist of having Dr. Lorca experimenting on his patients. The title makes more sense now doesn’t it? He is using chlorophyll to extend life and help heal people, though it turns their blood green and makes them homicidal. Well I guess you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. There are also some twists as to the identity of the monster, much like the earlier Brides of Blood, as well as at least once character that isn’t who you think they are. For what is an otherwise cheesy drive-in movie this one has a surprisingly interesting story that I don’t want to ruin here, thus the slightly vague recap. Much craziness, murder, and blood splattering occur before the end credits roll.

From a pacing and plot perspective Mad Doctor of Blood Island is a marked improvement over Brides of Blood. Characters are introduced and tossed right into the action without the movie ever dragging. There is always something interesting going on and even the dance number, yes we get another one, is shorter and plays better as it is cut into the middle of the movie. It doesn’t feel like it was tacked on to pad the running time. We do have a silly bit at the beginning talking about green blood and asking the audience to take a pledge of sorts to protect themselves. While not necessary it has a distinct goofy and fun vibe much like the shenanigans William Castle did in the fifties that added to my enjoyment of the movie.

The plot is much more straightforward but has at least one twist that I didn’t expect. Again, I don’t want to give anything away, but I will clue you in that it has to do with Carlos and his history with Blood Island. Even Dr. Lorca is initially played as a decent guy, though it is pretty clear he is the Mad Doctor, so I don’t feel like revealing him as the bad guy is much of a spoiler. Still I appreciate the efforts they went to not immediately reveal this. I’m not saying that Mad Doctor of Blood Island is a classic but compared to other flicks in this genre it has a decent story and script.

There is a bit of a drop off in the gore and creature design. Here we get a lot more green paint and a few appliances glued to a couple of actors rather than the full rubber creature suite from Brides. There is a decent kill scene here and there with the highlight being one woman getting torn up on screen by the creature, but it doesn’t match the sheer volume of rubber limbs and God help us tree tentacles from the earlier Blood film. This was disappointing but didn’t ruin the movie for me. What almost did was the decision to use this annoying zooming in and out on the scenes when the monster was near. It doesn’t matter if it was a close up of the actor or the creature the shot zooms in and out rapidly. So much so that I almost got nauseous a couple of times. It isn’t found footage camerawork bad, but it got close a couple of times.

Despite these last two criticisms of Mad Doctor of Blood Island I still found myself really liking it. I find a certain charm in old drive-in movies that I just don’t get from anything else. When you also toss in a story that I enjoyed and gives a few unexpected twists then I think you are onto something. Consider this one recommended.

 

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer

Brides of Blood (1968)

 

I’ve been kicking around the idea of covering the exploitation/horror movies of the Philippines, especially those made in the late sixties and seventies. I even went as far as buying a couple box sets as well as tracking down a few other movies. I suppose it is time to actually get started and I couldn’t think of a better place to start then the first movie in the Blood Island series, Brides of Blood.

Things kick off on a boat as we are introduced to our main characters. We have Jim, a well-meaning Peace Core volunteer traveling to the remote island to help the locals with sanitation and irrigation. You know the real tree hugger crap they do. There is also Dr. Henderson and his much younger wife Carla. He is coming to do some research and she is basically just miserable. He has needs that her husband seems disinterested in helping her with. They arrive on the island and are met by the locals, including the lovely Alma who becomes Jim’s love interest. Also, there is a fellow American (though he is clearly not…) Esteban who lives in a big house near the village.

Not long after they realize that something is horribly wrong as they encounter mutated animals and plants. Yeah, the trees are trying to kill them! The worst of it is a particularly nasty monster to whom the villagers keep sacrificing lovely ladies. Why only the ladies? It seems that the monster has needs if you get my meaning. When they pick Alma that is the last straw for Jim, and he frees her and flees to Esteban’s home with her in tow. Along the way we find out that the island has been affected by radiation from the atomic bomb tests and that is why the local flora and fauna has become so homicidal. After one big twist involving the identity of the amorous monster we get to a satisfying conclusion to the movie, a big dance number.

My recap of the movie makes it sound like I didn’t like it, or at least like I’m being snarky about it. The truth is this isn’t a great movie and has its fair share of flaws. That said I enjoyed the heck out of it. There is a certain cheesy fun to be had with a movie like Brides of Blood, or really any movie that was made for the drive-in crowd in general. That is if you do it right. For me you have to have a decent creature or at least an entertaining one. Here we get a big bug on visible wires, some tentacles springing forth from the trees, and of course the man in a rubber suit. For the late sixties and on such a small budget all of these are executed pretty well. My favorite creature related bit has to do with a tree trying to eat a kid! Yeah they went there. All in all I was satisfied with what I saw on screen.

Now this is going to sound creepy but, in my defense, it is a staple of the drive-in genre and that is nudity. We see a lot of skin in Brides of Blood. While it might seem tame by today’s standards (my how the internet has changed things) this was pushing the boundaries of the late sixties. It is likely that if these movies weren’t dismissed as trash, they wouldn’t have been able to get away with as much as they did.

The cast is solid with Kent Taylor, Beverley Powers, and John Ashley all doing good work. Some of the local Filipino cast is good as well. Eva Darren as Alma does a great job and Mario Montenegro is good as Esteban. A lot of effort was put into trying to write the best script and get decent actors and it shows. The direction from Gerado de Leon and Eddie Romero is solid. That said the movie does drag a little bit here and there and the big dance scene tacked on at the end does nothing for the story and feels like padding, which they didn’t need.

My only other complaint with Brides of Blood is the music. While I don’t mind the soundtrack itself my issue is with how loud it gets. There are times where it drowns out what is on screen, not dialogue but just the ambient sounds of the jungle. It feels intrusive and took my attention away from the action on screen. This and the slow spots are the only real issues that I have with the movie.

For years I had warned people away from the Blood Island flicks based upon me watching them on VHS years ago. I’m not sure if it is the transfer on the new Blu-Ray set or if my tastes have changed but I feel like that was the wrong thing to do. Again, I can’t say Brides of Blood is a great movie, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t entertaining. Now I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of them to see if they are also better than I remembered. Consider this a recommendation.

 

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer