Customer Reviews

Blood Beast Terror

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At least that was one of the more lurid titles this picture was shown under, here in The States. Peter Cushing is a Victorian police detective investigating a bizarre series of bloody murders; Robert Flemyng is an entymologist who has somehow created a gigantic vampire moth who can masquerade as a beautiful woman. If you get past the laughable concept of a humanoid moth, the movie's not bad, and benefits greatly from Cushing's presence.

In the late 1960's, Hammer films was still doing fairly well and there were a number of other companies that tried to copy and compete with them. Amicus was the main one and they had a number of films that were just as good if not better, another company was Tigon films and they are the creators of this particular film. They pulled in Peter Cushing to play a policeman who is investigating a series of bizarre and brutal killings. Cushing has his suspects and follows them, but his daughter is pulled into the plot as she becomes a source of blood for a moth creature that is being created as a mate for the existing moth creature. Is this a good film? No does it have it's moments? Certainly The story is in someways lacking, but Hammer's Gorgon and the Reptile don't either and they manage to be entertaining. There is some action, Peter Cushing gives a solid showing and I really thought the sets and use of locations was really well above average foe a British horror film. The film seems to have gaps and a number of missed opportunites. They would fins a lead, but then people would stand around and mutter about until you start to get bored, then they will peak your interest again and then mill around some more. It is not boring, they just have a lot of time where they could have inserted some more action or clues or maybe some more about how or why this women can turn into a giant moth. Ultimately, this film is somewhere in the middle of British horror films of the day. It does a number of things right, but Tigon was number three for a reason. I must also say that I had never seen a video done by Image entertainment before, but thet did a good job as the film is of fairly sharp quality.

Let's face it, this movie was a low-budget horror film with bad special effects. But, it does have one saving grace; Peter Cushing is wonderful as a police detective trying to follow the trail of a blood-feasting (totally ludicrous and campy) giant moth woman.

The picture quality of the DVD is fairly good, and the sound is fine. It is presented in letterbox, which is much more pleasing to view then the Pan-and-Scan vhs copy that I first saw this picture on. The setting is Victorian, and having a British cast, the performances are believable and elegant (even if swallowing the idea of a giant Deaths-Head moth makes you gag a little). If your after a film of the quality of "Horror of Dracula", or "Curse of Frankenstein", then don't bother. But if your a die-hard Peter Cushing fan, like I am, you'll probably enjoy this movie, as I do. There's not much suspense, but there is plenty of dry British humor, and some fine performances. Just don't expect to be dazzled by the special effects. Think of it as Sherlock Holms meets Gozilla, and you'll do fine.

Ignore the most negative of the comments, "The Blood Beast Terror" is not total garbage. It has the Hammer Studio's feel which it was trying to imitate; with a decent imitation of the Hammer Victorian production design and a performance by Peter Cushing (as Police Inspector Quennell). It is also features one of the few available film appearances of Vanessa Howard, unfortunately she has only a supporting scream queen role as Quennell's daughter Meg. Check out "Girly" if you want to see a lot more of this underutilized actress.

"The Blood Beast Terror's" main weakness is its low budget which resulted in some horribly lame special effects, although the budget cannot be entirely blamed as just a little imagination in this area would have resulted in something far more effective. It also suffers from a condensed story that does not supply enough scientific details to make the basic premise interesting.

So instead of a sci-fi/horror picture, it is more of a detective story with some laughable horror elements. But it is a decent detective story with enough misdirection to produce several surprising revelations. Contrary to several other comments, I had no problem with the ending, finding the idea of a moth (even a giant one) being drawn to a flame quite appropriate, although so poorly staged as to be groan inducing.

There is some great comic relief in the underplayed performance of Glynn Edwards (as Sergeant Allen) and the overplayed performance of Roy Hudd, as the jaded morgue attendant who casually eats his meals off the slabs in the morgue (complete with cadavers). There is unintended comic relief in the casting of 30 year-old Wanda Ventham as the mad scientist's on-the-make "teenage" daughter. Nothing exceptional but a cut above much of the 60's cheap sci-fi and horror.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I go along with other reviewer's comments -this is not a milestone in film horror, but for me the whole movie is saved by Roy Hudd's amazing cameo as a distinctly unbalanced morgue attendant. He uses his music hall skills (vaudeville) to send himself, as well as the plot, sky high. Well worth the money for his scene alone. Should be entitled How To Steal a Movie.

"The Blood Beast Terror", is a very enjoyable and well constructed little horror tale which suffers because of the weakness in the appearance of the monster of the title which is a giant Death's Head moth that takes human form. The lack of imagination used in its construction detracts from what is otherwise a very atmospheric and beautifully filmed story which may not certainly be the most frightening tale ever filmed but still has alot to commend it. Peter Cushing one of England's foremost horror movie performers lends his usual dignified presence to the proceedings here and helps lift this 1967 Tigon productions feature at times almost up to the same level as his great accomplishments with the famed Hammer Studios horror efforts.

Despite this films quite sensational title, the storyline once you get past the idea of the Giant Moth Creature, is actually an evenly paced mystery drama that takes its time to reveal all the secrets of what is occuring. Along the way we are treated to a very handsomely constructed film set in Victorian times, the usual favourite time period for these British Horror efforts. Peter Cushing plays Inspector Quennell who is investigating a series of ghastly murders where the victims are found drained of their blood and savagely marked with horrific wounds that seem to have been inflicted by some strange undefinable animal. Finding at the site of the latest murder some strange scaley scraps off some type of insect or reptile Inspector Quennell begins to have his suspicions in particular of expert entomologist Dr. Mallinger (Robert Flemyng) who seems to be quite evasive when questioned about possible causes of death for the victims. Unbeknown to the Inspector Dr. Mallinger has been conducting some quite bizzare experiments with certain types of moths and has succeeded in creating a giant sized Death's Head Moth that can take human form. Masquerading as the Doctor's daughter Clare the creature is the one who has been committing the murders on young men attracted to her supposedly human charms. Dr. Mallinger in his attempts to create a mate for this moth creature however realises that for the experiment to work human blood is needed to aid in the mate's incubation. After being forced to change address when the Inspector gets on his trail Dr. Mallinger sees that Quennell's own daughter Meg would be ideal for their purposes and Clare on the pretense of becoming friends with her lures Meg to their new home where under hypnosis Meg has blood extracted to feed the creature slowly developing in the pod. However when Clare takes the form of the killer moth again and commits another murder, this time of the estate gardener which draws more attention to him again, Dr. Mallinger realises that what he has created is now out of control and he destroys the hatching pod. Clare however then kills him and goes in pursuit of other victims to feed on. Finally catching up with the creature after it attacks Meg's young friend William, Inspector Quennell and the sergeant manage to ingnite the flying creature which then burns up and falls to the ground gradually turning back into the form of Clare before it turns to ashes.

Not an exactly scary tale but well produced and earnestly played despite the letdown with the rather flimsy creature of the title. Tigon productions came a definite step behind horror leaders such as Hammer and Amicus during the 1960's and early 70's however here they have produced a handsome period film with honest and interesting performances from the leads who take their roles seriously. Peter Cushing, already of course a veteran of many classic horror films was new to Tigon productions with this role in "The Blood Beast Terror", but delivers his usual solid performance and treats the case a bit like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Robert Flemyng as the fanactical Dr. Mallinger has just the right elements of menace and secrecy in his playing to really increase the overall tension of the piece. Wanda Ventham is also excellent in the dual roles of Clare and cold blooded murdering Moth Creature. In what could be a silly character to play she definately injects just the right elements of seductive allure and bitchiness into her character to hold the viewers attention. Glynn Edwards as Sergeant Allen and especially Roy Hudd as a distastefully comical mortuary attendant also deliver great performances that help lift up the largely unbelievable story to a very watchable level. Beautiful locations and settings feature strongly in this story and give "The Blood Beast Terror", tremendous atmosphere and a very polished look that stands up definately to the more famous Hammer horror efforts.

If you can get past the obvious lack of care in creating a suitable central monster for this horror effort "The Blood Beast Terror", is an enjoyable viewing experience. Peter Cushing in my belief never really gave an insincere or bad performance and was an expert in creating a believable character often out of slim material. While certainly a lesser horror effort I do enjoy the acting performances here and I recommend it to horror fans who are interested in some of the lesser studios efforts during this 1960's period when Hammer productions dominated British horror movie making.

Surely the film is a comedic and technical triumph. My belief is that if one views the film as a straightforward English period chiller you'll be missing the point even if gaining some enjoyment for all that. Try looking for all the visual gags of perspective, shadow, illusion and cliche and be amazed! They come thick and fast.
Best viewed in 'atmospheric' conditions with or without the chemical enhancement of your choice, but even if viewed straight your mind will warp.
Or I could be psychotic...

Argh. Don't waste your time on this dud. It was made by Tigon, the studio that occupied third place to Hammer and Amicus in the British horror genre of the '60s. They turned out some fairly good films, but this one's lamentable. The only things I enjoyed about it were Peter Cushing, who never turned out a bad performance, and the curious casting of Robert Flemyng -- it wasn't great acting, but his natural bug-eyed features provided an ironic point of interest. The main vampire is a giant moth played unconvincingly by a stuntman in a cape. After a series of murders, Cushing identifies a handful of what look like oversized moth scales, and being a great detective, instantly solves the case: "I think the Doctor has created a giant moth." Well, obviously.

This is a very poor film by anyone's standards. In fact it is unusually poor in almost every area of assessment. ... It is a ridiculous plot, poorly paced, badly scripted with no art, no logic, poorly acted and best forgotten. It has to be seen to be believed.