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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well, At Least It's Cheap!, November 26, 2003
This review is from: Blood Thirst 4 Movie Pack (DVD)
Boy Howdy! What a mixed up bunch we have here! Disc #1- Side A- BACK FROM HELL- A priest helps an old friend fight the forces of darkness. It seems that old pest satan is trying to take over the world again. Only our friendly preacher and his friend Jack stand in his way. This is terrifying, due to the fact that these two suffer from a severe, chronic case of brainlessness! This no-budget stenchfest features the worst acting I've ever seen! It's sort of like watching a home movie made by satanic 10 year olds! I really liked the purple hand coming out of the bible to grab the priest's face. Wow! It looked only mildly like rubber! Side B- PROJECT VAMPIRE- Victor escapes from Project Alpha, a plot to create an army of vampires who can withstand sunlight. He battles several bloodsuckers and must ultimately face Dr. Klaus, the head neck-chomper. Horrid acting takes away from a half decent story. Check out the bald, leather-jacketed terminator ripoff! Disc #2- Side A- THE PASSING- The weirdest sci-fi movie I've ever seen! A guy kills his girlfriends rapist (by accident, he just wanted to torture him) and ends up on death row. Meanwhile an old man and his friend decide to do themselves in. This results in a hilarious failure! Then, both the young killer and the old man end up as guinea pigs in a secret experiment. This is the best movie in this collection. It's funny, tragic, and even scary in parts. Lots of male / female nudity. Violence. Side B- BEYOND EVIL- John Saxon and Linda Day George are a married couple who move into a haunted house. The evil witch who once lived there is now trying to possess our sweet heroine. Many interlopers are dispatched in gruesome ways. Basically, 70s cheese with a schlocky crust. I enjoyed this one. All in all, BLOOD THIRST is worth the tiny price...
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thirst quenchers, January 5, 2008
This review is from: Blood Thirst 4 Movie Pack (DVD)
CONTENTS of BLOOD THIRST 4 Movie Pack:
BACK FROM HELL-- A priest's friend has sold his soul to Satan for Hollywood fame. The actor reneges on the deal, so now anyone who looks into his eyes wants to kill him. Has all the hallmarks of ineptitude: poor editing, lousy sound, cheap effects. The film's director appears here as an axe-wielding lunatic.
BEYOND EVIL-- Couple moves into an island mansion, where a century-old spirit possesses the wife. Atypically crummy John Saxon flick.
THE PASSING-- Two storylines that collide. An imprisoned rapist-psycho killer volunteers for scientific experiments. An elderly WWII vet end up at what he believes is a geriatric clinic where he's scheduled to exchange bodies with the executed criminal. This is one of those movies you either love or despise-- no middle ground.
PROJECT VAMPIRE-- Serum turns its recipients into bloodsuckers. Vampire scientist wants to fill the world with vampirish syncophants.
For more strange horror delights check out PRAY FOR DEATH 4 Movie Pack, also from BCI / Eclipse.
BRENTWOOD's 4-fers are nicely priced movie bundles. Video and sound quality of these digitally unrestored public domain films is generally fine. Discs are dual-side recorded.
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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website
(3.0) Back From Hell (1993) - Larry DuBois/Shawn Scarbrough/Don Ruen/Matt Hundley/Matt Jaissle
(2.5) Beyond Evil (1980) - John Saxon/Lynda Day George/Michael Dante/Mario Milano/Janice Lynde
(3.8) The Passing (1985) - James Carroll Plaster/Welton Benjamin Johnson/John W. Huckert Jr.
(3.4) Project Vampire (1993) - Mryon Natwick/Brian Knudson/Mary Louise Gemmil/Christopher Cho
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Murder, Monsters, And Belly Dancing: The Barrio Club Has It All!, March 21, 2011
"Blood Thirst" was made in 1965 in the Philippines, but wasn't released in the US until 1971. Director Newt Arnold managed to pack 20 minutes of action into a 74 minute running time in this black and white masterwork. The film is immensely predictable and begins with Filipino police inspector Miguel Ramos (Vic Diaz) summoning his friend Adam Rourke (Robert Winston) from the US to lead up the investigation into a number of killings committed against pretty girls in an identical manner. The film is more typical of earlier film noir pieces, as it's a combination of monster movie, romance of opposites, and super sleuth subplots, and features any number of ridiculous plot contrivances and a frequently ludicrous script. I especially like how Rourke talks to himself in a smarmy way to fill the audience in on the backstory.
The film has one of the worst leading ladies in history, Sylvia (Katherine Henryk,) Miguel's adoptive little sister and proto-feminist, who studied in London and likes to combine the smugness of youthful ignorance with being wholly undesirable. It is therefore clear since she and Rourke are at odds from the moment they meet that they must fall in love. On the other end of the acting spectrum is the mysterious nightclub owner Mr. Calderon (Vic Silayan,) who is genuinely creepy and very good in his role. He is skeptical of Rourke, who claims to be a reporter, and circumstantial evidence points to his involvement in the crimes. His establishment, the "Barrio Club," is just as inviting as you would expect it to be with a name like that, and features a dancer (Yvonne Nielson) who offers to help Rourke, but can he trust her?
The film is at least half padding, and attempts to be stylish with lots of sultry saxophone and trumpet music (I think they must have wore out a couple of trumpet mutes on this movie.) Some of the film is quite atmospheric, but just when it's getting interesting there's more ridiculous coincidences (the most amazing coincidence perhaps occurs in the jungle after Sylvia bamboozles Rourke) punctuated by interludes of ludicrous romance and terribly hackneyed dialogue. I like when Rourke is in a bar fight, provoking the enraged bartender to say "I think I don't like you as much as before." Wow, that's harsh.
Eventually the movie reveals that Calderon has a history of crimes against women in Peru, and the film makes a hard left into monster movie territory when Incan armbands figure into the plot. Sylvia takes a job at the Barrio Club to protect Rourke (ponder) and her employment is quickly terminated. The conclusion involves Calderon encasing his head in wax (apparently,) harnessing the electrical energy of the sun (somehow; it apparently involves a wok full of blood,) and making human sacrifices to appease the sun god to attain eternal life. All this did was make me say "What?!?" and re-watch the footage again. (It's no more lucid the second time.) After a little lame alchemy, the film ends with Rourke and Sylvia in love at the airport.
While some of the actors did quite good jobs with their roles, especially Vic Silayan, the film is extremely predictable and poorly written. Combine that with the fact that there is so much padding in the running time, and you end up with a pretty boring little movie. If you really love the Filipino Monster-Romance-Detective-Film Noir movies of the 1960s, this may be for you. Most others can safely pass it by.
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