A scientist named Paul Henderson (Kent Taylor), his hot-to-trot young wife Carla (Beverly Powers), and a young representative of the Peace Corps, Jim Farrell (John Ashley), travel to an exotic Asian locale. Among the items on the mission are to investigate possible effects of atomic fallout. Well, there's an effect, all right: a pulpy humanoid monster dubbed "The Evil One" by a peaceable tribe is on the loose, and the tribe tries to appease it by regularly sacrificing young beauties.
Preceded by previous Filipino horror-exploitation pictures "Terror is a Man" and "The Blood Drinkers", "Brides of Blood" was the first in a trilogy of genre pictures to use this "Blood Island" setting. It was also the first film in a string of B movies Ashley would headline from this part of the world.
Directed by Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero, familiar names to any lover of Filipino exploitation, this is pretty crude, overall, and it's also quite slowly paced most of the time, but it still holds a certain fascination. It's undeniable how much brooding atmosphere de Leon & Romero are able to milk from their native land. It does feature the requisite blood and nudity of the genre, and is on occasion creepy. (The monster announces its presence with some overwhelming vocalizations.) Of course, it's impossible not to bust a gut laughing when the monster shows up. It's an awfully clunky looking thing, in the best man-in-a-costume tradition. At first, this viewer thought that the film could have used a little more monster action, but upon reflection, realized that the monster gets JUST enough screen time. There is a "twist" in the story, but it's not difficult to predict it.
The acting is sincere from the cast; it's not particularly lively acting, but it gets the job done. The Filipino supporting players include Eva Darren as lovely native gal Alma, Andres Centenera as her dad, Mario Montenegro as solicitous local character Esteban Powers, and Bruno Punzalan as his thuggish associate Goro.
Complete with reasonably amusing makeup effects and some very hungry killer trees, this provides a solid dose of fun for prospective viewers.
Followed by "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" and "Beast of Blood".
Seven out of 10.
Preceded by previous Filipino horror-exploitation pictures "Terror is a Man" and "The Blood Drinkers", "Brides of Blood" was the first in a trilogy of genre pictures to use this "Blood Island" setting. It was also the first film in a string of B movies Ashley would headline from this part of the world.
Directed by Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero, familiar names to any lover of Filipino exploitation, this is pretty crude, overall, and it's also quite slowly paced most of the time, but it still holds a certain fascination. It's undeniable how much brooding atmosphere de Leon & Romero are able to milk from their native land. It does feature the requisite blood and nudity of the genre, and is on occasion creepy. (The monster announces its presence with some overwhelming vocalizations.) Of course, it's impossible not to bust a gut laughing when the monster shows up. It's an awfully clunky looking thing, in the best man-in-a-costume tradition. At first, this viewer thought that the film could have used a little more monster action, but upon reflection, realized that the monster gets JUST enough screen time. There is a "twist" in the story, but it's not difficult to predict it.
The acting is sincere from the cast; it's not particularly lively acting, but it gets the job done. The Filipino supporting players include Eva Darren as lovely native gal Alma, Andres Centenera as her dad, Mario Montenegro as solicitous local character Esteban Powers, and Bruno Punzalan as his thuggish associate Goro.
Complete with reasonably amusing makeup effects and some very hungry killer trees, this provides a solid dose of fun for prospective viewers.
Followed by "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" and "Beast of Blood".
Seven out of 10.