Horror icon Peter Cushing stars here as Detective Inspector Quennell, faced with a baffling series of killings. The male victims are typically clawed at and drained of blood, and a bunch of mysterious objects (like scales) are left in the English wilderness. This may possibly involve the esteemed insect expert Professor Mallinger (Robert Flemyng) and his frosty daughter Clare (Wanda Ventham).
Cushing personally considered this the worst of all his pictures, but in truth it's not all that bad. It *does* have treasures for lovers of B grade monster movies. Yes, it has its problems - it wastes some time, gets silly, lacks distinction, and ends up turning horribly (yet delightfully) cheesy. But it's *fun*, damn it, entertaining in a reasonable manner.
The filming is adequate - Vernon Sewell ("Burke & Hare") is the director, Stanley A. Long the cinematographer, Paul Ferris the composer of the enjoyable music score. The special effects? Not so much. In fact, they are utterly laughable, but this will just add to the entertainment value for some peoples' tastes.
Of course, no film can be completely worthless with the great Cushing as the hero. Most people watching can figure out the "mystery" early on, but you don't much mind watching a talent like Cushing catch up to us as he works to decipher the clues. The supporting cast is very fine - Flemyng (who hated working on this film himself), Ventham (trivia: she's the mother of current actor Benedict Cumberbatch), the gorgeous Vanessa Howard as the inspectors' daughter, David Griffin as goofy, likable bug hunter William, Glynn Edwards as the reliable Sergeant Allan, William Wilde as the insect collector Britewell, Kevin Stoney as the scar-faced butler Granger, John Paul as the jovial Warrender, Russell Napier as the landlord, and Roy Hudd (who gets "guest star" billing) as the comedy relief morgue attendant. Kenneth Colley, recognizable to "Star Wars" franchise fans as Captain / Admiral Piett, has the small role of James.
An effort by the less well known British genre company Tigon, "The Blood Beast Terror" may be far from British horror cinema at its finest, but, as I said, it will still appeal to lovers of cheese.
Six out of 10.
Cushing personally considered this the worst of all his pictures, but in truth it's not all that bad. It *does* have treasures for lovers of B grade monster movies. Yes, it has its problems - it wastes some time, gets silly, lacks distinction, and ends up turning horribly (yet delightfully) cheesy. But it's *fun*, damn it, entertaining in a reasonable manner.
The filming is adequate - Vernon Sewell ("Burke & Hare") is the director, Stanley A. Long the cinematographer, Paul Ferris the composer of the enjoyable music score. The special effects? Not so much. In fact, they are utterly laughable, but this will just add to the entertainment value for some peoples' tastes.
Of course, no film can be completely worthless with the great Cushing as the hero. Most people watching can figure out the "mystery" early on, but you don't much mind watching a talent like Cushing catch up to us as he works to decipher the clues. The supporting cast is very fine - Flemyng (who hated working on this film himself), Ventham (trivia: she's the mother of current actor Benedict Cumberbatch), the gorgeous Vanessa Howard as the inspectors' daughter, David Griffin as goofy, likable bug hunter William, Glynn Edwards as the reliable Sergeant Allan, William Wilde as the insect collector Britewell, Kevin Stoney as the scar-faced butler Granger, John Paul as the jovial Warrender, Russell Napier as the landlord, and Roy Hudd (who gets "guest star" billing) as the comedy relief morgue attendant. Kenneth Colley, recognizable to "Star Wars" franchise fans as Captain / Admiral Piett, has the small role of James.
An effort by the less well known British genre company Tigon, "The Blood Beast Terror" may be far from British horror cinema at its finest, but, as I said, it will still appeal to lovers of cheese.
Six out of 10.