|
Brides Of Blood
[Image]
1968; color
Directed by Eddie Romero & Gerardo de Leon
Starring: Kent Taylor, John Ashley, Beverly Hills, Eva Darren & Mario Montenegro
|
|
Ahhh, the South Pacific. Paradise-like islands, clear blue seas, native girls in sarongs, and - if you're visiting the appropriately named Blood Island - wacky genetic mutations and violent, sex-crazed monsters. Before we can even get to the island and the subsequent doings a-transpiring though, we're dropped right into the laps of the three main characters: Peace Corps worker Jim Farrell, scientist Dr. Paul Henderson, and his perpetually horny and very much neglected wife Carla. (Played by a woman calling herself Beverly Hills no less!) Right from the start there's tons of tension between the married couple, and the ever-ready Mrs. Scientist even manages to get in a quickie with a crew member of the boat before they make landfall. Once they're all ashore and the boat has sailed off, they notice an immediate sense of foreboding. They're in paradise, yet no one ever smiles. While Jim gets to work doing Peace Corps-y stuff Paul and Carla check out the scenery, but when they notice the sun setting unusually early in the day and an eerie feeling in the air they head back to the village only to find a mysterious ceremony taking place, designed to appease a monster who's been terrorizing the locals as of late. They ask questions but get no real answers and are led back to their hut. Later that night they hear ominous, otherworldly sounds and, eventually, blood-curdling screams. The next day everything sees fine and everyone is going about their business so the three decide to do some exploring. While they're trekking around the island, a strange man steps out of nowhere. He explains that his master, Esteban Powers, has a table waiting for them and beckons them to follow him, which they do. As they go deeper into the jungle / forest they see a large mansion on top of a hill. They also see a number of trees with roots and branches that move as if they're alive. (I'm only speculating here, but I'm thinking this may be where Sam Raimi got the idea for the living woods in Evil Dead.) Once they get to the house, they meet Esteban who offers them his hospitality and a place to stay should they tire of the village and want a bit of civilization. Paul also informs them that the island was on the fringe of the radioactive area created by nuclear testing in WWII, and he is searching for signs of atomic mutations. (Although he seems to not count the over-active flora and fauna they just walked through.) After they're back at the village, Paul and Carla are menaced by a morphing butterfly that bites the doctor's hand before being reeled up out of frame. Paul and Carla decide to stay at Esteban's, leaving Jim in the village to fend for himself. A couple nights later the creepy sounds are back, and Jim spies on and interrupts the part of the ceremony no one ever witnesses—where a mutant creature comes out of the forest and has his way with two selected island girls, ripping them limb from limb as he has sex with them. Jim scares the monster off with a flare gun, frees the girl who's still alive and they take refuge at the mansion. After much wrangling, lots of living tree-related horror, blood-letting that includes the deaths of Paul and Carla, and one of the all-time worst man-into-monster transformations ever, Jim and the girl convince the villagers that the monster can be defeated. They do this with relative ease, only to discover the monster was really a man mutated by radiation. According to most sources, Brides of Blood is the first of three "Blood" movies helmed by Phillipino director Eddie Romero. Of course, I'm gonna have to see Mad Doctor of Blood Island and Beast of Blood (and, possibly, Al Adamson's Brain of Blood) to report back on the true chronology but that's a burden I'm willing to shoulder.
—the Kommandant
|
|
