It's just too funny when Lorca is addressing the severed head, and even more so when the head is seen to speak! A pretty good finish and highly amusing gore and creature effects add to the appeal of this movie which if not great is still pretty good. Familiar faces Alfonso Carvajal as tribe leader Ramu and Bruno Punzalan as henchman Razak are fun, but not as much as Garcia, who seems to be relishing his role Lorca cheerfully discloses at one point that he's "madder than ever". Yarnall, known for appearances in movies like "Live a Little, Love a Little", "The Velvet Vampire", and "The Mechanic", is super sexy and a commendably, fairly feisty type, and Liza Belmonte is also a real looker as helpful local Laida. The acting basically gets the job done, with Ashley effective as the stolid hero. But, as with any of these Filipino horror movies, the inherent atmosphere of the locale comes through strong, and accompanied by the expectedly (and endearingly) grandiose music by Tito Arevalo, "Beast of Blood" does have the perfect "midnight movie" feel to it, and does have the legendary Eddie Romero in its director's chair if you watch enough of these movies, Romero's is one name you'll start to see repeatedly. Lorca is keeping the severed head of the monster alive in his lab, for one thing! This is overall not as much fun as one might wish it to be, as it has a mostly uneventful first half, and the movie does mostly consist of a trek / pursuit through the jungle. Lorca, now played by Filipino film veteran Eddie Garcia, is very much alive and still up to no good. He's now in the company of nosey, stubborn reporter Myra Russell (Celeste Yarnall) and a captain played by Beverly Miller (Miller also concocted the story for this entry). Bill is rescued, and one year later he returns to the island upon hearing stories of what may still be going on there, even though the villainous Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) is sailing away from the island when the monster of "Mad Doctor" causes the destruction of the boat. "Beast of Blood" picks up where its predecessor, "Mad Doctor of Blood Island", leaves off, so in essence both movies are one long story. Definitely worth seeing especially as part of a double feature with Mad Doctor of Blood Island. What can I say, I took it on its own terms and I liked it, high art its not. Its not bad, but if you are expecting a straight horror film you may end up very disappointed, despite a great monster. Some of Lorca's victims do cause mayhem, but the majority of the film concerns trying to find Lorca and the kidnapped reporter. The man-beast is effectively off camera for most of the film following the opening battle (I have to say the make up here is infinitely better than in Mad Doctor). Sure there are some horrifying moments, but on some level this is more an adventure/ mystery film than a real horror movie. A sequel it is, but its not as scary (nor as gory nor as titillating). What it was missing was the set up that the first film gives it.If you watch the two films together I think you'll find it a better film than when it's viewed all alone. I was never a big fan of this film prior to the back to back viewing because I always felt that it was missing something. Finally watching this in close proximity to Mad Doctor I found that the film plays much better than it does as a stand alone film. It isn't long before its realized that Dr Lorca is back and up to his old tricks. On the island Ashley finds that many people he believed dead survived the final battle of the first film and that some how the "green men" have returned. A year or so later Ashley heads back to Blood Island to investigate stories that weird things have begun to happen again despite the death of the evil Dr Lorca. As John Ashley waxes poetic about his time on the island fighting monsters the man beast from the first film appears (he was seen to have secreted himself in a lifeboat at the end of Mad Doctor) and a battle occurs which destroys the ship and leaves Ashley as the only survivor. Literally picking up hours after the first film, the film begins on the boat sailing away from Blood Island. Its the fourth (or third if you don't count the unrelated Terror is a Man) in the Blood Island saga. This the direct sequel to Mad Doctor of Blood Island.
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