Blood Relations

Starring:Brenda Adams, Lynne Adams, Denis Akiyama, Lydie Denier, Kevin Hicks, Carrie Leigh, Sam Malkin, Jan Rubes, Ray Walston, Ted Hanlan, Stephen Saylor, David MacKay, Jane Schoettle
Director: Graeme Campbell
Studio: Trinity Home Ent
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

This race-relations film from 1957, based on a novel by Alec Waugh and set on a West Indies island, stars James Mason as a wealthy man who runs against a local union leader (Harry Belafonte). The rest of the players, one way or another, deal with the consequences of their rivalry. Mason and Belafonte leave a strong impression, but the film overall doesn't live up to its own sense of significance. Joan Collins is good as Mason's sister, who worries that the contest will cost her an engagement to the governor's son. --Tom Keogh

Description

Four different love affairs simultaneously wreak havoc in the lives of the inhabitants of a tropical paradise. A wealthy plantation owner plots murder when he suspects his wife of having an adulterous relationship. At the same time, his sister-in-law is drawn to his enemy, a dedicated black labor leader, and a governor's aide is torn over his scandalous affair with a native woman. Darling and exquisitely filmed on location, this rich romantic story with it's focus on race, passion and politics, was one of the most talked about films of its day.

Customer Reviews:

A place like this can hide many things!.......2007-01-06

I had the chance to watch this film last night and even though "Island in the Sun" was produced in 1957 it should be recognized as indisputable breakthrough! There have been plenty of movies like this, but keep in mind that interracial relationships were political detonate at the time - and yet some of the film's observations remain upsetting even today.

In this film the wealthy whites are ridicule here once again, lording their money-driven power over the black Caribbean field workers in this timely but talky issue-film. Belafonte also stars here as a native son on the fictional West Indies island of Santa Marta who wants to wrestle control of the government from the ruling white British regime, here embodied by political candidate James Mason (who harbors a deep, dark secret of his own -- pun completely intended). Joan Fontaine essays a white woman who happens to be in love with Harry; Dorothy Dandridge plays a local girl in love with a white man (John Justin); and Joan Collins portrays Mason's sister, trying to get English lord Stephen Boyd to fall for her.

The location (Barbados/Grenada) of this film was just beautiful, and so is Harry Belafonte's voice, singing Jamaican songs at sunset. His relationship with Joan Fontaine is fantastic--if not especially romantic. The love story sidebars are soapy but not dull and they give the film what passion it has. Personally what I really wanted to see was more of Belafonte. He was at a peak here, and since he didn't get to use his own singing voice in "Carmen Jones", this is a great chance to watch and hear him perform unfettered.

I also recommend is "Stormy Weather" because it is a important piece of history, being one of Hollywood's first pictures to star an entirely African-American cast. Though some racial stereotyping is on-hand here and there.

Island in the Sun.......2006-11-11

A Review of Island in the Sun
By: Noran L. Moffett

In an era for which the racial hegemony was challenged by the liberation struggles of the formerly enslaved Africans, the complex circumstances of life, love and legalities were centrifugal in the movie.

In the initial scenes of the movie, the primary characters surfaced on the screen with tacit commentary and documented tension over social, political and economic life forces, love choices and legal limits.

For the viewer of Island in the Sun, the social dynamics of racial taboos over love choices were confounding the characters who were engaged in legal and social polemics. Yet, the movie rapidly explores the dynamic political leadership of the African and Multiracial majority against the established socially, politically and economically powerful European minority.

The movie ends with the emergence of the true love for the political realities facing the Afro Caribbean population by the Afro Caribbean leader (played by Harry Belafonte) over the obvious passion for him by the Euro Caribbean woman. As a result of the movies multifaceted mood, tenor and tone, the viewer can recognize historical evolution and the introduction of interracial romantic revolution.

DOROTHY DANDRIDGE IS THE REASON TO WATCH!.......2006-05-13

Interracial romance is just one of the topics covered in "Island in the Sun", a Darryl Zanuck production,directed by Robert Rossen(The Hustler).Politics and political crime are also covered,especially those areas that touch the Fleury family of James Mason,in a so-so performance.The REAL star of this film is the utterly fantastic Dorothy Dandridge,who sizzles EVERY moment she is on screen!The rest of the cast Stephen Boyd,Joan Collins, and Michael Rennie is just average.The "other" interracial romance between John Fontaine and Harry Belafonte is a bore.Included in the DVD is at he original theatrical trailer,a fine documentary from A&E concerning Dorothy,and a poor commentary,on the film, by John Stanley,who is listed as a film historian.

Interesting, but frustratingly slow-paced race-relations soap opera.......2006-03-26

Set on a fictional West Indian island under British rule, Island in the Sun has all the elements to be a great 1950s soap opera: exotic locations, all-star cast, jealousy, angst-ridden male protagonists, racial tensions, sex, interracial desires, political intrigue, murder. What a great movie someone like Douglas Sirk (Written on the Wind, the 1959 Imitation of Life) would have made with the same cast, location and storylines!

Unfortunately, producer Zanuck and director Rossen spend more time showing off the West Indian locations than developing the characters and speeding the pace so that we can keep up with the different storylines. By the time you get back to some of the characters, youve lost interest or forgotten what happened the last time we saw them. Of the all-star cast, only James Mason (as the angst-ridden male) and Harry Belafonte (as the angry black man) get to have showy scenes and make an impression. Joan Fontaine (as a wealthy woman who falls for Belafonte) and Dorothy Dandridge (as a sassy West Indian who falls for a white man) are criminally wasted in this film. Even though their storylines got the most publicity (the interracial romances) when the film was released, all the two actresses are made to do is look good (which they do) in their costumes. Joan Collins is just okay as James Mason's sister and Diana Wynyard has one good scene as their mother.

Overall, the most interesting aspect of the movie, and the only reason worth watching it nowadays, is the 1950s Hollywood depiction of interracial romance, although there were so many compromises made that none of the two couples really seem to have much sexual chemistry or desire for each other.

The film's Cinemascope location shots look great on the DVD transfer and the DVD also features the Biography episode on Dorothy Dandridge. (I skipped the commentary track.)

good photography, dull movie.......2006-03-21

I remember seeing this movie years ago when it was released. I was a child and I had not seen it since. I was quite surprised to find out that it had been released on DVD so I ordered it. When I saw it in the theatre as a child, it seemed larger than life with the palm trees, vibrant colors, etc. I also fell in love with Dorothy Dandridge who I thought was absolutely beautiful.
Looking at this movie now, it seems rather bland and it did not hold my interest. There are a lot of story lines going on in the movie and none of them are particularly exciting. The women looked beautiful (except for Joan Fontaine who seemed quite plain and devoid of any personality) but their characters did not contribute much to the story lines.
The theme of race relations was not really explored the way I thought it would be, except as an undercurrent. The only black person in the movie to address the issue was Harry Belafonte and who does he wind up with but the ever-exciting Joan Fontaine. At the end he basically tells her to get lost.
I compare this movie with one of my all-time favorites, "Black Orpheus" which, while not having a complicated plot, was extremely well done.
In conclusion, while I would recommend this movie for historical reasons and for the boldness (at the time) of addressing the race issue, I would caution that it is not very interesting or exciting.

Average customer rating:

I love it
gruesome brain torture, but an otherwise cheap suspense/noir film
ALL IN THE FAMILY

Blood Relations
Starring: Brenda Adams , Lynne Adams , Denis Akiyama , Lydie Denier , and Kevin Hicks
Director: Graeme Campbell
Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001Z4OVU
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Description

A severely dysfunctional family gathers at a snow-covered, isolated mansion in the winter. There the family members - including the father, an arrogant surgeon who may have murdered his wealthy wife - expose each others' secrets, with surprising results.

Customer Reviews:

I love it.......2006-10-24

Don't listen to them, if you like b-movies with a bite to it, I highly recommend this movie.
Lydie Denier is amazing, beautiful and a very convincing actress. It's not really graphic until the end part. There are mild sexual scenes but not to the point of an R rating.

gruesome brain torture, but an otherwise cheap suspense/noir film.......2006-08-05

The video box says "horror," but Blood Relations is more of a mildly erotic noir thriller, at least for the film's first two thirds.

Marie (Lydie Denier) is the Eurotrash femme fatale, engaged to Thomas (Kevin Hicks), a young expectant heir eager to inherit his grandfather's fortune. Granddad (everyone's favorite Martian, Ray Walston) is already dying, so all Thomas and Marie need do is kill Thomas's dad (Jan Rubes) to assure Thomas is the sole heir.

Thomas brings Marie home to meet the family: just dad and granddad. All three generations of men take a liking to Marie, who resembles Thomas's dead mother (Rubes's dead wife, Walston's dead daughter). Things get kinky. Granddad asks Marie to call him "father." Then he asks her to strip naked and kiss him. So she does. Hey, he's worth a fortune, right?

Blood Relations threads noir terrain, so there's the requisite shyster lawyer to draft the will, his faithless wife (girlfriend?), and a creepy servant. No one is to be trusted, everyone plots against everyone else, forming shifting alliances over who might inherit the dying granddad's estate. There are faked deaths, lies and betrayals, and a dead cat. Dad romances both his lawyer's wife and Marie, bedding one and telling the other that his son "is not a real man" and will inherit nothing.

Blood Relations's milieu resembles that of The Shining and Curtains. All three films feature small casts wandering within vast snowbound mansions. Yet while The Shining and Curtains are enhanced by their stark wintry milieu, Blood Relations is diminished. Shorn of padding and distractions, the former two films reveal compelling stories, gripping emotional subtexts, and strong casts; Blood Relations is left with nothing but a banal hackneyed script, performed by competent but unspectacular actors.

Despite its lavish mansion set (the only location aside from a few hospital rooms), Blood Relations feels surprisingly cheap. Just a handful of characters wandering spacious halls. It doesn't feel spooky or claustrophobic (as does The Haunting). It only feels empty and low-budget and ... cheap. Only one servant in sight.

It's not until the film's final third that the suspense/noir elements are discarded for horror. I don't want to spoil too many surprises. Just know that dad is a brain surgeon. In a horror film, that means he likes to transplant brains, whether the subject is willing or not. And serendipitously for horror fans, brain surgery is often best conducted while the subject is conscious.

Blood Relations isn't the first, nor last, film to feature consciously aware brain torture. Bloodsucking Freaks (1977) and Hannibal both come to mind. Happily, despite its tepid noir elements, when Blood Relations (finally) shifts into horror, it manages some disturbing and effective scenes. Not many, but they're there. Also some artily shot "dream" sequences.

The ending confuses. I'm not sure where all the brains went. One was cooked, one was transplanted, but what of the rest?

If you enjoy hackneyed low-budget noir, perhaps you won't mind waiting to get to the gory horror. Poor Marie. All that noir buildup, then the rules change. For while femme fatales often triumph in noir, horror is a mad scientists' genre.

ALL IN THE FAMILY.......2005-12-19

BLOOD RELATIONS plays like as twisted episode of TWILIGHT ZONE or NIGHT GALLERY, with Jan Rubes doing a pretty good Vincent Price imitation in his role as the rather demented doctor who has dire plans for his wayward son's new fiancee...just as he and she have similar plans for him..or do they? Lydie Denier is a pretty good femme fatale and Kevin Hicks, looking a little like a young blonde Mel Gibson, is a studly partner. The movie's writer Steven Saylor also joins in the murderous merriment as a crooked lawyer. It's all been done before and there aren't really any surprises, but it's demented humor saves it from being a total washout.

Average customer rating:

Blood in the Face
Starring: Anne Bohlen , Michael Moore , Kevin Rafferty , and James Ridgeway
Director: Anne Bohlen , Kevin Rafferty , and James Ridgeway
Manufacturer: FIRST RUN FEATURES
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000QJLQEO
Release Date: 2007-08-21

Product Description

"A riveting, jaw-dropping view of America s white supremacy movement.
Rare archival footage, darkly humorous interviews, and their own promotional
material bring to light the inner workings of the Ku Klux Klan,
the American Nazi Party, the Aryan Nation, The Order, and other radical
right groups. Controversial and timely, Blood in the Face reveals the
dark side of America.
As the men and women portrayed here speak sometimes with passion
but often with a folksy, matter-of-fact certainty of the imminent
race wars, Armageddon, interracial breeding, the Holocaust hoax , the
Christian Identity faith (and its true Israelites ), the 35,000 Viet Cong in
British Columbia poised to attack America, and ZOG (The Zion
Occupation Government), it becomes clear they are not quite the patriotic,
bedrock Americans they claim to be. And after the Oklahoma City
bombing and their continuing efforts to demonize immigrants and arm
themselves to the teeth, its clear they are not harmless in their lunacies
either.
With interviews by Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for
Columbine), the film was conceived by James Ridgeway (political correspondent
for The Village Voice) with co-producers Anne Bohlen
(Academy Award Nominee) and Kevin Rafferty (co-producer of The
Atomic Cafe).
"

Average customer rating:

cry blood,or i really bought this?
Awful
Grade B western with high hopes but hey it's got Joel McCrea
It's Simple, But It's Direct. Native Americans.
CRY BLOOD APACHE

Cry Blood Apache
Starring: Marie Gahua , Don Henley , Dan Kemp , Jody McCrea , and Joel McCrea
Director: Jack Starrett
Manufacturer: Westlake Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000DC14N
Release Date: 2003-09-01

Customer Reviews:

cry blood,or i really bought this?.......2006-06-15

it doesn't matter who is the real star here or who you thought it was because this is an ok time killer,and nothing more! but this transfer is the pits. fade outs,sound drops and it looks like they transferd it from a 9th generation vhs tape. save your money and look for a better print if you want this one!

Awful.......2004-06-02

Cynical awful film, poorly done, poorly acted and misleading. Joel McCrea is not the star of it. His bland son Jody is. Joel Mcrea hardly has any lines and appears only at the beginning and the end, mostly riding on horse with nothing to do.

Grade B western with high hopes but hey it's got Joel McCrea.......2004-03-11

The technical part of this review refers to the Brentwood Home Video or BCI release of this film.

"Cry Blood, Apache" was made in 1970 when restrictions on what could be shown on the screen were loosened somewhat. And the results are a mish mash. Joel McCrea who did many fine films is used to open and close the story as the older version of the movies star Jody McCrea (Joel's son). The younger McCrea also produced the film which may be why the elder agreed to appear in it.

The story is of the more seedier side of the white man taking over the old west stopping at nothing to achieve their goals. This includes drunkenness, raping, pillaging and killing as we see in the opening act of the film. One young woman survives this initial incident and agrees to show the band of men where some gold is located. Off they go, followed by the girl's brother who wants to exact revenge on the group and rescue his sister.

But "Cry Blood, Apache" is not just a story about greed and life in the old west. It's also a budding love story between our young Apache woman and the younger McCrea. It's the old captor/captive love story that plays out between the films climax between McCrea and the woman's brother.

Filmed in Arizona and at Sequoia National Forest, the scenery is delightful. Quite light on dialogue, the film does hold the interest of the viewer as it moves at a fairly rapid pace. But have no doubt, it's a violent (for the times) movie, that would have looked at home at a drive-in for a B feature.

The print used for the transfer is fairly decent, not too many pops and scratches, although the color is a bit washed. Not a bad film for the money. But! If you are in to cheap entertainment and want some bang for your buck, this film is available from the same company in a 10 pack of westerns called "The Wild West" , which will give you hours of entertainment for a low price ...

It's Simple, But It's Direct. Native Americans........2002-08-26

APACHE, CRY BLOOD is a gritty story about the days of the old west. The production value is low and the photography is very basic, but the overall simple story is good. Long before CGI (Computer Graphic Imagery) and fancy stunts. Directed by Jack Starrett as a director who went on to do TV shows like Dukes Of Hazard and Hill Street Blues. The films stars Joel McCrea as the Apache Indian with a mind set on vengeance.

The story is that of one Apache Indian seeking revenge on his murderous white man attackers who maimed, murdered and raped his family. They also kidnap his wife and take her along with them on their trek westward. The white cowboys are sought after one after the other and then mercilessly tortured and killed in his act of revenge.

The acting is very basic and the movie over-all is not much to talk about, but it is the story that keeps this relatively short film interesting. Obviously all shot on location; the film does look gritty and real.

I would not recommend this for the whole family, but I know it tales one side of a bitter story about the struggles out Native American Indians had hen the white man tried to take over the west. Simple and interesting this movie is for me. (8-25-02)

CRY BLOOD APACHE.......2002-04-08

Unlike that other review where the reviewer was looking for a certain star and was disappointed because that star wasnt in it so he blames the whole picture! STUPID REVIEW! This picture is not too bd. It has an interesting concept.Joel is in it only as a cameo. His son Jody is the real star

Average customer rating:

cry blood,or i really bought this?
Awful
Grade B western with high hopes but hey it's got Joel McCrea
It's Simple, But It's Direct. Native Americans.
CRY BLOOD APACHE

Cry Blood Apache
Starring: Andy Anza , Marie Gahva , Don Henley (II) , Carroll Kemp (II) , and Dan Kemp
Manufacturer: Brentwood Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Cowboys & Indians | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00005AWQF
Release Date: 2001-04-24

Customer Reviews:

cry blood,or i really bought this?.......2006-06-15

Awful.......2004-06-02

Grade B western with high hopes but hey it's got Joel McCrea.......2004-03-11

The technical part of this review refers to the Brentwood Home Video or BCI release of this film.

It's Simple, But It's Direct. Native Americans........2002-08-26

CRY BLOOD APACHE.......2002-04-08

Average customer rating:

McMasters (Blood Crowd)
Starring: Brock Peters; Jack Palance; Burl Ives; Nancy Kwan; David Carradine; John Carradine;
Director: Alf Kjellin
Manufacturer: Reel Enterprises
ProductGroup: DVD
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Description

In the post Civil War era, Brock Peters stars as a former slave and Union Soldier who is given half-ownership of a farm from his former master Burl Ives. However, he can't find anyone to work on the farm for him until David Carradine and his Native American tribesmen decide to help him. Peters ends up marrying Native American Robin (Nancy Kwan). Jack Palance leads the racist locals against Peters and the Native Americans, ending in a violent showdown. A frank and unwaivering look at racism after the Civil War.

Investigative Reports: Cold Case Files #12: Murder Illustrated/ Blood Relations

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Investigative Reports: Cold Case Files #12: Murder Illustrated/ Blood Relations

Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Investigative Reports: Cold Case Files # 21: Silent Witness / Innocence Lost

ASIN: B000E373L2
Release Date: 2000-10-31

Description

In 1987, Peggy Hettrick was found in a field stabbed in the back and sexually mutilated. A bloody 103-foot drag trail crossed the snow. 15-year-old Timothy Masters lived in a trailer nearby, where police found knives and sexually violent drawings and writings--but no hard evidence linked him to the murder. When detectives reopened the case, a forensic psychologist declared Masters' fantasy world and the crime scene similar enough for him to be responsible. In 1999, Masters finally stood trial. (Program #12.)

BLOOD RELATIONS / EXPECTING MERCY 2 PACK DVD SET

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BLOOD RELATIONS / EXPECTING MERCY 2 PACK DVD SET

Manufacturer: TRINITY VIDEO
ProductGroup: DVD
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2 DVD SET PACK

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