Brain of Blood

Starring:Grant Williams, Kent Taylor, John Bloom (III), Regina Carrol, Vicki Volante, Angelo Rossitto, Reed Hadley, Zandor Vorkov, Richard Smedley, Gus Peters, Margo Hope, Bruce Kimball, Ervin Saunders, Mike Haven
Director: Al Adamson
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

Not so bloody.......2007-03-15

Funny in a juvenile way. So so gore. Basically a bride objects to her groom consummating their marriage on their wedding day so stabs him to death. Then meets up with another fellow on the rebound and sets about emasculating him on the way to their wedding, ie no night out with the lads, no stag do etc. However, his mates ignore her so she decides the knife is the best way to restore order. Cheap budget, one topless stripper and frat style type humour. Under no circumstances mistake it for the far superior Blood Splattered Bride!

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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Subject Two

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.

The Blood Island Vacation (Brides of Blood / The Mad Doctor of Blood Island / Beast of Blood / Brain of Blood)

Average customer rating:

It's a John Ashley Shag-A-Thon...

The Blood Island Vacation (Brides of Blood / The Mad Doctor of Blood Island / Beast of Blood / Brain of Blood)
Starring: Kent Taylor , Beverly Powers , John Ashley , Eva Darren , and Mario Montenegro (II)
Director: Gerardo de Leon , and Eddie Romero
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0001BKABC
Release Date: 2004-03-02

Description

Ahoy, there's terror straight ahead on Blood Island! Go back to the days of drive-ins and damsels in distress with this quartet of scream-filled classics. Upon arrival, you'll be escorted by your tour guide John Ashley and the lovely Brides of Blood, who are all lined up by the island chiefs for sacrifice to a horribly mutated monster living in a jungle filled with an assortment of ghastly beasts. Then stop off for a visit with the Mad Doctor of Blood Island, whose experiments combining plant and man have resulted in green-blooded fiends bent on destruction, with only Mr. Ashley and the lovely Angelique Pettyjohn capable of stopping this blood-soaked rampage. And be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the island's resident Beast of Blood, a headless creature who swipes human noggins for its own gruesome ends. Can Ashley and beautiful Celeste Yarnall make it to the forbidden Valley of Doom before it's too late? Before you leave, feast your eyes on an evil dwarf, a lumbering monster, a basement filled with chained women, and the wicked Brain of Blood used in nightmarish transplants resulting in a whirlpool of horror. So come and stay on Blood Island for a while; it's the vacation getaway of your wildest screams!

Customer Reviews:

It's a John Ashley Shag-A-Thon..........2006-06-07

"Drinking your own blood is the paradigm of recycling." - Gary `Head Injury' Busey "I'm with Busey" (2003)

Producer/Distributor extraordinaire Sam Sherman and Image Entertainment have teamed up to present The Blood Island Vacation package, an awesoma DVD set of four Filipino produced, hemoglobin drenched, drive-in classics at one heck of a nice price...here's what you get...

Brides of Blood (1968)

Directed by Eddie Romero (Mad Doctor of Blood Island, Beast of the Yellow Night), Brides of Blood (1968) and featuring Kent Taylor (The Day Mars Invaded Earth, The Mighty Gorga, Hell's Bloody Devils), former stripper Beverly Hills aka Beverly Powers (Kissin' Cousins, Invasion of the Bee Girls), and John Ashley (Muscle Beach Party, The Eye Creatures, Beast of Blood), the film involves various, mutated creatures terrorizing natives on a place called Blood Island. Extras included are as follows; a short audio commentary track featuring distributor Sam Sherman, an interview with director Eddie Romero, an original Brides of Blood wedding ring giveaway promo, a "House of Terror" live horror show promo, a Beverly Hills pinup gallery, a Blood Island image gallery, liner notes by Jim Arena, a Brides of Blood essay by Christopher William Koenig, and a trailer for this film, along with ones for Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), Beast of Blood (1971), Brain of Blood (1972), Blood of the Vampires (1971), The Blood Drinkers (1966), and Raiders of the Living Dead (1986).

Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968)

Produced and directed by Eddie Romero (Brides of Blood, Beast of the Yellow Night, Beast of Blood), the film stars John Ashley (High School Caesar, Beach Blanket Bingo, Beast of Blood) and Angelique Pettyjohn ("Get Smart", Clambake). Ashley plays a scientist (not the same one from Brides of Blood), who visits Blood Island and finds himself caught up in some nasty business as a deranged scientist on the island is performing hideous experiments involving green blood. Extras include a short audio commentary track featuring distributor Sam Sherman, an interview with director Eddie Romero, an original Mad Doctor of Blood Island `green blood' prologue bit, a "House of Terror" live horror show promo, a still gallery, liner notes by Jim Arena, a Mad Doctor of Blood Island essay by Christopher William Koenig, and a trailer for this film, along with ones for Brides of Blood (1968), Beast of Blood (1971), Brain of Blood (1972), Blood of the Vampires (1971), The Blood Drinkers (1966), and Raiders of the Living Dead (1986).

Beast of Blood (1972)

Produced, co-written, and directed by Eddie Romero (Mad Doctor of Blood Island, Brides of Blood, Beast of the Yellow Night), the film features John Ashley (High School Caesar, Muscle Beach Party, Hell On Wheels) and Celeste Yarnall (The Face of Eve, The Velvet Vampire). Ashley reprises his role from Mad Doctor of Blood Island returning to the island to discover the evil that had thought been destroyed is still thriving. Extras included are as follows; a short audio commentary track featuring distributor Sam Sherman, an interview with director Eddie Romero, an interview w/ Celeste Yarnell conducted by Sam Sherman, a `lost' opening sequence, a "House of Terror" live horror show promo, a still gallery, liner notes by Jim Arena, a Beast of Blood essay by Christopher William Koenig, and a trailer for this film, along with ones for Brides of Blood (1968), Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), Brain of Blood (1972), Blood of the Vampires (1971), The Blood Drinkers (1966), Raiders of the Living Dead (1986), and Horror of the Blood Monster (1970).

Brain of Blood (1972)

Co-produced and directed by Al Adamson, the film features Kent Taylor (Brides of Blood, Satan's Sadists), Grant Williams (The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Monolith Monsters), the colossal (7'4") John Bloom (Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Bachelor Party), Regina Carrol (Blood of Ghastly Horror, Doctor Dracula), Vicki Volante (Hell's Bloody Devils, Horror of the Blood Monsters), Reed Hadley (The St. Valentine's Day Massacre), and the diminutive (2'11) Angelo Rossitto (Mesa of Lost Women, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), this feature has nothing in terms of relation to the three other films in this set other than the fact they were all distributed by Sam Sherman through his Independent-International Pictures, Inc. film company. This film involves a sickly Middle Eastern dictator arranging to have his brain transplanted to another body, and a certain amount of wackiness ensues... extras included are as follows; a short audio commentary track featuring distributor Sam Sherman, an interview with director Eddie Romero, an interview with Beverly Powers, a "House of Terror" live horror show promo, a Blood Island still gallery, liner notes by Jim Arena, and a trailer for this film, along with ones for Brides of Blood (1968), Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), Beast of Blood (1971), Blood of the Vampires (1971), The Blood Drinkers (1966), Raiders of the Living Dead (1986), and Horror of the Blood Monster (1970).

As far as the picture quality on the four DVDs, they're all in full screen (1.33:1) aspect ratio and all look very decent. There are some obvious age elements (white specking, the occasional vertical line), but the colors are bright and sharp, and the overall quality is superior to any VHS copies of the films you may seen in the past. Also, each has audio presented in Dolby Digital mono audio, which also comes through well. As far as the actual films go, I'd rank Brides of Blood and Mad Doctor of Blood Island among the best here, with Beast of Blood following a close 2nd, while Brain of Blood comes in a very distant 3rd. One last note, distributor Sam Sherman does provide audio commentaries on each of the DVDs, but they're not so much specific to the film rather than to an overall history of the films and his experiences, and they don't tend to run the length of the films.

Cookieman108

Average customer rating:

Al's done better.
sorry if u don't get it
Al Adamson fails again.... Stay away!
Charming Trash
blood of ghastly horror

Blood of Ghastly Horror
Starring: John Carradine , Kent Taylor , Tommy Kirk , Regina Carrol , and Roy Morton
Director: Al Adamson
Manufacturer: TROMA ENTERTAINMENT INC.
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000056HPH
Release Date: 2001-02-27

Amazon.com

Director Al Adamson and producer Sam Sherman picked a suitably vague title for their incoherent horror film about jewel thieves, a psychotic Vietnam vet with an electronic brain, and a vengeful killer with a bright blue zombie henchman. Laden with flashbacks and sidetracks, this was another of Adamson's do-overs, an unfinished picture reborn with new scenes and an entirely new story. "It's a little choppy," says Sam Sherman with deadpan understatement in his introduction. "If you fall asleep I swear you'll think you've woken up in two different movies." Only two?

Former Disney star Tommy Kirk stars as the tough detective who gets a severed head in the mail, Regina Carrol (Adamson's wife) is an innocent targeted by the mad killer with revenge on his mind, and John Carradine receives top billing for what must be a single day's work as Dr. Van Ard, whose misguided science project starts the whole mess. It's not hard to see where the two films--the heist picture and the horror film--were stitched together because the seams are glaring, but that's hardly the worst Blood of Ghastly Horror has to offer. Wooden performances, clumsy drama, bizarre dialogue ("Dr. Van Ard died a much more horrible death than he really deserved," eulogizes Kirk), awkward editing, and the worst camera work ever attributed to future Oscar winner Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter) all contribute to this mind-boggling mess.

The DVD features a commentary by producer Sam Sherman, along with a newly recorded introduction, a profile taken from the cable TV series Split Screen, and trailers to this and four other Al Adamson-Sam Sherman collaborations. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Al Adamson's classic tale of undead terror comes to DVD with a shocking bang as part of Troma Team Video's Al Adamson Collection! Human zombies rise from their coffins as living corpses! A doctor (John Carradine) implants a strange electronic brain component in a man's skull and a psychotic killer is born, to be used as a remote-control zombie by a crime syndicate. The zombie psychopath subsequently goes haywire and turns on his masters, killing some go-go dancers along the way, before getting his ultimate revenge on Carradine. Also known as The Man with the Synthetic Brain, The Fiend with the Atomic Brain, The Fiend with the Electronic Brain, The Fiend with the Synthetic Brain. This DVD comes with an audio commentary by producer Sam Sherman and a featurette "Producing Schlock." A great double bill with Adamson's recently restored classic Psycho A Go Go!

Customer Reviews:

Al's done better........2004-10-04

As I sit typing this I've concluded that Al Adamson's 1971 Blood of Ghastly Horror reigns as the most convoluted mess of a movie that I've ever seen in my life. The acting, lighting, directing and editing is of immeasurable low quality, and the narrative? Whoa! No movie could possibly deliver all that this one claims to, well not competently anyhow.

Al's '71 celluloid offspring is no less than 4 films patched clumsily together in a feeble attempt at creating an enjoyable motion picture. It was shot in `chill-o-rama' but truthfully it should have been `confuse-o-rama' because the only chill you'll feel is the whisking of air through the empty spot in your wallet where you once had some cash but now you have this DVD.

Blood of Ghastly Horror seems to have been doomed to an endless amount of uncertainty from the get-go. Initially it was a jewel heist movie called Two Tickets of Terror (1964) then changed later that same year to Echo of Terror. Poor Al couldn't sell it; hell he couldn't give it away. Plan B was put into effect and in 1965 he added some dancing chicks and re-christened it Psycho A Go Go, but still no go (go). Fine, he pulls out all the stops and hires waning but always-proficient actor John Carradine to star alongside the cavernous cleavage of Regina Carrol. Seven years after it was originally shot Adamson threw in a `Nam vet gone mad subplot along with a few zombies and some nonsensical voodoo (...), re-titled it Blood of Ghastly Horror and off to the drive-in we go.

As if all of this wasn't puzzling enough `ole Al gave it an alternate moniker for the southern regions that couldn't or wouldn't run a movie with `blood' in it's title. So The Man with the Synthetic Brain became the obvious answer and this also served as the T.V. label as well. Sound good? Well it's not. There are no smooth transitions here, just cut, chop, slice, paste and insert. The hair-do's change chaotically as do the vehicles and décor. You either give into its inanities or you simply turn it off. Producer Sam Sherman said that it was a big hit in Pakistan.

By Christopher Curry

sorry if u don't get it.......2004-08-15

This movie rocks. While it does seem at times - well, pretty much the whole movie - that the end result is just a bunch of disparate clips strung together, there actually is a semblance of a plot that rears its head unexpectedly. But even looked at in terms of its fragmentary nature, this flick is a great exercise in dadaist, hallucinogenic filmmaking. It is supremely entertaining in a "so bad it's good" way, and should be approached with an open mind and relaxed critical hackles. If you still just don't get it, like the previous reviewer , then that's your loss, pally.

Al Adamson fails again.... Stay away!.......2003-03-04

I had seen two movies by Al Adamson before this one, "Dracula vs Frankenstein" and "Vampire Men of the Lost Planet", so needless to say, my expectations weren't very high, but this movie still managed to disappoint me.

As usual, it doesn't take long until Al Adamson seems to forget the main plot, and instead focuses on totally uninteresting side plots. And unlike "Vampire Men of the Lost Planet", this movie isn't the least "good-bad", it doesn't have any entertainment value at all except maybe in some of the scenes in the beginning with John Carradine. He gets top billing but his part is actually pretty small.

I can not recommend this movie, not even to fans of bad movies, like myself. Save yourself the time and money.

Charming Trash.......2002-04-21

This is one beauty of a head-scratcher. It is, literally, 3 movies in one. Al Adamson made the tight-yet-pointless heist film ECHO OF TERROR (a/k/a TWO TICKETS TO TERROR) in 1964, only to see it chopped up and intermixed with new footage several years later (starring John Carradine as an ethical but mad scientist) and retitled MAN WITH THE SYNTHETIC BRAIN, and sold as a horror cheapie to television. Not to be outdone, he and producer Sam Sherman further complicated matters by adding a third plot strand to the mix (something to do with killer zombies and yet another mad scientist, not to mention a rather sickly looking Tommy Kirk), and another new title, BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR. In order for the final incarnation to make sense, there are flashbacks-within-flashbacks all over the place. There was yet another version, PSYCHO-A-G-GO, which had musical numbers spliced amongst the madness!
Amazingly, it's quite an enjoyable viewing experience following the severely warped logic of the narrative, which only gets more confusing with each viewing.
Topping it off is some of the best commentary I've yet heard on any dvd, provided by Sam Sherman, who promises to some day restore the integrity of Adamson's ECHO OF TERROR to its original glory (well, one can hope).
As with Ed Wood, it's hard not to admire director Al Adamson's earnestness, and Vilmos Szigmond's cinematography (on the ECHO OF TERROR portions), despite the faded print used for the dvd, shows a precocious eye for composition. A most unusual recommendation!

blood of ghastly horror.......2001-12-12

I just bought this movie, & must give it 4-stars for that old time, low budget appeal. Good movie to watch when you want something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. Normally, I can figure out the ending, or what will happen next, but not in this one. It will keep you guessing. Reminds you of those summer nights at the Drive-in movie.

Average customer rating:

Classic Eighties Slasher Schlock
Forgettable, low-budget 80s horror from Roberta Findlay
"You don't have a father, you know what that's called?...PERVERT!!"
Obscure 80's Slaher Trash
Yes, It could happen

Blood Sisters
Starring: Kari Foxx , Shannon McMahon , Dan Erickson , Marla Machart , and Elizabeth Rose
Director: Roberta Findlay
Manufacturer: Shriek Show
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher

ASIN: B0002UB2Z0
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Description

Eight beautiful, sexy sorority girls attempt to brave the night in an abandoned haunted whorehouse. Unbeknown to them, their boyfriends have rigged the house to scare the ladies witless. However, the old house seems to have a mind of its own. Our heroines face a triple-threat; the increasingly more dangerous practical jokes, a psychotic murderer and the brothel itself!

Customer Reviews:

Classic Eighties Slasher Schlock.......2007-05-07

In the 1980's there was a whole string of slasher flicks that had numerous nubile girls being systematically slaughtered. It is almost a genre un to itself. In that vein this is pretty much the bar.
The plot, for lack of a better name, is that some sorority pledges must spend the night in a haunted house. Several boyfriends have rigged up a few tricks to add to their fright. The house is actually haunted, something never porperly exploited and of course the local head case is going to drop by and add to the body count.
The problems with this are that the girls look a little old for 19. Then again when things go south they're not too bright so I guess they might have been kept back, AND they aren't that cute. Then again maybe that makes them more real. Hair and make up are agressively '80's style-ah the good old days- and not all the deaths are particularly notable. One agressive girl in this pre-Buffy bunch could probably have taken down the nut job and saved the day.

Forgettable, low-budget 80s horror from Roberta Findlay.......2005-12-28

A lot of directors would qualify as sleaze-meisters, but I only know of one who can actually claim the ignominious honor of being dumped from the adult movie industry. Roberta Findlay's directing resume includes 60s exploitation movies (including the Flesh trilogy), 70s hardcore porn, and a string of low-budget 80s horror movies. Blood Sisters is one of the later films of her career, a cheap slasher that has potential but just doesn't deliver. Coeds, nudity, a haunted bordello - sounds like a slam dunk, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the gals aren't that attractive, there's hardly enough nudity to be titillating, the story moves at a glacial pace, the frights are nonexistent, and the whole thing basically falls flat from the beginning.

Here's the backdrop. As their final initiation test, seven sorority pledges are forced to spend the night in a haunted house - a haunted house of ill repute, to be exact. We know at least two people were murdered there thanks to the opening scene, but supposedly the place is full of ghosts. It's also full of a bunch of rigged scares put together by some fraternity boys. Once the girls arrive, they have to go on a scavenger hunt of sorts all over the dark, spooky house. This goes on for quite awhile, making you wonder if any of these girls are going to die here after all. Finally, though, with little time to spare, our murderer shows up and starts taking the girls out one by one.

Despite the name of the film, there is hardly any blood to speak of. That's not a good thing. Then there's the sometimes horrible over- and under-acting of the unknown cast members, some silly plot points toward the end, the failure to create even the most tepid of suspenseful moods, and a rather predictable ending. All of these combine to make Blood Sisters a fairly disappointing waste of a decent story idea. The dialogue, though, is good for a few chuckles.

"You don't have a father, you know what that's called?...PERVERT!!".......2005-08-23

The previous review explains the story so I won't reiterate. I just bought this mainly because of Joe Bob Briggs' commentary and the fact I've been trying to see this for a number of years. It would have been nice to hear Roberta's commentary but for some reason she didn't do it (I assume she didn't even remember directing it); instead we have an interview with her and Elizabeth Rose which I thought should have been longer.

Most of the film takes place in the house, it would have been nice to see the killer lurking in the backyard, the woods, etc. Gore is non existent; some blood splatter is all we see. I assume the problem was the miniscule budget.

The girls here all have bright red lipstick and fingernail polish which I found unappealing and rather outdated looking; it seems as if Roberta is used to making a film having a 1970s look. It certainly doesn't help. As well, the picture appears really grainy during the dark spots. It looks suitably low budget; Roberta admits she was obsessed with the way it looked rather than the "story", in which the killer has no motive.

Definitely one of the lesser slashers of the 1980s. In the interview it is revealed the "inspiration" behind it was because money was made on the last picture, and she had to "hurry up" to make another film or the government would take most of it (the money).

Also features trailers for Hell High (quite a good slasher), Duck! The Carbine High Massacre, and a couple others.

If you're in the mood for sorority/campus slashers I would recommend The Intiation (1984), Sorority House Massacre, or Final Exam. This is for completists only, the average horror fan will likely want to pass on it.

Obscure 80's Slaher Trash.......2005-07-31

Sleaze maven Roberta Findlay detoured into horror during the 80's, directing a handful of lacklustre efforts including "The Oracle", "Tenement", "Prime Evil" and "Lurkers". "Blood Sisters" isn't her worst, but that's no recommendation. Findlay's genre work ranges in quality from barely competent right through to dismal and mostly seems to lack any real sense of enthusiasm on her part. Unfortunately, this tends to produce a similar lack of enthusiasm on the part of the audience.

"Blood Sisters" is a case in point. It's a threadbare production, full of anonymous acting "talent" and clichéd situations, which comprehensively fails to capture the atmosphere of any of the better 80's slasher flicks. The premise has potential - sorority girls attempting to stay the night in a haunted bordello as part of their initiation - but what could have been an entertainingly lurid horror film is actually a listless talkfest that's light on the usual cheap thrills slasher fans have come to expect. T&A and bloodshed are minimal and if you're looking for suspense try guessing how many minutes of the film you can sit through before falling asleep. The killer's motivation is vague and there's no real sense of menace - nothing much happens for long stretches, and when it does you don't really know why. You won't be afraid but you will be confused.

The disc contains a brief introduction and an entertaining feature length commentary track by Joe Bob Briggs containing some interesting background information about Findlay's career. There is also a 10-minute "Blood Sisters Reunion" featuring Findlay and actress Elizabeth Rose (goofy nerd sorority girl "Bonnie") being interviewed separately. (Does this actually qualify as a reunion?) Until recently, Findlay has been reticent to discuss her work (probably because of films like this), so fans might find this segment interesting. You'll also find trailers for four other Shriek Show releases. Seek them out, if you dare!

Overall, "Blood Sisters" is an underwhelming viewing experience. Horror and cult movie fans with an interest in Findlay may find this disc enlightening - others might best steer clear. For those seeking 80's sorority girl slasher movies that are actually good, try "The House on Sorority Row' and "The Initiation".

Yes, It could happen.......2004-11-02

After this movie ends, you may say, "Naw, this can't happen." But you will be stuck with the thought that it just might happen this way. The moral of the story for me was not to let peer pressure decide for you what your morals and emotions are. I don't think that they spent too much money making this movie, but it is interesting to watch. And don't turn it off until the very end!

Average customer rating:

"Someday I'll teach my secret to others in a country controlled by me and dedicated to my science."
Re-discovery of a closet classick
Al Adamson strikes again

Brain of Blood
Starring: Grant Williams , Kent Taylor , John Bloom (III) , Regina Carrol , and Vicki Volante
Director: Al Adamson
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Blood of the Vampires
Dracula vs. Frankenstein
Mad Doctor of Blood Island (Unrated)

ASIN: B00006LPDW
Release Date: 2002-11-12

Description

Human brain transplants and blood-soaked operations highlight this saga filled with blood, shock, and sheer fright, featuring mad doctor antics, an evil dwarf ("Freaks'" Angelo Rossitto), and a pure gold drive-in cast including Kent Taylor (The Mighty Gorga), Grant Williams (The Incredible Shrinking Man), Regina Carrol (Dracula vs. Frankenstein), and Vicki Volante (Horror of the Blood Monsters). Inspired by the wildly popular success of the "Blood Island" series, this follow up (shot in Hollywood) follows the tradition of those Philippine favorites with cult filmmakers Al Adamson and Sam Sherman bringing you an unforgettable whirlpool of horror featuring a deformed and lumbering monster, a basement filled with chained women, and an entire country trapped in this horrific struggle!

Customer Reviews:

"Someday I'll teach my secret to others in a country controlled by me and dedicated to my science.".......2006-06-07

Presented for your viewing displeasure is Brain of Blood (1972), yet another steaming, brown nugget of excremental joy from Al Adamson, that renown purveyor of fine cinematic scuzz, the same individual who inflicted such atrocities as Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970), Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), I Spit on Your Corpse! (1974), and Blazing Stewardesses (1975) upon unsuspecting drive-in movie patrons back in the day. Co-produced and directed by Adamson, the film features Kent Taylor (Brides of Blood, Satan's Sadists), Grant Williams (The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Monolith Monsters), the colossal (7'4") John Bloom (Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Bachelor Party), Regina Carrol (Blood of Ghastly Horror, Doctor Dracula), Vicki Volante (Hell's Bloody Devils, Horror of the Blood Monsters), Reed Hadley (The St. Valentine's Day Massacre), and the diminutive (2'11) Angelo Rossitto (Mesa of Lost Women, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), probably best known for his role as Angeleno from the classic Tod Browning horror feature Freaks (1932).

The film begins with an establishing shot of the Taj Mahal, and we learn the leader, named Abdul Amir (Hadley), of some Middle Eastern country is dying (seems the `uranium' treatments have failed). Amir, not wanting to go out like that, makes plans with his physician Dr. Robert Nigserian (Williams) and his girlfriend Tracey (Carrol) that after his death, his corpse is to be secretly taken to America where another doctor by the name of Lloyd Trenton (Taylor) will surgically remove his brain and transplant it into a suitable host body. Once this is done, Amir's new body will undergo plastic surgery to make it look more like the Amir of old, after which he will then return and re-assume control of his country. Well, Amir does croak, and his body is wrapped in tin foil making him look much like a giant Jiffy Pop bag of popcorn. He's flown to the states and Dr. Trent, with the help of his dwarf assistant Dorro (Rossitto), a sadistic little schmuck, and Nigserian, perform the brain-ectomy. Things seem to be going according to plan until Dr. Trent's hulking, simple-minded, facially disfigured assistant Gor (Bloom) returns with a damaged host body, forcing Dr. Trent to improvise (due to the fact brains, outside of the body, only last so long), and by `improvise' I mean he puts Amir's brain into Gor's body, the intent being to transfer Amir's brain at a later date into a more suitable host body. The operation's a success, but, as you might imagine, Amir isn't too pleased with his new digs when he awakens...not only that, but complications set in as a sinister plot against Amir is uncovered. From here the story quickly devolves as a number of various elements are thrown in, including, but not limited to, the escape of a woman (Volante) Dr. Trenton kept in his dungeon beneath his laboratory for the purposes of drawing blood for his experiments. Mystery! Intrigue! Drama! It's all here (sort of), if you're willing to wade through the often unintelligible mire that comprises most of the film...

If you've ever experienced an Al Adamson film, then you'll know they rarely make sense for more than ten minutes at a time given Al's tendency to present various plot points and characters with little or no proper introduction. One minute you're with a couple of familiar characters and the next you're watching characters you've never met, doing things that seem to have no discernable relation to the story as presented. An example of this is near the beginning as we see Gor stalking a cat burglar. We later learn he was out looking for a suitable donor body, under Trenton's command, for Amir's body, but there was never any set up for this, so it seemed completely odd and unconnected at the time. Another example was during a flashback when we witnessed how Gor's face got to be the way it was (an unfortunate incident with some battery acid). There really was little point in detailing this, other than an opportunity to show someone getting battery acid dumped on his face. While Brain of Blood is confusing, it actually wasn't as bad as some of Adamson's other films as I was able to follow a good deal of the story, what of it there was...essentially the movie shoots its plot wad early on, and the rest is pretty much downhill from there (the last fifteen minutes or so are of people chasing each other around like a bunch of idiots in California's Topanga Canyon). What's sad is the core idea, a sickly Middle Eastern despot trying to cheat death by means of a brain transplant, had a lot of promise, but in trying to create a viable story around the concept, the writers failed miserably. I did learn a number of things from this film, including the following;

1. The human brain, when removed from the cranium and put into a bowl, looks a lot like three cow brains mashed together.
2. Acting abilities are inconsequential when you're married to the director (I'm talking about Ms. Carrol here).
3. There seems to be an unwritten law that mad scientists must employ physically odd assistants, be it sadistic dwarfs or facially disfigured, simple-minded giants (or both, as is the case here).
4. I wouldn't have thought there a worse actor than Ms. Carrol, that was until I saw Angelo Rossitto in this film.
5. Vicki Volante was a fabulous babe (I have a thing for women with black hair).
6. Corpses can be kept fresh in tin foil.
7. The human head is full of red paint.
8. Having a dwarf for an assistant may seem cool, that is unless they're so short that they can barely reach anything above three and a half feet in height.
9. Having a dungeon underneath your laboratory comes in real handy, especially when you need a place to discard your brainless cadavers.
10. White Nehru suits were considered fashionable at some point in the past.

There are some positive aspects to this feature...I thought the laboratory was made up well, with lots of realistic electronic type gizmos. It wasn't anything overly elaborate, but it worked well enough for this film. The brain removal bit looked phony, but kinda cool, nonetheless. There was an exciting, yet pointless, car chase sequence included, one that ended in a spectacular crash...what was so odd about this was there were four guys in a station wagon being chased by one guy in a sedan. Instead of stopping and all four guys getting out and pounding on the one guy chasing them, they allowed themselves to be pursued and eventually forced off a cliff...idiots...also, I dig the DVD cover art. All in all there is some fun to be had here, especially if you love rotten drive-in features from the 1970s, but if you're looking for something a bit more substantial, keep on looking...

The restored picture, presented in fullscreen (1.33:1) format, on this Image Entertainment release looks very good. It does show signs of aging (some lines, white specking, etc.). The Dolby Digital mono audio comes through very well. As far as extras included, there's a short audio commentary track featuring distributor Sam Sherman, an interview with director Eddie Romero, an interview with Beverly Powers, a "House of Terror" live horror show promo, a Blood Island still gallery, liner notes by Jim Arena, and a trailer for this film, along with ones for Brides of Blood (1968), Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), Beast of Blood (1971), Blood of the Vampires (1971), The Blood Drinkers (1966), Raiders of the Living Dead (1986), and Horror of the Blood Monster (1970). It should be noted that some of the extras, specifically the interviews with Eddie Romero and Beverly Powers, featured here do not related to this movie, but to movies from the `Blood Island' trilogy of films, and were just thrown on here to flesh out the release.

Cookieman108

By the way, if you're interesting in getting this DVD release, I'd suggest trying to find the four DVD set titled The Blood Island Vacation, released by Image Entertainment, which includes the following...Brides of Blood (1968), Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), Beast of Blood (1971), and Brain of Blood (1972). It appears significantly less expensive than buying the titles separately.

Re-discovery of a closet classick.......2003-12-12

I first saw this movie back in 1978 on a little b+w television on the late night horror film (hosted by Detroit/Toledo icon "The Ghoul"). Over the years all I could remember of the movie was image of the evil dwarf drawing blood from the female victims chained up in the baesment...
Well, I finaly figured out that "Brain of Blood" was that movie which I ordered and watched last night.
What a treat, this is standard but classic early 70's blood schlock.
Brain of Blood has plenty of enjoyable/expected cliches...
a mad doctor, evil dwarf, big dumb oaf, busty blond, a twisted political plot, brain transplants, plastic ray guns, rubber spiders, and lots of thick, red movie blood.
The story is silly, but there's enough of a storyline to require the viewer to pay attention in order to follow it.

Other than the blood which may unsettle the very squeamish the movie is fine for family viewing (PG). There's no sex (real or implied) and no foul language (although some of the trailers may show a brief flash of nudity).
Plenty of good disc extras make this package all the sweeter.

Al Adamson strikes again.......2003-01-29

This is another in a long line of films made by the late great Al Adamson. The story is about a scientist who transplants the brain of a dying leader of a foreign country into the body of his hulking mentally retarded helper. You get a lot of gory brain surgery footage and a really mixed up plot involving government cover up's, sadism, spies, torture, and chained women. The cast is very good it includes Kent Taylor, Regina Carroll (Al's Wife), John Bloom and Grant Williams.
I happen to like Adamson's films a lot and this is really no better or worse than any of them. If you like verteran actors playing monsters and dress up, you'll like this film.

Average customer rating:

Some potential, but not much else.

Drawing Blood
Starring: Drawing Blood
Manufacturer: Brain Damage
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Killer Story
Chainsaw Sally

ASIN: B000KF0DRA
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Customer Reviews:

Some potential, but not much else........2007-06-11

Drawing Blood (Michael and Jeffrey Wolinski, 2005)

While this isn't the movie I was expecting to get when I rented this (I was looking for Sergio Lapei's film of the same name), I figured I'd give it a whirl anyway and see what came up. I'm quite fond (perhaps overly so) of no-budget horror flicks, so what did I have to lose? Ninety minutes of my time, I guess.

Drawing Blood is an odd little film about a mentally defective serial killer who escapes from the asylum where he's being held and takes up residence in the basement of George Adams (Brian Irzyk)'s house. George's wife, Catherine (American Reel's Rebecca Shea) is away for the weekend, and he's basically oblivious, so Jimmy the serial killer can pile up bodies in the basement like nobody's business. (You'd think someone would eventually notice the smell...)

Well, I'll be blunt--the main reason to watch Drawing Blood is to get an eyeful. Not of gore, much of which is more suggested than shown, but of nubile young women, most of whom seem all too happy to drop their clothes at a moment's notice. Which is all well and good, of course, but the Wolinski brothers' attempts at erotic filmmaking seem to go horribly awry every time they show up. The one extended sex scene (featuring Justice's Miranda Watts) has shots that simply make no sense. A close-up of someone's ankle? Okay, if your serial killer's hand is going to creep out from under the bed and seize it, but otherwise, really? (And there aren't enough close-ups of this type to satisfy the foot fetishist.) Why?

So, all that aside, and tossing bad acting and pedestrian direction into the pile, what is there positive to say about this movie? The premise is interesting, and the ending (not the cheap O. Henry-ish ending--keep watching through the credits) is cheer-worthy. So if you can put all the other stuff aside and that's enough for you (judging by the ratings on IMDB, that works for enough people to make this a highly-rated movie), then by all means, hunt a copy of it down. Otherwise, keep looking for whatever it was you were trying to find when you picked this one up by accident. * ½

Average customer rating:

Brains!

Baptism of Blood
Starring: Baptism of Blood
Manufacturer: Asian Pulp Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
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Beautiful Target
The Tomie Collection
Big Boobs Buster
Beautiful Hunter
Cemetery Man

ASIN: B0002S65KE
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Description

Sakura's mother is making her life a living hell. Disfigured and half-mad, she rules her daughter's life with an iron fist in the crumbling mansion that is their home. But when Sakura stumbles upon a mad scientist's fiendish machine, she discovers that her mother is really evil! For twenty years, she has concealed the ghastliest of schemes - to transplant her own brain into Sakura's helpless body!

Customer Reviews:

Brains!.......2005-08-31

Matsuko Uehara is a once-glamorous actress now suffering from a disfiguring skin disease. Stage makeup can no longer hide it, and she is forced to retire in seclusion. Grown ever more bitter in her senior years, she finally puts in motion a plan to have her brain transplanted into the body of her beautiful teenaged daughter Sakura.

The events that follow are of such mind-boggling implausibility that they beggar description. Despite being many years in the making, Matsuko's plan isn't very well thought-out, and things fall apart pretty quickly. Her original body goes missing, a detective starts poking his nose in, and a relationship develops with Sakura's married piano instructor who, as executor of the Uehara estate, has an agenda of his own.

Although there's only one really gory scene (in which brains are removed and juggled about by a machine that looks like it came out of Freddy's boiler room) BAPTISM OF BLOOD struck me as the Asian version of a Herschell Gordon Lewis flick. The tone is similar, the acting as bad, and the plot just as ludicrous.

I won't even go into the twist ending, or the absurd psychological explanation involved.

The only thing that keeps me from giving the film only one star is that it is unintentionally hilarious and thus entertaining on some level, and that there's a pretty girl to look at. (The most horrifying thing was seeing her beautiful head of hair get shaved for the transplant operation. I nearly cried.) It's not a good movie by any means, but it could be fun to invite from friends over and give it the MST3K treatment. At least it's budget-priced.

The DVD has no extras other than trailers for other Asia Pulp Cinema releases which look equally as bad.

Sci-Fi Classics: Assignment Outer Space; Laser Mission; Blood Tide; Brain Machine [4-Movie Pack]

Average customer rating:

Sci-Fi Classics: Assignment Outer Space; Laser Mission; Blood Tide; Brain Machine [4-Movie Pack]
Starring: Sci-Fi Classics 4pak
Manufacturer: Mill Creek Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Sci-Fi Classics: The Astral Factor/The Galaxy Invader/Battle of the Worlds/Unknown World
Sci-Fi Classics 4-Movie Pack (Horrors of Spider Island; The Wasp Woman; Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet; Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women)
Classics from Outer Space
Sci-Fi Classics: King of Kong Island/Bride of the Gorilla/Attack of the Monsters/Gammera the Invinc
This Island Earth

ASIN: B000BBOUIQ
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Average customer rating:

theory

Blood Legend
Starring: Jeff Dylan Graham , Randal Malone , Syn DeVil , Robert O'Connor (IV) , and Ashika Gogna
Director: Rusty Nelson
Manufacturer: Brain Damage
ProductGroup: DVD
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Dark Places
Vicious Vixens
Gothic Vampires from Hell
Slaughterhouse Phi: Death Sisters
Chainsaw Sally

ASIN: B000KF0DR0
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Customer Reviews:

theory.......2007-03-03

idea: recast Moira. if we did i think the movie could have been so much better...

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