Leofwine_draca
BLOOD THIRST is an interesting and engaging little horror effort shot in the Philippines by a US crew. It was made in 1965 so it's short and in black and white, although it wasn't given a US release until six years later. I immediately lumped it in with the trashy shockers that Eddie Romero was shooting during the period (like the infamous MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND) but it's a much classier affair. Surprisingly, it has decent production values too, perhaps the best I've seen in a Filipino horror film.The plot is simple enough, yet fun with it. Robert Winston is the imported American, a detective who goes undercover as a writer for reasons that remained obscure to me. He hangs out a lot at a nightclub full of dancing women while at the same time investigating a series of bizarre murders in which lone women are killed on the streets at night, their bodies found strung up and drained of blood. It turns out that a rubber-faced monster with links to the nightclub is responsible. The monster is cheap but cheerful and I personally loved the look of it.BLOOD THIRST is well-shot and quite stylishly directed in places with a good sense of location. It borrows the same style as a Bond movie, with random attacks in hotel rooms, and has a Jess Franco vibe to it to boot. One of the most engaging things about the production is the inimitable Vic Diaz, that stalwart actor of Filipino cinema, getting a chance to play something other than a bad guy for once. Here he's a local cop and he does very well with the role too, bringing plenty of charisma to the part.
ferbs54
For those connoisseurs of foreign horror films who are desirous of seeing the 1965 Filipino obscurity entitled "Blood Thirst," their only recourse, it would seem, is the DVD currently available from those maniacs at Something Weird. The picture in question shares the disc with another relatively unknown film, the similarly titled "Bloodsuckers," and it was to see this British product of 1970 that I initially rented out this DVD. But "Bloodsuckers" turns out to be a terrible mess of a film, despite the participation of Peter Cushing and Patrick Macnee; an ineptly put-together head scratcher that suffers even more in comparison to "Blood Thirst," a surprisingly good, well-made little chiller that manages to satisfy on all levels. Released in America six years after its Filipino debut, the film features gorgeous B&W cinematography by DOP Hermo Santos and comes off like a film noir crossed with a cheesy horror flick...and with winning results!In the picture, we learn that a serial killer has been slaying young girls on the streets of Manila. Their bodies are always found hung upside down and completely drained of blood, their forearms slit exactly the same length every time. At a loss as to how to proceed, police inspector Miguel Ramos (played by the great Filipino mainstay Vic Diaz, who seems to pop up in just about every Filipino movie that I watch) calls in his American friend Adam Rourke (Robert Winston), a homicide lieutenant who is an expert in sex crimes. Hunky dude Rourke centers his investigations on the Barrio Club, an upscale nightspot where several of the murdered girls had worked. He thus encounters the club's suave owner, Calderon (Vic Silayan, who comes off like a Filipino Cesar Romero), as well as its featured exotic dancer, the blonde hottie Serena (Yvonne Nielson), while being aided by Ramos' sister, the emotionally conflicted Sylvia (Katherine Henryk). As the film proceeds, the viewer learns that the killer is quite a sight indeed; a lumbering mess of a man (?) with a face composed of innumerable lumps and hideous nodules. And as Rourke evades numerous attempts on his life while getting closer to Sylvia, he learns that the solution to this murder mystery might be even stranger than he had guessed....Tightly directed by Newt Arnold, "Blood Thirst" was filmed at the height of the secret-agent craze, the same year that the 007 vehicle "Thunderball" broke box-office records, and its debt to this international spy mania is very pronounced. Winston seems to be channeling Sean Connery in his performance here, and Rourke's similarities with James Bond are many. They are both handsome men with hairy chests; both are chain-smokers, crack shots, quick with a humorous quip and smooth with the ladies. In addition, both go undercover to achieve their objectives in exotic locales, and both are good at karate and brawling...and at taking a punishing beating, as well. Rourke, of course, must contend with a much lesser degree of criminality than superagent 007, and he evinces more of the characteristics of the everyday dude, such as talking to himself and slapping himself on the head when he makes a mistake. Winston gives a highly likable performance here, as does his partner Diaz, a pudgy presence with an angelic smile that can appear as either sweet or diabolic, as the case may be. (For example, the last time I encountered Diaz, it was in the 1971 Eddie Romero film "Beast of the Yellow Night," in which Vic plays the Devil himself!) Rourke's love interest in the film, Sylvia, has been cast most unusually, as Henryk is not pretty in the conventional sense, and yet, because of her appealing nature and spunky disposition, she is a woman who grows more and more attractive as the picture proceeds. I was also happy to spot Bruno Punzalan in this film, here playing the thuggish bartender at the Barrio Club; Punzalan, like Diaz, also seems to pop up regularly in these Filipino outings of the period, and he has a doozy of a dustup with Rourke about halfway through this picture. "Blood Thirst" is well acted by every one of its players and is overall a surprisingly intelligent affair; a film whose noirish elements gradually blend into pure horror by its exciting conclusion, in which blood, "solar electrical energy," and the powder of roots of trees hundreds of years old are all combined in one mind-boggling melange. The film tends to drag a bit in its central 1/3, but it never grows dull, and the stunning-looking B&W photography, artfully employing light and shadow, is always a feast for the eyes. Simply put, the film looks great, and is nicely captured here on this Something Weird DVD. For this viewer, the film comes as something like serendipity; an unexpected treat that I had previously never heard of before. To my great surprise, I must warn viewers AWAY from "Bloodsuckers" and urge them to see "Blood Thirst" instead, a film that is truly ripe for rediscovery....
Uriah43
This is one of those rare films that seems oddly out-of-date. Although this movie came out in 1971 the black and white film, along with the music played during the picture, made it seem like something out of the late 50's or early 60's. The reason for this was the fact that it was initially produced in 1965 by a developing film industry in the Phillipines and not shown to a world-wide audience until six years later. Even so, this wasn't a bad movie by any means. Essentially, attractive women are being killed and drained of blood on the outskirts of Manila. This has the detective in charge, "Inspector Miguel Ramos" (Vic Diaz) so baffled that he calls a friend of his in America named "Adam Rourke" (Robert Winston) to come and help him with the investigation. Things begin to happen very quickly upon his arrival which further convinces him that he is on the right track to solving the case. But time is of the essence as more and more women are being killed. Anyway, I liked the performance of Robert Winston who vaguely reminded me of George Lazenby in the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". I also appreciated some of the attractive actresses like Katherine Henryk (as "Sylvia Ramos"), Yvonne Nielson ("Serena") and several other uncredited ladies as well. On the other hand, other than possibly Robert Winston, the acting wasn't that great and the special effects for the "bubble-headed monster" were just plain laughable. But all things considered, I still liked it somewhat and therefore have given it an average rating.
