Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Leofwine_draca A Hammer imitation from Tony Tensor's Tigon films, only made on a lower budget and with noticeably less enthusiasm, THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR is actually a lot more entertaining than it really ought to be. The film is obviously made on a lower budget than Hammer had to play around with at the time and this occasionally shows through, particularly in the creature's costume. However, once again a fine British cast are assembled for the job, veteran director Vernon Sewell puts in a solid if unremarkable job, the script is literate, the locations good and the movie well-filmed. THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR manages to be atmospheric in places, especially in the woods at night, and its colourful and enjoyable to look at throughout with adequate production values.The saving grace of the film is Peter Cushing, who actually considered this his worst movie, but then perhaps he didn't remember NO SECRETS. Cushing is typically cast as the detective who investigates the series of (surprisingly bloody for the time) crimes but unfortunately he doesn't take much of a role in the action. Cushing fans will always remember his strenuous battles with Christopher Lee's Dracula and his surprising agility and strength in the physical scenes in his films, but there's none of that here. Still, Cushing is excellent as usual in his part, investing Quennell with mannerisms and typical quirkiness to make him an appealing character.The film is rather episodic in nature, with lots of mini-climaxes before the ending, but thankfully its also rather short and doesn't outstay its welcome. There's a definite lull in the action about halfway through involving some amateur dramatics which seem to be out of place in this horror yarn, but otherwise its pretty solid. The scientific explanation behind the monster's creation is very hazy and disguised with lots of paraphernalia and props to make it seem believable and it just about works. As for the creature, it appears laughable rather than scary, with red ping pong ball eyes and a skin-tight costume with wings, but this adds to the unintentional humour rather than detracting too much from the flow of the movie.Robert Flemyng (best known for his turn as the sleazy necrophiliac in Italy's THE TERRIBLE DR HICHCOCK) is very good in his part as the disturbed doctor who eventually turns his back on his experiments and proves to be an adequate foil for Cushing's hero. The female cast members take more prominent parts than usual, particularly Wanda Ventham as the young temptress. Vanessa Howard (GIRLY) is nice and sweet playing Cushing's daughter, but is a bit underused and isn't menaced enough, whilst Roy Hudd gets some great macabre humour as a morgue assistant who has his lunch at the feet of a corpse (although I was distracted by the "corpse's" feet, which kept twitching). Altogether, the positive points of this film outweigh the bad and fans of British horror may find it quaint and enjoyable, although it definitely could have been spiced up a bit with more action and excitement.

Spikeopath There is no dressing it up, this is a bad film. It may not be, as Peter Cushing was to say, the worst film he ever made, but it's laughably bad all told. Out of Tigon Productions, it pretty much is what it is, a cheap attempt at trying to give Hammer Film Productions a run for their money. Now the fact is is that Tigon did manage to churn out some decent horrors, in fact in the case of Witchfinder General one of the true greats of Brit horror, but it's stuff like this that really drags their name down.Entomology Escapades.Plot is kind of irrelevant since the editing and directing is all over the place, but in a nutshell a "winged" predator is literally sucking the life out of dandy young men in period England. Cushing is the "not so" intrepid copper who can't see the obvious from act 2, and the rest is a sort of reverse Bride of Frankenstein; only with moths! There's a little bit of cleavage, some shrieking and some fiery malarkey, and even a fake play within the play that is actually more fun than the movie! The effects are awful, where the "moth creature" looks like something that would come last in a fancy dress competition, and the acting away from the ever graceful Cushing is not worthy of an acting credit. Is there fun to be had? Yes, definitely, the whole thing feels like some freaky alternative dream world induced by drinking too much anti-freeze. So get someone to strap yourself up (and by that I mean straight-jacket), imbibe something really potent before hand, and marvel at the sheer incompetence of it all. 3/10

MARIO GAUCI Peter Cushing used to refer to THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR as the worst film of his prolific career, and this was enough to keep me from getting the SE DVD of it on R2 from DD Video when I purchased four more second-tier British horrors from the same outfit last year - namely, ISLAND OF TERROR (1966), NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT (1967), CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTAR (1968) and THE CREEPING FLESH (1973). Eventually, it was shown last Saturday night on an Italian TV channel in its original language with forced Italian subtitles, and I really couldn't let an occasion like that pass me by... Tigon was always seen as a cut-rate Hammer and this film was clearly inspired by the latter's THE REPTILE (1966; one of the Bray Studio outfit's best of the decade, and which THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR can't hope to match) - where, again, we find a female monster 'created' by her eminent but misguided entomologist father (Robert Flemyng). The monster design (we're dealing with a giant Death's Head Moth here) isn't too bad, actually, and it's thankfully not over-exposed during the course of the film: besides, Wanda Ventham's character is interesting in that she doesn't bemoan her fate as usually happens in such genre efforts - rather, she's single-minded in seeking out her prey among Flemyng's naïve students and rugged helpers around the estate, all of whom are easily swayed by her attractiveness! Aided by a fine score from resident Tigon composer Paul Ferris, the film creates a reasonable Gothic atmosphere throughout (with, at one point, even an amateur rendition/parody of a typical Grand Guignol performance set up by the students - and also featuring Ventham - in Flemyng's house). The script, incidentally, is by Hammer alumnus Peter Bryan (THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES [1959], THE BRIDES OF Dracula [1960] and THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES [1966]) and, while offering no real surprises, it's quite enjoyable for what it is - certainly better than its reputation would suggest! That said, the monster's come-uppance in an unconvincing and abrupt fiery ending is one of the lamest of its kind I've ever come across... Cushing - with his customary fastidiousness and dry wit intact - is always a pleasure to watch; Flemyng, too, offers his unhinged medico routine - and it's interesting, to say the least, to witness this clash of Hammer and Italian horror acting styles! Notable among the supporting cast is Roy Hudd as a scurrilous morgue attendant.At this stage, I don't know whether I'll eventually spring for the R2 DVD - since it contains a 25-minute career overview with Ventham - but, if it's ever discounted again by one of my British retailers of choice (and provided that it hasn't gone out-of-print by then!), it's worth considering. Another DD Video title I've long neglected is THE DEVIL'S MEN (1976), incidentally, also starring Peter Cushing - and, even though it's an equally maligned horror effort, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for such things...

The_Void This sixties flick has all the right ingredients to be another horror treat. We've got Peter Cushing, a ridiculously silly plot line, the Hammer Horror style and even the right sort of title, which by including the words 'blood', 'beast' and 'terror', leaves you to assume that there's going to be some entertainment value within. This is not the case; as The Blood Beast Terror falls massively short of the high mark where films of this ilk are concerned; but don't fret too much, as this isn't all bad. The plot has the potential to be lots of fun, as bug-related monsters aren't seen too often; and there's a murder investigation, complete with some mutilated cadavers to add to the piece - but what it all comes down is the fact that the audience already knows who the monster is; which completely saps all mystery, and tension, out of the film. The Blood Beast Terror stars Peter Cushing in the role of a police inspector who goes undercover in the British countryside to investigate a couple who are acting strangely. There's a reason for that; she's a giant death's head moth, and he created her! You can usually count on a decent performance (at least) from Peter Cushing; but he appears to have read the script before performing in this film, as he sleepwalks through the movie. Even so, it's nice to see any film with him; but the movie could have benefited from a more interesting performance. Robert Flemyng co-stars, but is never given much chance to make an impact. The special effects are really terrible, with the transformation sequence from moth to woman being appalling; but not quite as bad as the moth itself - which is portrayed by a pathetically obvious man in a suit. This film is Tigon's answer to the Hammer success, 'The Reptile' - but The Blood Beast Terror doesn't hold a candle to the aforementioned film in any way. The Reptile had suspense, characters that are slightly more than dull and creature effects that are decent enough to believe if you stretch your imagination a little bit. I don't rate The Blood Beast Terror as a complete and utter failure. The film does have its moments, and I've got to say that I didn't get too bored watching it on the whole - but I'd only recommend this to people that absolutely love British horror movies.