Horror-A-Day: The Blood Beast Terror

It finally feels like Fall is getting here. Temperatures are not quite at their usual seasonal levels, but colors are starting to change as the leaves slowly begin to die. Fortunately, inside it is still Fall all the time as horror season truly settles in. Keeping the trend of movies I have never seen before going, the latest viewing experience was a movie with a familiar face that is always a welcome sight, wen of it is in a lackluster movie. You know, the bad movies that have that one person that makes it worth it. Sort of.



While 1960's British horror always makes me think of Hammer Studios, they were not the only ones on the game, and sometimes they even got some of those familiar Hammer faces to star in their movies that even to capture a little of the feel of those classic Hammer outings. One of those companies was Tigon-British and while they have a couple of memorable release like Witchfinder General, I suspect more of the films are like this one.

The movie is called The Blood Beast Terror, or you may have seen it called The Vampire Beast Craves Blood. Sounds exciting, right? They certainly tossed in all the right words look blood, terror, and beast, all fun sounding words for a horror movie. Add in the fact that it stars Peter Cushing and it looks like you have the start of something fun. Then this happened.

Cushing stars as Inspector Quennell, he is looking into a series of bizarre murders. His search brings him to an etymologist named Dr. Carl Mallinger (Robert Flemyng). The mangled bodies at all male and almost completely drained of blood. It is certainly a baffling string of murders that has left of inspector at a loss. It would appear he murders are being committed by some sort of creature.

Indeed, it is and it is not really kept a secret. The good doctor has been experimenting with retain a new type of moth, and the one he made just may be able to change between a moth and a young woman, who may be masquerading as his daughter.

The problem is that instead of developing the doctor's work, or if the woman is a daughter he experimented on or a new creation, or really anything of interest, they give us all the mundane stuff that would be trimmed or excised completely in a better movie. We watch the cast watch a play, fish ad catch butterflies, and do all the stuff we don't care about.the best bis involve the reveal of a monstrous creation, but even then it feels ho-hum.

I have certainly seen worse, but there is something about this that just feels flat. It is a rather unfulfilling film. Save for the presence of Peter Cushing and you would have had a very dull film. It even looked like Cushing was exasperated at times, likely wondered why he signed on.

Not Recommended.