...taking the relatively clever and creative 'good', with the deliciously outrageous 'bad', there's a certain irresistible and alluringly exotic appeal to the eclectic roster of genre films, produced by domestic filmmakers, having chosen the Philippine Islands as their filming locale. Given the sense of mystery, danger and intrigue, which this sometimes unstable location has to offer, it is understandable why, during a certain window of opportunity, spanning a period of time, say from about the early 60's, to the mid '70's, the Philippines seemed perfectly ideal, from an exploitation point of view, for staging and producing some of the most eclectically bizarre cult and genre films, ever set to celluloid, during this time (...a kind understatement, to be sure; for an alternate take on this observation, that's outrageously beyond the fringe, this viewer most assuredly recommends the wildly out-of-control 2010 documentary, "Machete Maidens Unleashed"). Sex-starved prison bound babes. Mighty midget secret agents. Kick-ass kung fu cavaliers. Vivacious vampire vixens. A veritable onslaught of beasts, breasts and blood, as one Joe Bob Briggs once coined. And those monsters...oh yes, those drippy-drip, pasted-on, rubber faced monsters. Even from the very beginning, there was a certain level of outrageousness in these films, which was progressively built upon, eventually culminating in repeated, hapless viewer wide-eyed looks of '...sheesh!! You gotta be friggin' kidding!!' To a degree, such is the case with the first of these films, one of which the fine folks of Vinegar Syndrome have kindly paired up, in their most recent 'Drive-In Double Feature' selection...the exotically film-nourish, albeit tongue-in-cheek horror flick, 1971's "Blood Thirst"...
...a frustrated Inspector Ramos (...played goofily by local character actor Vic Diaz, who was a sightful regular, in many of these Philippine genre film productions) is is the throes of a dilemma; it seems that several local waitresses and table dancers, employed at several of the local barrio bars and clubs, have been disappearing. When some of them are discovered hanging upside down from trees, and drained of their blood, the inspector resigningly calls upon a Stateside friend of his...Adam Roarke, a detective, who's specialty is investigating graphic and ritualistic killings, such as these. With hardly time for a proper reunion, Ramos and an undercover Roarke take to the murderous trail, pulling all available resources at their disposal...along with encountering horrifically nefarious elements, which are not taking too kindly to the invasive investigator...in deftly and quickly solving this ghastly mystery. Why are these girls being drained of their blood?? Why is one particular blonde bombshell of a dancer at one of the clubs...appearing so alluringly beautiful and incredibly young...immune to these attacks, and unafraid of being the next victim of these attacks?? And what of the darkly garbed thing, hiding in the shadows...a monstrous apparition, with a freakishly bulbous, lumpy, cancerous-looking face and head?? What's its diabolical part in these ghastly proceedings??
...although fairly tame, as compared to later Philippine productions of a much more outrageous level (...made in 1965, this wasn't unleashed to American theaters until 1971), "Blood Thirst" still manages to exhue a respectable amount of 'what the...' flavor and attitude, in unfolding it's own meager amount of horror genre incredulousness...an amiably balanced fraction, amidst the moody murder mystery film noir atmosphere & intrigue, and the occasional wry bits of humor. Robert Winston, as the American detective, dedicated and capable to the cause at hand, when it comes to getting right down to business, but in his off time, coming off as more of a claimantly suave, ill-tempered ladies man, is great looking here, for a guy (...plenty of hairy-chested, beefcake shirtlessness, ladies), but hardly chosen here, at the result of his substandard acting chops...though his dialog, as corny as it is, seems overall quite fitted, as far as that balanced fettering of humor, previously noted. Judy Dennis, Katherine Henryk and Yvonne Neilson are adequate, though forgettable as Winston's love conquests...even the latter, who commonplace plays the sultry, femme fatale, applicably named Serena, whose captivating youth and beauty hides some thing much more horrific. But of course, standing out over and above it's master, in sheer presence, there's the lurching creature itself...Serena's mute and obedient henchman...whose head and face looks laughingly like a grimacing 25 pounds of chewed bubble gum...
...Vinegar Syndrome's print of the film, although still film-worn scratchy in places, is amazingly crisp, as compared to previously rendered editions of this public domain film...
...and, without any further adieu...on with the show, with this double feature's co-feature, 1974's "The Thirsty Dead"...
...in keeping with the horror-flavored theme of 'consuming human blood means eternal beauty and life', this alternate tale of terror...once again, engaging a Philippine locale and production...takes a surprising route through "She" and "Lost Horizon" territory, storywise. Four attractive young women are 'shanghaied', and taken to mysterious parts unknown, with the resigned assumption that they have been abducted by white slave traders. Nothing could be further from the truth, as they are soon shocked and horrified to discover. Once deep in the jungle, their purpose is dreadfully and diabolically revealed; it seems that an ancient and seclusive blood cult resides herein, led by a bloodthirsty messianic 'leader' (John Considine), who arranges the kidnapping of women from the outside, for the purpose of ritualistically draining their blood for ceremonious consumption, in order for he and his followers to achieve an unearthly semblance of immortality. However, dire problems ensue, when one of the new gals (Jennifer Billingsley), suspectedly claimant to be a reincarnation of the cult's once reigning queen, and as such, is compelled to join their unholy order...an honor which she adamantly refuses...also becomes the target of affection, by the leader of the cult...a fatal attraction, which might well prove detrimental to his immortality...
...as exotically intriguing as the unfolding of this crazed premise might sound, it has two things working against it. First, the film's pacing is almost excruciatingly slow; for long periods of time, within the 80-plus minutes of running time...uh, nothing really happens...just a lot of talk and posturing. And when something does happen, it's fleeting, possibly giving way to a most assured wearing of the fast-forward controls on one's remote. Secondly, despite the horrific goings-on herein, these proceedings...well, let's face it...they're not really all that scary, and with the exception of what pretty much amounts to the equivalence of the occasional (...syrupy) paper cut, and quick flashes of bowls of red stuff, things are relatively bloodless, herein. However, there is a balance of assets, amidst these misgivings, which greatly make up for these lethargic affairs. Right out the gate, there's the overall camp factor, foremost emphasized by the fact that the events depicted, are taken quite serious...almost too serious, in fact, to the point where things become unintentionally funny (...with a delectably over-the-top level of dialog, which has to be heard, to be believed). The minimal production values also greatly add to the campiness, with a level of outrageous set designing and costumes, wild enough to almost suggest an exotic-flavored sci-fi/fantasy look; ideally, select scenes in the film, where several of the captive girls are set up for bloodletting, looks almost like some kind of outdoor, skimpy-costumed, high-school chemistry class. Then, check out that gawd-awful, pastel-shaded, almost-higher-than-his-head Drac-collar, worn by actor John Considine...I mean, woof!! Or, how about that worshipped god-head, in the blood-red block of ice?? Given all of this, or perhaps the lack thereof, it's good bet that a good fraction of the meager budget here, went toward the very cool, transitioning old-age make-up work, featured later in the film. In addition, this viewer couldn't help but jovially acknowledge a striking of a familiar cord, quite literally, with the film's soundtrack, which almost seemed to have been borrowed from the '60's 'Batman' TV series...just one more amusing factor, rib-ticklingly accenting the film's outrageous level of camp...
...in keeping with the horror-flavored theme of 'consuming human blood means eternal beauty and life', this alternate tale of terror...once again, engaging a Philippine locale and production...takes a surprising route through "She" and "Lost Horizon" territory, storywise. Four attractive young women are 'shanghaied', and taken to mysterious parts unknown, with the resigned assumption that they have been abducted by white slave traders. Nothing could be further from the truth, as they are soon shocked and horrified to discover. Once deep in the jungle, their purpose is dreadfully and diabolically revealed; it seems that an ancient and seclusive blood cult resides herein, led by a bloodthirsty messianic 'leader' (John Considine), who arranges the kidnapping of women from the outside, for the purpose of ritualistically draining their blood for ceremonious consumption, in order for he and his followers to achieve an unearthly semblance of immortality. However, dire problems ensue, when one of the new gals (Jennifer Billingsley), suspectedly claimant to be a reincarnation of the cult's once reigning queen, and as such, is compelled to join their unholy order...an honor which she adamantly refuses...also becomes the target of affection, by the leader of the cult...a fatal attraction, which might well prove detrimental to his immortality...
...as exotically intriguing as the unfolding of this crazed premise might sound, it has two things working against it. First, the film's pacing is almost excruciatingly slow; for long periods of time, within the 80-plus minutes of running time...uh, nothing really happens...just a lot of talk and posturing. And when something does happen, it's fleeting, possibly giving way to a most assured wearing of the fast-forward controls on one's remote. Secondly, despite the horrific goings-on herein, these proceedings...well, let's face it...they're not really all that scary, and with the exception of what pretty much amounts to the equivalence of the occasional (...syrupy) paper cut, and quick flashes of bowls of red stuff, things are relatively bloodless, herein. However, there is a balance of assets, amidst these misgivings, which greatly make up for these lethargic affairs. Right out the gate, there's the overall camp factor, foremost emphasized by the fact that the events depicted, are taken quite serious...almost too serious, in fact, to the point where things become unintentionally funny (...with a delectably over-the-top level of dialog, which has to be heard, to be believed). The minimal production values also greatly add to the campiness, with a level of outrageous set designing and costumes, wild enough to almost suggest an exotic-flavored sci-fi/fantasy look; ideally, select scenes in the film, where several of the captive girls are set up for bloodletting, looks almost like some kind of outdoor, skimpy-costumed, high-school chemistry class. Then, check out that gawd-awful, pastel-shaded, almost-higher-than-his-head Drac-collar, worn by actor John Considine...I mean, woof!! Or, how about that worshipped god-head, in the blood-red block of ice?? Given all of this, or perhaps the lack thereof, it's good bet that a good fraction of the meager budget here, went toward the very cool, transitioning old-age make-up work, featured later in the film. In addition, this viewer couldn't help but jovially acknowledge a striking of a familiar cord, quite literally, with the film's soundtrack, which almost seemed to have been borrowed from the '60's 'Batman' TV series...just one more amusing factor, rib-ticklingly accenting the film's outrageous level of camp...
...as before, Vinegar Syndrome has excelled themselves, offering one of the most crisp prints of yet another public domain film, as compared to that readily offered in several previously released bargain bin cult film collections & double-bills...and oooof!! The strikingly vibrant, eye-popping colors in this flick, seem to attribute yet another niche in the overall campiness of the film...hey, the more, the merrier, right??
...on the whole, this viewer says '...bravo and kudos to Vinegar Syndrome', once again, as this skewed and exotic pairing definitely makes for a great evening's travelogue of eclectic genre film viewing...that is, providing you remember to pack your wader boots; rest assured, you're gonna need 'em, here.....
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