Brides of Blood (1968)

• Year: 1968
• Released: 09 Dec 1974
• Country: Philippines
• Adwords: N/A
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062758/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brides_of_blood
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
• Runtime: 97 min
• Writer: Cesar Amigo
• Director: Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero
• Cast: John Ashley, Kent Taylor, Mario Montenegro
• Keywords: monster, grandparent grandchild relationship, mutation, superstition, murder, human sacrifice,

	5.0/10
	42% – Critics
	42% – Audience

Brides of Blood Storyline

The film opens with a freighter approaching a tropical island; on board, the captain of the boat has breakfast with his three passengers. Dr. Paul Henderson is a scientist who has come to the island to investigate the possibility of radiation due to the testing of atomic bombs in the area. Accompanying him is his beautiful wife, Carla, who seems to suffer from an extreme case of sexual frustration; she makes provocative statements intended to get a rise out of her stoic and seemingly emotionless husband. The third American on board is Jim Farrell, a Peace Corps representative who is traveling to the island to help the natives build facilities to better their lives. The captain tells his passengers that the island is rumored to be cursed, and is referred to by those in the vicinity as “Blood Island”. The boat itself is the only one that makes a stop there, with the purpose of delivering supplies. There are only two stops per year, once every six months.Upon disembarking, the trio immediately comes upon a funeral procession being conducted by the natives. They realize in horror that the two bodies being carried for burial at sea are completely dismembered; a dismembered arm falls out, causing Carla to scream in terror. After the ceremony, the Americans are greeted by Arcadio, the tribe’s elder, and his granddaughter Alma. Carla immediately senses an attraction between the lovely Alma and the handsome Jim, and she very aggressively attempts to embarass everyone by remarking on it. Arcadio welcomes them to the island, but both he and Alma seem terrified of something, and he openly admits that he wishes he would have warned them to stay away before the boat left. When questioned about the deaths of the two women that were being buried, he claims the cause was an accident, but he makes the vague statement that his people are “ashamed” of returning to the “old ways”.Paul goes for a walk around the island looking for specimens and is joined by Carla. Both of them notice a bizarre manifestation when the sun appears to set hours before it should do so. The darkening island becomes ominous, a feeling furthered when Paul discovers the carcass of an oversized crab. Alma acts as Jim’s interpreter for the natives since she speaks English, but she remains secretive about what has everybody so noticeably on edge. Her anxiety worsens when Jim notices a strange plant near the village.The villagers participate in another odd ritual: a stylized lottery that selects two of the village maidens for some uncertain fate; whatever it is, it causes them to become very upset when they “win”. The Americans are intercepted by a strange looking man named Goro; he announces that his master, Esteban Powers, has a table set for them at his home. Jim, Paul and Carla follow Goro through the jungle until they reach a stately hacienda staffed by a race of pygmies. On the way there, they encounter a banana tree with a strange arm-like growth protruding from it; the growth moves as if it wants to seize those who pass by it. Esteban Powers is a handsome young man who invites them all to stay with him instead of in the village. Jim declines due to the nature of his visit, but Carla insists that she and Paul stay in the mansion. Esteban seems to suffer from migraines, and he reveals that the natives were transplants to the island after the atomic bomb was tested; while they are unaffected by any radiation, the flora and fauna of the island seem to have been changed. Paul mentions the land crab he found, and the banana tree. Powers seems to not be aware of these anomalies, although the group is startled to discover that he is actually 50 years old; his youth seems to have been somehow preserved.On their way back to the village, the three Americans are escorted once again through the jungle by Goro. This time, though, it is completely dark outside and the jungle is alive with strange plants. The banana trees have moving tentacles that sway when someone passes near; one of them grabs Carla and seems to want to kill her. Jim and Paul fight it off and move her along. Other plants behave ominously as well. Upon returning to the village, they are not comforted by the sight of the two village maidens being shackled to a remote altar and stripped of their clothing. The villagers leave them at the altar and return to their homes. Inside the hut with Arcadio and Alma, the Americans listen as a strange, overwhelming sound emerges from the jungle, a delirious breathing sound that echoes everywhere. Everyone is distracted when a large butterfly enters the hut and transforms into a fanged monster, biting Paul on the hand when he attempts to capture it. When the bizarre breathing sound grows closer, the girls at the altar start screaming. Arcadio and Alma warn the Americans not to leave the hut, despite the fact that Jim wants to rescue the maidens from whatever is out there.At the altar, we see what has terrified the captive women: a lumbering beast emerges from the jungle, humanoid but grossly misshapen. It approaches the nude women and embraces them in a bizarre appropriation of the sex act and then tears them limb from limb. The next morning, Alma tells Jim that the beast’s appearance is what has driven her people back to their primitive ways, sacrificing village girls to the monster. She explains that the creature only wants women; the mutilations are its way of sexually satisfying itself. Her people believe that if they do not sacrifice their girls, the creature will destroy them all.Jim visits the hacienda and speaks to Paul, who has captured a cockroach that he claims has transformed into a monster. When Jim goes to examine the creature, Paul discovers that the roach has returned to normal. Carla verifies his claims, and Paul realizes that the creatures on the island have the ability to shift back and forth from normal to monstrosities. The villagers have another lottery and select two more maidens; this time, Alma is chosen as one of them. Jim is furious and attempts to intervene, but Arcadio and the other tribesmen subdue him by tying him up in a hut.At Esteban’s, Carla unsuccessfuly tries to awaken Paul for some lovemaking. She sets out through the dark house and arrives at Esteban’s bedroom, where she finds him writhing on the bed in slumber, covered only in a sheet. When she tries to get into bed with him, Goro suddenly appears and banishes her.The villagers await the arrival of the beast, and its strange sound becomes audible. Jim manages to escape his bonds and rescue Alma by firing a flare gun at the creature and frightening it off before it can kill her. The villagers, however, are now furious that their sacrifice has been spoiled, and they chase Jim and Alma into the jungle. They manage to dodge the monstrous vegetation and take refuge at Esteban’s house. Esteban tells them that both he and his wife were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation during the bomb tests; while it seems to have left him with only migraines, it caused a disturbing change in his wife, who suffered seizures that eventually killed her. Late that night, Carla once again tries to seduce Esteban when she sees him stagger out of the house dressed only in his trousers. She follows him in the dark, unaware that he is the rampaging monster, the result of a hideous transformation that he undergoes during the worst of his migraine attacks. Cornered by the monstrous tree branches and carnivorous plants, Carla comes face to face with Esteban’s deadly alter ego.Paul discovers Carla missing from their bedroom, and he awakens Jim. Alma hears the ruckus and joins them as they leave the house to search for Carla. Goro chases them with a machete and confronts them, killing Paul. Jim and Alma find Carla’s dismembered remains being devoured by one of the carnivorous trees. They rush back to the village pursued by the monster. Jim manages to convince the villagers to fight back against it instead of trying to appease it with sacrifices; together they hurl spears and fire at it until they have it cornered in one of the grass huts; unfortunately it is the hut where Alma is hiding. Jim rushes in to save her as the hut goes up in flames, managing to get her out just in the nick of time. The monster is consumed in the fire, and the entire village watches as Esteban, human once more, stumbles from the hut and dies from his injuries. The village celebrates their freedom from the menace by holding a love ritual, presumably to encourage the tribe to reproduce and replace the people it lost to the monster. As the natives pair off and go into the jungle for lovemaking, Alma becomes enraptured by the music as well, selecting Jim as her mate. They slip into the jungle together.

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Brides of Blood Movie Reviews

A Pulpy Funhouse of a Movie

Wow, does this flick make for one wild and woolly experience! “Brides of Blood” (1968), the first adventure in the Blood Island trilogy, must be deemed, along with 1959’s “Terror Is A Man,” one of the crown jewels of Filipino horror cinema. In it, 1950s star John Ashley plays Jim Farrell, a Peace Corps worker who comes to the eponymous Blood Island in the Philippines. He is accompanied by naturalist Dr. Henderson, who wants to study the effects of recent nearby nuke tests on the island’s flora and fauna, as well as by Henderson’s randy, bubble-bosomed wife, played by Beverly Hills (love that name!). This film is some kind of ultimate drive-in experience, and throws in much to ensure a memorable time. Thus, there are some scary, groping, mutated trees (still not as scary as the ones in “The Wizard Of Oz,” though), sacrificed topless maidens, gaggles of scampering little people (that IS the PC expression at the moment, right?), battles with torches, bolos and flare guns, AND a roaring, woman-hungry monster that beggars my poor powers of description. Please don’t get me wrong; this is certainly not anybody’s idea of a quality film (even my beloved “Psychotronic Encyclopedia” calls it “terrible”). It is somewhat shoddily put together, and features God-awful dubbing and egregious day-for-night photography. Still, it does offer truly exotic Filipino atmosphere, interesting characters, decent-enough acting, and eerie native chants. Plus, the film culminates with a wild, celebratory native mating dance that must be seen to be believed; a most satisfactory windup. The bottom line is that I can’t imagine any fan of sci-fi, horror or action films not enjoying this pulpy funhouse of a movie on some level. Recommended.

Hugely enjoyable Filipino horror trash

Radioactive fallout on a remote tropical island causes the plants and animals to mutate into dangerous and hideously malformed monsters. The scared natives regularly sacrifice fair maidens to an especially vile and ferocious beast known as the Evil One. Noble Peace corps volunteer Jim Farrell (a likable performance by Filipino exploitation cinema mainstay John Ashley) tries to get the locals to stand up to the foul subhuman fiend. Directors Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero relate the cheerfully ridiculous story at a steady pace, do a solid job of creating and sustaining a gloomy brooding atmosphere, offer a flavorsome evocation of the exotic setting, deliver a satisfying smattering of tasty female nudity and lovably cheesy gore, and stage the rousing fiery conclusion with a reasonable amount of brio. This film further benefits from acceptable acting by a competent cast: Kent Taylor as stoic, no-nonsense scientist Dr. Paul Henderson, Mario Montenegro as suave rich guy Esteban Powers, Bruno Punzalan as Esteban’s loyal servant Goro, and Andres Centenera as wise tribal elder Arcadio. Moreover, we get some delicious distaff eye candy courtesy of buxom blonde Beverly Powers as Henderson’s horny, sarcastic wife Carla and sultry brunette Eva Darren as sweet local girl Alma. Better still, there’s an infectiously sincere and enthusiastic go-for-it pulpy sensibility evident throughout that’s endearing and entertaining in equal measure. The rough, unpolished cinematography gives the picture a suitably gritty look. The throbbing tribal score likewise hits the shuddery spot. The heavy-breathing lumpy’n’rubbery humanoid creature is a total tacky riot. A good deal of blithely low-grade fun that’s not to be taken seriously.

Lawfully Wedded Tiki Monster

I saw this movie on television years ago when I was a kid under the title “The Island of Living Horror”. It seemed as wacky then as it does now. Even then I realized how goofy the special effects were, but I definitely got into the cheap spirit of the whole thing. The bizarre aspect is that the whole movie seems like it was designed to spook young kids, and yet the film in its uncut form also contains some gratuitous nudity and gore.

The plot concerns a group of dummies who venture to “Blood Island”, a place where nobody in their right mind would dare to visit. Surely the sailors who ferry our protagonists to Blood Island are aware that it’s bad news, but they leave the fools there anyhow. We have a scientist, his nympho wife, a ‘studly’ adventurer, and some miscellaneous others who are aboard to be menaced, and boy are they ever. It seems some stray radiation from A-bomb testing has done strange things to the local flora and fauna. A butterfly bites someone on the hand. The trees have animated roots and make shrill vibrating sounds while trying to grab ahold of passersby…to what purpose I’m not sure, since they don’t seem to have mouths with which to bite anybody. The most troublesome mutation on the island is the appearance of a lumbering, mouth-breathing, humanoid monster with a desire for human sacrifices of the young female type. Could this be the radioactive alter-ego of the wealthy proprietor of the luxurious island hacienda, the one who has summoned our heroes there, the very one under whose roof they’ve taken shelter?

The atmosphere of the flick is very “mondo exotica”, with lots of faux-island music and groovy tropical scenery. There’s a strong sense of sexuality running through the picture too, and not only because of the female nudity. Check out the scene where the doctor’s horny wife finds that her sleeping husband isn’t interested in sex and instead walks through the dark house until she finds monster-man’s bedroom. She sneaks into his room to find him lying on his back on the bed, presumably nude and barely covered with a strategically-placed sheet, writhing orgasmically in what could be interpreted as either pain or pleasure, apparently in the grip of a sexual dream as she watches. Of course we know he’s on the verge of transformation, but the scene can be read two different ways. She climbs eagerly into bed with him and reaches out to touch his body, only she is apprehended by the master’s brutish manservant, who reacts more like a jealous lover and rebuffs her, sending her away. This whole scene is rife with sexual dynamics. Additionally, the pervasive voice of the creature, which filters all over the island while the natives huddle fearfully indoors, certainly sounds more like a man in the throes of a never-ending orgasm.

These adult moments are what make this otherwise kiddie-style film a very strange thing indeed. Despite the juvenile nature of the plot, it’s really an early sex-and-violence exploitation film. As I already mentioned, the special effects are rather un-special, and the main monster is one of the goofiest you will ever see. It looks like a tiki mug come to life. Once the tiki-monster problem on the island is solved, the surviving cast members relax by joining the natives as witnesses to a mating-ritual dance, conducted by some islanders with very poor rhythm. I don’t know about you, but this part reminded me of that one vacation that the Brady Bunch took to Hawaii.