Brides of Blood (1968) Movie Review
Written By: FR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Directors: Eddie Romero, Gerardo de Leon
Producers: Eddie Romero, Kane W. Lynn, Irwin Pizor
Writer: Cesar J. Amigo
Date Released: May 28, 1968
Cast:
Kent Taylor as Dr. Paul Henderson
Beverly Hills (aka Beverly Powers) as Carla Henderson
John Ashley as Jim Farrell
Eva Darren as Alma
Mario Montenegro as Esteban Powers
Oscar Kesse as Capt. Macbee
Bruno Punzalan as Goro
Andres Centanera as Arcadio
Ely Ramos Jr.
Rating = 1 /5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Brides of Blood (1968) follows three Americans who travel by boat to a tropical island called “Blood Island”. Dr. Paul Henderson (Kent Taylor) along with his wife (Beverly Hills) and Jim Farrell (John Ashley) arrive at the mysterious island but soon find out that there are strange rituals being conducted. The three individuals discover that during the night, a young woman is sacrificed by tying her a post nude in order to satisfy a monster’s sexual desires where she is mutilated and killed. But, when a woman is not sacrificed, the monster will attack the villagers.
Gore Factor
Brides of Blood does not contain a lot of gore and blood in the film. However, there are a few scenes where a pile of severed limbs are seen being buried in the jungle. There are also multiple scenes concerning nude women which are being devoured by monsters. However, these scenes are generally shot at a distance. The monster, itself, is not scary and in fact looks very comical. In addition, there are few if any jump scares.
The Grave Review
Brides of Blood (1968) is a Filipino horror and is the first in the “Blood Island” series. John Ashley starred in this film along with other actors and actresses but was a staple actor in the majority of the “Blood Island” films. Other names that Brides of Blood may be referred as to is Brides of the Beast and Grave Desires.
The film was so poorly filmed that Brides of Blood will be a film that may not be so easy to forget. The plot itself was fairly straightforward revolving around the villagers and their traditions, but the monster, itself, clearly was an afterthought. The monster and plot elements are dated, but they manage to work thanks to its seedier elements such as the fact that there are nude women tied to a wooden post. In addition, the progression of the film was dreary and the acting seemed emotionless. What is unfortunate is the fact that the director did not take advantage of the beautiful scenery on the island.
The camerawork was horribly implemented. For example, when the monster is approaching, the camera violently zoom in and out fast. If you didn’t place these scenes in content, you would almost thing that the film was a comedy.
Overall, Brides of Blood (1968) is a testament of its time and shows the fact that women were treated as objects for pure exploitation.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Brides of Blood (1968) one grave out of five graves.
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