A Brilliant Conflict

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Having sailed to a remote Asian island for a diverse variety of reasons, a group of Americans begin to suspect that a local doctor's experiments may be responsible for a growing number of unexplained deaths in this horror film shot on location in the Philippines. The film benefits from eerie jungle exteriors that evoke a sense of a foreboding foreign land and there are some nifty gore effects, but this is a very lethargically paced movie with its monster attacks and stalking scenes few and far between. The film does not get much better though in the moments when the monster is on screen with rapid fire zooms in and out constantly distracting from the action at hand. There are, however, some curious plot turns as the local doctor eventually reveals the nature of his experiments with a surprisingly altruistic objective, however, this does not occur until the final 25 minutes, which results in the first hour being a bit of a chore to sit through. The acting leaves a little to be desired too, however, this is one of those films where the grisly murders are more important than the characters and there are certainly memorable bits and pieces... even if they sometimes get lost amid the shaky zooms.

So-so entry in the Filipino "Blood Island" horror film series. Dedicated doctor Bill Foster (John Ashley) travels to a small island to investigate strange goings-on, accompanied by young woman Sheila Willard (Angelique Pettyjohn), who herself intends to find out the fate of her father (Tony Edmunds). Running around loose on the island is a green blooded monster.If nothing else, "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" is notable for its audience participation factor, with the audience given doses of "green blood" to drink and protect themselves from harm. As directed by Filipino exploitation icons Gerry De Leon and Eddie Romero, the movie does have a lot of entertaining and effective ambiance. It does have the appeal of a drive-in feature, but it has a fundamental problem in that it's often too dull to work that well. There's more talk than action. There's also some highly annoying camera-work. The gore is decent (and there's also a fair bit of bare female flesh), but the makeup on the monster is awfully tacky.The acting in this one is pretty stiff, right across the board. Jut jawed hero Ashley lacks personality, and the same goes for Ronaldo Valdez, who plays Carlos Lopez. He has some rather amusing scenes with his hottie mom (played by Tita Munoz). The ladies are beautiful, with Pettyjohn an especially fetching leading lady. Fans of exploitation flicks from this part of the world may enjoy appearances by such familiar faces as Ronald Remy, as the evil Dr. Lorca, Bruno Punzalan, as his henchman Razak, and Alfonso Carvajal as Ramu.Unfortunately, this never has much of a momentum, and even the climax isn't that exciting. Still, it has its moments.Five out of 10.

Other than an opportunity to watch a bad film, the other reason to see MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND is a chance to see Angelique Pettyjohn. Miss Pettyjohn gained some measure of fame among sci-fi geeks for appearing as the silver-haired Shanna in the original STAR TREK (in "The Gamesters of Triskelion"). While not a great actress, her striking looks and assets are hard to miss.The film is about a strange island where people have green blood and a freaky monster that looks like Man-Bear-Pig (or is it the stinky cheese man?) lives. An agent from the government and a missing doctor's daughter arrive on the island to investigate. But, to their surprise, the island is a killing ground for the stupid looking creature. Who it is and why it behaves in such a nasty fashion is what the film is all about...if you particularly care (which I did not).MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND is clearly an ultra-cheesy low-budget film that has an extremely low production values--as evidenced by the silly script, occasionally bad acting and headache-inducing zoom. Let me explain the 'zoom'. To heighten the horror (i.e., to cover up the fact it was all so dull), the film maker decided to have the camera zoom in and out again and again any time the monster appeared. It was very unpleasant but tended to hide the stupidity of the monster makeup. Plus, it let the dumber members of the audience know when to be afraid (though it may just make you nauseous). Surprisingly, for a low budget film, it has intense gore that actually is amazingly realistic and gross--so people who love looking at guts from a butcher shop will enjoy the film (and at least half the $219.87 budget went for animal guts and realistic blood). In addition, there is a bit of not particularly enticing gratuitous nudity in the film--pretty hot stuff for 1968, but not very explicit (or sexy) by today's standards--and not enough to encourage the perverts out there to seek out the film.Overall, this is the sort of film you might actually want to see...if you are having friends over and want to do your own home version of "Mystery Science Theater". Otherwise, it's just too dull and stupid to recommend. The only reason it gets a 2 is that the guts were reasonably realistic--and much of them were real guts.Oh, and for all the Star Trek fans, if you DO want to see the film just to see Miss Pettyjohn naked, don't bother. Although she's an amazingly beautiful woman, she keeps her clothes on for most of the film--and there's not that much of her to see when she does. If you INSIST on seeing Pettyjohn naked, then by all means jump ahead to about the 76 minute mark to see the naughty bits. However, her finally taking off her clothes made no sense at all, as the Stinky Cheese Man/Man-Bear-Pig or whatever it is was still roaming the island killing. Talk about a BAD time to get naked!! And, for that matter, I STILL don't think this makes it worth seeing this dull flick.

The first conclusion you spontaneously make while watching "The Mad Doctor of Blood Island" is that there are some sick-minded individuals walking this planet! I'm one of them, of course, since I voluntarily purchased the DVD and am proud of owning it now. But the real insanity-credit goes to people like Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon for actually unleashing a tale like this upon the world. I mean…green-blooded monsters? A mad doctor that looks like a bad Elvis-impersonator? Bad cases of leukemia side effects? This film qualifies as pure drive-in exploitation, meaning that your expectations should be at their lowest and then you still get less! We're talking ridiculous dialogue, no plotting whatsoever and not even an attempt to build up tension. All these aspects, which determine the quality of a horror film, are replaced by filthy grotesque gore and sleaze. There's no point in summarizing the plot for you as it's – surprise surprise – very inept and rather stupid. It's great entertainment, though, as long as you've got beer and a lot of perseverance. The only real disadvantage is the total lack of talent of everyone involved. Every cast member could have used a couple thousand more acting lessons and the cinematographer obviously doesn't know that rough camera movements are irritating instead of suspenseful. No matter how I much I love Z-grade horror, I simply can't give this one a positive rating. Nonetheless, I'd like to recommend it to cult-fanatics and admirers of off-category cinema. Good times!