BLOOD
THIRST (1965)
Directed by Newt Arnold
Alpha DVD
Reviewed 06.29.04
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
Blood Thirst, you
have a problem. You talk too much.
Sure, you offered me a mucky-head
monster in a black turtleneck, but
his few minutes of fame just couldn’t
cut it. You’d better call
in the Mad Doctor Of Blood
Island for a solid prescription
of sleaze-gore, asap.
A pre-curser to the Filipino Blood
Island films (you’ll
recognize some familiar faces if
you’re hip), Blood
Thirst doesn’t have
a whole lot going for it. In fact,
what the film offers in over-abundance
is exactly what ruins the mood:
dragging dialogue, rambling incidental
footage, and a severely annoying
lead hero. The direction is flat
and the atmosphere is nil. Get yer
choppers working!
After a series of wrist-slitting,
blood sucking murders (never shown)
at the local exotica club par excellence,
the local fuzz are speechless. Cue
Adam Rourke, sex-crime expert from
the States, who travels to the land
of Manila to lay it all on the line.
Adam infiltrates the Barrio Club,
disguised as a reporter and packing
more jokes than Sammy Petrillo.
In addition, Adam enjoys frequent
talks with himself and likes kickin’
over lamps before making love to
his girlfriend. Somewhere in there,
we get a glimpse of that peculiar
monster and find out that the killings
may be part a mysterious blood cult.
But what’s with the blondie
exotic dancer? Is Calderone, the
club owner, also involved? Here
comes some more talk. Watch out,
Adam.
And so it goes. Making matters worse,
the minds behind this film chose
to embellish the spooky atmosphere
with music cues straight out of
a “Tom & Jerry”
cartoon. Complete with “wah
wah waaaaahhh” accents when
something doesn’t go quite
right for Adam. Doesn’t hold
up. Things sped along during the
last ten minutes, but I was definitely
falling asleep by that time.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Certainly watchable, but nothing
too fantastic. The picture looks
similar to a video master and there’s
some slight ghosting at times. Scratches
were evident and a few jump cuts
popped up here and there. The mono
sound was loud and audible.
EXTRAS
The standard Alpha cover gallery
and chapter stops.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Clearly, such an entertaining monster
deserves more screen time than five
minutes. Despite its historical
importance (?), I can only recommend
Blood Thirst as a
rental. Completists, you’ll
probably want it on your shelf,
but don’t say I didn’t
warn you. |
Here is the party
Scream? Laugh?
Adam lays it on thick
More, please
|
