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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
See it!, 23 July 2004
7/10
Author: (hoodcsa@aol.com) from Georgia



Forget all the critics (though much of their criticism is technically on target). Watch this film with an open mind and revel in the sheer audaciousness of it all. Gruesome monsters. Trashy, gorgeous heroines. Square jawed men of action. Let the bizarre ennui envelope you. Enjoy the sheer inanity of the whole thing. I saw this as a teen and was utterly captivated by it and the crude power remains intact. On location shooting (in the Philippines) and cast of unknowns adds enormously. It's a wonderful piece of trash film making -- a classic of the sort.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
"Let the bizarre ennui envelop you!", 8 August 2004
Author: roddmatsui

I had some fine memories of seeing this (heavily edited) on TV when I was a kid, so I went and got the DVD...and it's really neat to see this completely uncut. It does deliver the exploitation goods, plus there's real characters and real story.

Surprisingly well-written and well-made. If you like trash cinema, this is one of the very best, and it was made for almost nothing, but features some very serviceable performances and a nice script--in addition to the graphic violence, nudity, ritual dances and atmosphere.

Deep within the jungles of Blood Island--in the interest of science--twisted Dr. Lorca has been using chlorophyll to turn some of his patients into green-blooded mutations. The worst of these experiments has transformed into a horrible, murderous monster barely recognizable as human. It's up to civil servant John Ashley to try to save the local population from this danger. Can he destroy the dangerous experiments of Dr. Lorca?

"Mad Doctor of Blood Island" was made with total seriousness, something very rare in low budget exploitation. Characters intellectualize and debate in a civilized way rather than having screaming arguments. They wander the island depressed, questioning their lives. VERY SELDOM do horror films approach such thinky territory! And it's all done with a straight face. The entire cast is wonderful... As another reviewer suggested, "Let the bizarre ennui envelop you."

This movie is definitely not everyone's cup of tea (what movie is?), but if you like good cheap movies, I feel it is worth a look. The sequel to this one ("Beast of Blood") is entertaining, and the Chlorophyll Monster costume looks a lot better, but IMHO it's nowhere near as good as this first one.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Eddie Romero... AUTEUR!!, 29 October 2002
Author: madsagittarian from Toronto, Canada

Shortly after the Beach Party cycle of films petered out, AIP regular John Ashley went to the Philippines to produce with Eddie Romero a handful of exploitation films, of which this is the best known. It is a little disconcerting to see the arch in his career at this point. All those beach party and hot rod flicks that John did for Mr. Arkoff were admirably quaint, yet seem like Kubrick compared to the standard production values of these films.

Reference books all mention how awful these movies are, yet for some they are so putrid that they create a strange kind of attraction. But these films are nonetheless interesting for their bewildering atmosphere: these sweaty, tinny opuses seem to be made in the spirit of 40's B-pictures with liberal amounts of cheap 60's gore. This second entry in the "Blood Island" series (following BRIDES OF BLOOD, which is even worse) concerns the Chlorophyll Monster running amok, scaring natives, and putting viewers to sleep. As dreadful as these spate of Filipino exploitation films are, during their proliferation in the 1960's and 70's, it was always interesting to see who popped up in them. This time, Ashley's co-star is the lovely Angelique Pettyjohn, whom Trekkies would remember from the "Gamesters of Triskelion" episode, and who had yet to embark on a career of Triple X features such as TITILLATION.

Romero's monster is so frightening that the height of suspense comes when the creature just stands there and stands there for the longest time when it is cornering somebody. I haven't seen this deadening rot in over 12 years, yet for some reason I am getting a craving to see it all over again. Are we that fed up with the mainstream, that we masochistically seek out films that we know are pieces of painfully inept tedium just to escape some piece of Hollywood mediocrity? Is it more important to trudge through the Grade Z movie universe to find that one moment that actually works or exhibits some whisper of technical competence, than to be de-sensitized by any standard commercial fare where production values are taken for granted? Is it just some piece of lost youth we are attempting to regain in these movie experiences no matter what the price of disappointment? I don't know, but thanks to the DVD revolution, someone is unearthing these curious pictures all over again, as it is well nigh impossible to find this stuff on VHS anymore, and the barrel scrapings of the late show are now lined with infomercials for mouthy psychics and TimeLife books. At least its sequel BEAST OF BLOOD is marginally better.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Drive-in classic lives up to its reputation, 19 October 2006
8/10
Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York

Three people come to Blood Island for their own reasons. The beautiful Young girl is there to find her father. The handsome islander is there to reunite with his mother. The doctor is there to investigate a supposed out break of a new disease. What they find when they get there is a monster on the loose that likes to disembowel and dismember (graphically) his victims.

Sequel to Brides of Blood (and third of the Blood Island films, the first being Terror is a Man which only shares the same location) this is more of the same only up a notch. Its mad doctor on the loose using science to create a monster that runs around killing people. Hooray for crackpot medical degrees.

What can I say about a movie that begins with the audience being given "the pledge of the green blood" other than see this movie? If you like old school horror films, or drive-in style movies, this film is for you. This movie is a blast. It moves along at a good clip, has a great monster, some very graphic killings (you will see blood, limbs and intestines) and some topless women. Its the sort of movie they don't make any more.

My only complaint is that some knucklehead thought it would be a good idea to zoom in and out every time the monster attacks. Its the equivalent to whiplash and really distracts from the early attack scenes. Thankfully the effect isn't done as wildly in the later scenes and you actually can put away your neck brace and enjoy the film.

A drive-in movie classic.

7.5 out of 10 (8 for IMDb purposes.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Trashy kind of fun monster, horror, exploitation film, 17 November 2004
7/10
Author: Paul Andrews (poolandrews@hotmail.com) from UK

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A native woman is chased through the jungle on Blood Island by a mutant green monster, the result of a failed experiment. When it catches her, it kills her. Three people are sailing toward Blood Island. Sheila Willard (Angelique Pettyjohn) is looking for her father who lives on the island. Carlos Lopez (Ronaldo Valdez) who was born on the island and is returning to see his mother after hearing of his father's death. And finally the hero, Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) who has been sent from the mainland to investigate an incident that happened on this very same boat where a man was rescued from the sea and killed a member of the crew, and when shot had green blood. Upon arrival they are greeted by the Chief, Ramu (Alfonso Carvajal) and his people. Sheila finds her father (Tony Edmunds) who is a drunk, Carlos finds his old friend Marla (Alicia Alonzo) and his mother (Tita Munoz) at her mansion but she doesn't want to leave as all she has left is memories and also claims there is nothing for her on the mainland. Staying at the mansion with her is the crazy scientist Dr. Lorca (Ronaldo Remy) and his henchman Razak (Bruno Punzalan). Soon after arriving Sheila is attacked by a green monster, a native tries to help her only for the monster to kill him instead, Sheila sees her opportunity and escapes. As Foster investigates the island it becomes clear that all is not well. More people are brutally murdered, and Foster discovers that Dr. Lorca has been experimenting on the natives and Carlos's father Don Ramon that has turned him into a chlorophyll-contaminated, living, walking half plant half man monster who savagely mutilates anyone in his path! It's up to Foster to save the day.

Jointly directed by Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon on location in the Philippines, I thought it was pretty good fun. The script by Rueben Canoy moves along at a fair pace and remains interesting throughout, there is even a couple of nice lines in there, after meeting Foster for the first time Sheila's father says "he's dealt with wino's more than you and he's a shrewd judge of character, I hate him already!". Technically the films nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, photography, music, acting, sets and special effects while not brilliant, are perfectly acceptable. The monster itself looks decent, except it's cut out eyes so the actor underneath can see, you can see his eyelids. There is a surprising and pleasing amount of blood and gore, again while not brilliant it is effective. Severed limbs and heads, and mutilated corpses with their intestines hanging out look good, there is a bit of animal cruelty in here to, so beware. One thing I really disliked about this film was whenever the monster attacks or is on screen someone made the decision to have the camera constantly zoom-in zoom-out that becomes very annoying, very quickly. The jungle locations gives the film a nice lush green look to it. It's obvious that most of the night scenes were filmed in the day and are far too bright considering that we are supposed to be in the middle of a jungle with no natural light except the moon and stars, but the up side to this is that at least we can actually see whats supposed to be happening. A solid horror exploitation film thats worth a watch at least. Good fun.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Worth a look for Drive-In enthusiasts, 5 October 2005
5/10
Author: Sheep_Dip from United Kingdom

If you are a Z-grade movie fan then you'll pleased to hear that this is one gloriously bad film. You get the full works here - paper-maché monster masks, screaming maidens, wooden acting, brief flashes of nudity, cave walls that are less-than-solid and a surprising dash of 1960s gore. However the best part, or worst depending on your point of view, is the wonderfully stodgy dialogue on display, for example:

Man: "What a scare you gave me. But then you are a kind of ghost yourself aren't you". Woman: "What sensitivity".

Add to this a plot involving chlorophyll (the stuff that makes leaves green) poisoning, native rituals and you've got yourself a decent B-movie. There are some aspects that will undoubtedly annoy most people, the large number of "padded" scenes for example, but the worst has to be the bloody annoying manic lens zooming!. Otherwise the film is fun to watch and will no doubt please most fans of Romero and low-budget horror fare.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Green with Envy - I Think Not, 28 May 2006
4/10
Author: BaronBl00d (baronbl00d@aol.com) from NC

You know you are in one one weird cinematic experience when a prologue to the film opens with some bit about joining the order of the green blood - which has no relevance to the rest of the film other than the fact that green blood is a central ingredient in this poorly crafted, badly acted, and thoroughly fun drive-in exploitation film from the early 70s. Made on the proverbially shoestring budget in the Phillipines with capital and "talent" offered by actor John Ashley, Mad Doctor of Blood Island is really an inexplicable film in many ways. The central story surrounds a daughter going back to some island to see her father who she has not seen in many, many years. A young doctor is traveling along as well(Ashley). When they get there, the two see that there is a dark oppressive cloud hanging over everyone, and it seems it is entirely due to the presence of one Dr. Lorca - resident mad doctor with Roy Orbison shades barking out orders and going on inane diatribes about the fate of mankind, etc... It really doesn't matter as it really doesn't make any sense. Soon we discover through a series of very slow-moving scenes and tight-lipped residents, that Dr. Lorca has been experimenting with plant chlorophyll(yep, you heard me) and human beings(now we can surmise the genius used in making the blood green right?). Well, to spin a not-so-intriguing story short, chaos ensues and the doctor gets even madder - if that were even possible. This movie has all the elements needed to have a successful so-bad-it-is-good movie: ridiculous dialog, hammy bad acting(Remy playing Dr. Lorca is a real hoot for all the wrong reasons), virtually no budget and what budget it does have is poorly used, and atrocious special effects. The "monster" looks just awful and totally unconvincing. John Ashley is okay in his role. You can do a lot worse to be sure, and his female buxom co-star Angelique Pettyjohn will keep you interested while she is on screen(especially during her very brief session in the background of the Phillipine woods amidst terror being reeked by the green monster. Pettyjohn is a real stunner! The real inexplicable thing about this film was that it spawned two sequels. Now, that has me scratching my head.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
What deranged mind thought this up? :), 19 April 2005
3/10
Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

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!

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Exotic Exploitation, 26 September 2002
10/10
Author: mrthrill from San Francisco Bay Area

This amazingly atmospheric ,surreal and sleazy drive-in masterpiece is a must-see for all fans of monsters, exotica, John Ashley, mad scientists, and cheesecake. I bought it based on its notorious reputation (and some seductive stills) and was not disappointed. It has some HG Lewis type gore, lots of gratuitous nudity, beautiful scenery, earnest bad acting, a seriously scary monster, and more. This is B Movie making at its finest, sheer exploitation with no apologies and no holds barred. Even the eerie exotica music score is cool. Eddie Romero's Filipino horror films of this era will appeal to all fans of 60s/70s Mexican and Spanish horror cinema. They are even as unique, bizarre, and compelling as the Japanese yakuza flicks from Seijun Suzuki of the same era, and much more colorful, entertaining and original than contemporary horror cinema. I also highly recommend "Brides of Blood" (the monster is kinda like a demonic tiki, a relative of the tree monster Tabanga in "From Hell it Came")and "The Blood Drinkers"m featuring a vampire that is as suave as a James Bond villain and incredible photography. I've heard some genre fans hate these movies for being so awful. I was pleasantly stunned at how wrong these naysayers were. What a great discovery.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Drive-in gore feature, 21 September 2001
Author: dmuel from downtown, Michigan

I recall seeing this film at a drive-in many years ago. While I admit to a tendency of enjoying bad movies, this one had some allure because of its exploitive bent. Yes, the script is bad, the acting is also stinky, and there is some screwball operating the camera who keeps playing with the zoom lens, but the movie attempted to expand the boundaries of shock value in its day. An island monster is running around making hamburger of his victims. A not-too-savvy young American with a Ricky-Nelson haircut is on the case. Care to guess what happens next? When I saw it as a teenager it had an impact, but it probably rates as a grade D horror flick. A product of the Philippines, I believe. Am I recommending it? Only for fans of the genre.

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