Beast of Blood
The cave Celeste Yarnall used as a dressing room was also the men's latrine for the male cast and crew members.,The British X certificate cinema release "Blood Devils" was taken from the same cut version used for the American TV version. This same version later resurfaced on video, however there was a second British video release that was uncut. It went by the title "Beast of the Dead", it contains some topless footage that wouldn't have got past U.S. TV, but would have been passed by the British censor. However lots of violence obviously hadn't much chance of making it past the censor, especially a gruesome scene where a doctor removes a man's head.,Featured in Elvira's Movie Macabre: Beast of the Dead (1983),"Beast of Blood" picks up where its predecessor, "Mad Doctor of Blood Island", leaves off, so in essence both movies are one long story. Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) is sailing away from the island when the monster of "Mad Doctor" causes the destruction of the boat. Bill is rescued, and one year later he returns to the island upon hearing stories of what may still be going on there, even though the villainous Dr. Lorca supposedly perished. He's now in the company of nosey, stubborn reporter Myra Russell (Celeste Yarnall) and a captain played by Beverly Miller (Miller also concocted the story for this entry). Of course, he learns that Dr. Lorca, now played by Filipino film veteran Eddie Garcia, is very much alive and still up to no good. Lorca is keeping the severed head of the monster alive in his lab, for one thing! This is overall not as much fun as one might wish it to be, as it has a mostly uneventful first half, and the movie does mostly consist of a trek / pursuit through the jungle. But, as with any of these Filipino horror movies, the inherent atmosphere of the locale comes through strong, and accompanied by the expectedly (and endearingly) grandiose music by Tito Arevalo, "Beast of Blood" does have the perfect "midnight movie" feel to it, and does have the legendary Eddie Romero in its director's chair; if you watch enough of these movies, Romero's is one name you'll start to see repeatedly. The acting basically gets the job done, with Ashley effective as the stolid hero. Yarnall, known for appearances in movies like "Live a Little, Love a Little", "The Velvet Vampire", and "The Mechanic", is super sexy and a commendably, fairly feisty type, and Liza Belmonte is also a real looker as helpful local Laida. Familiar faces Alfonso Carvajal as tribe leader Ramu and Bruno Punzalan as henchman Razak are fun, but not as much as Garcia, who seems to be relishing his role; Lorca cheerfully discloses at one point that he's "madder than ever". It's just too funny when Lorca is addressing the severed head, and even more so when the head is seen to speak! A pretty good finish and highly amusing gore and creature effects add to the appeal of this movie which if not great is still pretty good. Seven out of 10.,