Bloodlust!
The movie opens with title and credits shown over an oil painting of a human skull and clawing hand. A fishing boat sits on a calm ocean. Two couples amuse themselves while on vacation. Johnny Randall (Robert Reed) and his girlfriend Betty Scott (June Kelley) are skeet shooting using empty liquor bottles for targets. Pete Garwood (Eugene Persson) and his girlfriend Jeanne Perry (Joan Lara) are fishing. The captain, Tony (Troy Patterson) is an unreliable drunk. Johnny is a good shot, but they are out of targets, so he decides to get amorous with Betty. Betty, the daughter of a Judo expert, demonstrates that she can handle herself in the clutch. Pete notices an island that was obscured earlier by clouds and mist. They decide to take the launch to the island and ask Tony to maneuver closer. Tony has passed out from drink, so Johnny maneuvers the boat closer to the island and the four take the launch to the beach. Tony wakes to see them leave and screams, "Come back. Come back you fools. Don't land there. Come back." The four land on the beach and go exploring. They do not see a man creep out from behind a rock and take their boat back out to sea. Johnny finds a large crab and they decide to have a clambake. The four head inland to gather banana leaves and Johnny falls into a large pit covered by brush. Betty eases her way into the pit to secure vines around her boyfriend so Pete and Jeanne can pull him out. They are interrupted by Dr. Albert Balleau (Wilton Graff) and two of his nautically dressed staff (uncredited). He directs his men to pull Johnny and Betty out of the pit.In a well-appointed trophy room, Balleau explains how he came to the island after the war. The walls of the room are covered with the heads of wild beasts. The two couples listen with interest, unaware they've entered a trap that will nearly cost them all their lives. Balleau explains he has developed a passion for hunting, "As other men collect fame and riches, I collect trophies." A very drunk Dean Gerrard (Walter Brooke) bursts into the room and says, "I thought you had visitors. I hear these strange voices." He dismisses himself and stumbles out of the room. Balleau apologizes for his house guest, explaining that he is a brilliant man when not drinking and an excellent chess player. When Johnny explains that they should be leaving, Balleau informs all four that it will not be possible to leave tonight. The jungle is far too dangerous to wander through at night. Johnny is concerned that when Tony finds them missing he might just return to the mainland and forget to return to find them. Pete proudly announces, "Don't worry about that. Tony won't be going anywhere without us. I made sure of that before we left the boat by taking the rotor. He won't be able to start the engine without it." A well-dressed woman wearing pearls and bracelets enters the room. Balleau joins her and grabs her arm. "May I present my wife," he announces. Sandra Balleau (Lilyan Chauvin) is obviously terrified of her husband, but does manage to speak politely with the new guests. Sandra escorts Betty and Jeanne to a guest room. Jondor (Bobby Hall) enters the room and escorts Johnny and Pete to their room. Before they leave, Balleau tells them, "Goodnight. Don't worry, everything will be taken care of." Balleau pours himself a drink. Sometime later, in the same room, and at the same table, Sandra and Dean embrace and kiss. Sandra warns her lover that her husband could walk in any time and that there are spies all over the house. Dean tells Sandra they must try again, but Sandra warns, "But how Dean, how? He can never allow anyone to leave this place alive. And he has made sure no one ever will." Dean explains that the arrival of the four kids may provide a chance. Balleau walks in and snidely asks his wife, "Sandra, entertaining our guest?" He invites his wife and guest to join him on a stroll of the grounds, but they beg off and return to their rooms. Before they leave Balleau warns them that the presence of the four new guests does not change the situation for them.Betty and Jeanne sit on their beds in the guest room. There is a knock on the door. Johnny and Pete enter and discuss their curious circumstances. They decide to split up and explore the house. Pete and Jeanne head in one direction while Johnny and Betty take another. Johnny and Betty only get a few feet when they are intercepted by Dean and Sandra who cover the youngster's mouths. Dean tells them to return to their room. Once there, Dean tells Johnny and Betty, "Something I want to tell you. Unless you do exactly as I say, you'll never get off this island." Pete and Jeanne take a stairway down to a storage room. They spot rats scurrying among skeletal remains of a human. Jondor enters carrying a package, but does not see the couple hiding behind crates and barrels along the wall. Pete and Jeanne enter the preparation room. A large tank is bubbling in the center of the room. Jondor re-enters the prep room and opens the blinds on a tank. A woman's body is floating inside. Jondor pulls a human foot from a sink and places it on a table. He pulls the skin of a human head out of the sink and stuffs a towel into the cavity. Jondor throws the remains from the sink into the boiling tank, and then departs the prep room. Pete and Jeanne leave and return to the bedroom upstairs. By this time, Dean and Sandra have finished telling their story to Johnny and Betty. Johnny concludes they must leave tonight, but Dean explains that he and Sandra have been trying, unsuccessfully, for a year. Dean explains that he has a plan. He wants to meet with Johnny and Pete in the trophy room. He tells the boys that Balleau is out hunting and that Tony is probably one of the targets. His plan is to swim out to one of the boats moored offshore with Sandra and return with help. Dean and Sandra escape the house and exit through the main gate, but Balleau knows their plan and follows them.Two days later, Johnny and Betty meet in the trophy room. Jondor enters the room and exits through a section of the wall that opens. Johnny and Betty decide to explore the hidden room. Behind the wall is a large grotto--a cave that Balleau has turned into his human trophy room. Balleau is sitting in a large, wooden chair in the center of the room. He invites the young couple in and tells them, "I have something I'd like to show you." He flicks on a light in one of the niches and the stuffed body of a man (an uncredited Harry Wilson) is seen. He is looking up with his hands up in the air. Betty screams and Balleau explains, "Welcome to my private trophy room. I had intended to show it to you in time, but why not now?" Balleau lights a second niche and explains that the man on his knees with an arrow through his hands covering his head was a convict. He tells Johnny that during the war he was a sharpshooter. He enjoyed the work so much it became a passion, then a lust. A third niche contains the stuffed remains of Dean and Sandra. Before he leaves, Balleau lights another section of the cave and explains that it can hold three or four trophies.The four young guests gather around Balleau's desk. He has explained what is to follow. Johnny is horrified, but Pete thinks it is just a joke. The girls will remain in the house while Balleau will hunt Johnny, Pete, and one more man. Jondor drags Tony into the room and places him in a chair. Balleau tells the third man, "Tony, you've outlived your usefulness to me. I paid you well to provide me with subjects in the past. I warned you not to use your boat for other purposes. But since you've been so foolish as to allow these young people to find their way here without my knowledge, I think it only right that you should share their fate." Balleau demonstrates the lethal power of the crossbow by destroying a stone horse on the mantle. He reveals his plan for the girls, then tells Jondor to lock them in their room. He tells the three men he will supply them a chance and the starting point is the Tree of Death in the center of the island.The three men arrive at the Tree of Death and find one single bullet for the gun Tony is holding. Tony decides to take the bullet and go his own way. This leaves Johnny and Pete to head for the beach and try to work their way back to the house to rescue the girls. At the house, the girls try to figure a way out of their locked room. Betty has an idea. She stages breaking a vase to muffle the sound of breaking their bedroom window. Betty and Jeanne take the ledge to an open window in another room. In the jungle, Balleau and Jondor hunt the three men. Tony sits on a log to rest and hears Jondor fall and reveal their position in the jungle. Tony runs, doubles back, and gets the drop on Balleau. He takes careful aim, and fires the gun, but nothing happens. Balleau delights in explaining that the gun has no firing pin. After toying with the unreliable drunk, Balleau shoots and kills Tony. Pete and Johnny hear Tony's scream, but continue on towards the beach. The girls find their way to the prep room to find a weapon they can use. One of the staff enters the room. He disarms Betty of her knife and lunges for her. She employs her training in Judo to toss the man into the tank of boiling liquid. The skin on his face peels away as he screams. He falls back into the tank and dies. The boys stop to rest near the beach and hear Balleau and Jondor approaching. They encounter an insane man (Bill Coontz) in tattered clothes wandering around screaming. Pete manages to fall into a swamp of quicksand and is easily pulled free. Pete is covered quickly with leeches, which he and Johnny pull off.The girls make it to the front gate and escape the residence. Jondor steps into the quicksand to retrieve the jacket Johnny left. He sinks quickly and silently, as he is mute. Instead of helping his hunting partner, Balleau laughs and tells the sinking man, "I'm grateful your own stupidity will save me the trouble of getting rid of you. It's sad the leeches will do their work so well. You might have made an interesting specimen for my museum." The insane man confronts the girls. Their screams draw the boys to their location and assistance. The man's screams draw Balleau. Johnny manages to knock the insane man out with a tree branch. The four escape into the jungle. Balleau kills the insane man with a bolt from his crossbow. He retrieves the bolt from the body and returns to the house. The four have hidden up in a tree and decide to return to the house to find weapons. They make their way back to the trophy room and force open the gun cabinet. Unfortunately there is no ammunition in the gun case. Balleau returns to the house and finds the guard at the gate dead; his neck is broken. The four enter the human trophy room with two empty guns. Balleau notices the forced gun cabinet and enters the human trophy room. Balleau sits and taunts his four young guests until they reveal themselves. After Pete tells Balleau they had nothing to do with the guards death, Balleau panics. He asks Pete to light the final niche. Jondor, covered with leeches, approaches Balleau. Balleau empties three bullets into the mute, but he still has the strength to crush Balleau in a bear hug and impale him on his own tableau. He pushes Balleau's wrists through the spikes on the wooden display rack. The two wrists and the neck bleed profusely as Balleau dies on his own display. Johnny tells his girlfriend, "Take it easy Betty. It's all over and we'll be safe now." They stare at Balleau's body as Johnny further observes, "I guess Balleau never thought he'd be the prize exhibit in his own museum." We close with a final shot of Balleau hanging on the display rack and a man screaming.
cult, murder