In 1959, American producer Kane Lynn teamed with Filipino filmmakers Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon to make a grisly thriller billed as ”a unique experience in motion picture terror!” Its global success would soon transform the Philippines’ movie industry, launch the legendary BLOOD ISLAND series, and change the face of drive-in/grindhouse horror forever. Francis Lederer (RETURN OF DRACULA), Richard Derr (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE) and former Miss Denmark Greta Thyssen (JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET) star in this “quite terrifying” (The New York Times) take on H.G.Wells’ Island Of Dr. Moreau – also known as BLOOD CREATURE — now featuring a new 4k scan from a fine-grain print recently discovered at the UCLA Film Archive and presented totally uncut, including its “bell system for the squeamish and faint-hearted!!!”
Jimbo’s Take (4 / 5)
Terror Is a Man is considered the first film in the Filipino produced Blood Island horror series. But don’t be fooled. Terror Is a Man aka Blood Creature is infinitely more sophisticated than the deliciously exploitative drive-in trash that the series would eventually become.
Through the years, there have been multiple failed attempts to adapt H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau for the screen. Terror is a Man is the first (and perhaps only) to do it successfully. This is largely due to filmmakers Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero focusing their attention on creating strong characters and limiting the “monster” to one instead of a gaggle of island freaks.
Francis Lederer plays the “mad” Dr. Charles Girard who has left his successful New York practice to conduct his medical research on a small deserted island. The voluptuous Swedish beauty Greta Thyssen plays the doctor’s lonely and sexually frustrated wife, Francis Gerard. And Richard Derr rounds out the cast as the shipwrecked survivor, William Fitzgerald, caught between the doctor’s strange experiments and a love triangle.
The acting from all three is first rate. Each actor successfully portrays both the positive and negative qualities of their roles. I was completely engrossed and invested in all of them. Not a single one of them is purely innocent or evil. The doctor’s experiments are inhumane, but what he has achieved is miraculous. Filmmakers Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero intelligently force us to question the line between what’s right and what’s acceptable.
Greta Thyssen is simply smoking as the frustrated wife. She desires her old life off the island, and sees a chance to escape with Fitzgerald. But her character arc also includes a tenderness and compassion for her husband, making her decision an impossible one. And we yearn for her.
And Derr is a perfect leading man – strong, handsome, resilient, desirable. However, he is drawn to Mrs. Girard, making advances on her. They aren’t unwelcome advances, but a hero isn’t supposed to be this flawed. Romero’s and de Leon’s choice in making Fitzgerald imperfect makes the character infinitely more interesting. Besides, it’s hard to blame him because Thyssen is simply stunning.
Terror is a Man has more in common with the classic Universal monster films of the 1930s (Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, etc). But darker, sexier, and smarter. Aside from the alternate title Blood Creature and the same filmmaking team, Terror is a Man has nothing in common with the rest of the series thematically. This is great news if you’re not a fan of the type of films the series would become. Brides of Blood, Mad Doctor of Blood Island, Beast of Blood would later ratchet up the shock, gore, and nudity to appeal to our more baser tastes.
Severin’s blu-ray of Terror is a Man can be enjoyed as both a stand alone or as part of the [amazon_textlink asin=’B07HSZQKCP’ text=’Blood Island Collection’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’trashmenamaz-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d6ab3761-ecde-11e8-81e5-23220b9bcfad’]. The disc’s bonus interviews are brief, many of them coming from the documentary Machete Maiden’s Unleashed. Lacking is an audio commentary. This is only odd when you consider the other blu-rays incuded one, but this is admittedly a small nit-pick.
Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?
All in all, Terror is a Man is the very definition of a Hidden Treasure. It’s not a title that makes the rounds or gets discussed in conjunction with classic cinema. It’s great that Severin has released it with a fantastic new transfer so people like myself (and you) can discover movies that are worth the film they’re printed on.
Jimbo says: Hidden Treasure!
Jimbo's Take:
(4.0 / 5)
Blu-ray Extras:
(3.5 / 5)
Average:
(3.8 / 5)
Special Features
Man Becomes Creature: Interview with Hemisphere Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman
Dawn of Blood Island: Interview with Co-Director Eddie Romero
Terror Creature: Interview with Pete Tombs, Co-Author of “Immoral Tales”
When the Bell Rings: Interview with Critic Mark Holcomb
In 1959, American producer Kane Lynn teamed with Filipino
filmmakers Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon to make a grisly thriller billed as ”a unique experience in motion picture terror!” Its global success would soon transform the Philippines’ movie industry, launch the legendary BLOOD ISLAND series, and change the face of drive-in/grindhouse horror forever. Francis Lederer (RETURN OF DRACULA), Richard Derr (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE) and former Miss Denmark Greta Thyssen (JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET) star in this “quite terrifying” (The New York Times) take on H.G.Wells’ Island Of Dr. Moreau – also known as BLOOD CREATURE — now featuring a new 4k scan from a fine-grain print recently discovered at the UCLA Film Archive and presented totally uncut, including its “bell system for the squeamish and faint-hearted!!!”
In 1959, American producer Kane Lynn teamed with Filipino
filmmakers Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon to make a grisly thriller billed as ”a unique experience in motion picture terror!” Its global success would soon transform the Philippines’ movie industry, launch the legendary BLOOD ISLAND series, and change the face of drive-in/grindhouse horror forever. Francis Lederer (RETURN OF DRACULA), Richard Derr (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE) and former Miss Denmark Greta Thyssen (JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET) star in this “quite terrifying” (The New York Times) take on H.G.Wells’ Island Of Dr. Moreau – also known as BLOOD CREATURE — now featuring a new 4k scan from a fine-grain print recently discovered at the UCLA Film Archive and presented totally uncut, including its “bell system for the squeamish and faint-hearted!!!”
(4 / 5)
The acting from all three is first rate. Each actor successfully portrays both the positive and negative qualities of their roles. I was completely engrossed and invested in all of them. Not a single one of them is purely innocent or evil. The doctor’s experiments are inhumane, but what he has achieved is miraculous. Filmmakers Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero intelligently force us to question the line between what’s right and what’s acceptable.
And Derr is a perfect leading man – strong, handsome, resilient, desirable. However, he is drawn to Mrs. Girard, making advances on her. They aren’t unwelcome advances, but a hero isn’t supposed to be this flawed. Romero’s and de Leon’s choice in making Fitzgerald imperfect makes the character infinitely more interesting. Besides, it’s hard to blame him because Thyssen is simply stunning.
Severin’s blu-ray of Terror is a Man can be enjoyed as both a stand alone or as part of the [amazon_textlink asin=’B07HSZQKCP’ text=’Blood Island Collection’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’trashmenamaz-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d6ab3761-ecde-11e8-81e5-23220b9bcfad’]. The disc’s bonus interviews are brief, many of them coming from the documentary Machete Maiden’s Unleashed. Lacking is an audio commentary. This is only odd when you consider the other blu-rays incuded one, but this is admittedly a small nit-pick.
(4.0 / 5)
(3.5 / 5)
(3.8 / 5)
