The Blood of Heroes

This title has been recommended to me for years by my buddy Alec Shurtz, and when I finally watched it I could see why. One of two films directed by the writer of Blade Runner & Unforgiven, David Webb Peoples, This grimy post apocalyptic action flick holds up pretty damn well nowadays.  In the distant future a sport called only "The Game" is played by an elite group of athletes called "Juggers".The Game resembles football with bats and clubs and instead of a ball they use a dog's skull. The film follows Rutger Hauer's team of Juggers as the battle all the way to the subterranean "Red City". I was really surprised I never came across this film years ago seeing as I was obsessed with the Mad Max films for quite some time. I currently constantly urge pretty much everyone I know to watch this film.

9 dog skulls out of ten

The Blood Island Films

Blood Island is a wonderful place in Philippines were Mad Doctors, Green Blood, Green Beasts, Man Eating Trees & Panther Men roam free! This series of mostly filipino horror films were shot by Gerardo De Leon,Eddie Romero, & Al Adamson between 1959-1972. The first appearance of Blood Island was in the film Terror Is a Man a.k.a Blood Creature in 1959 directed by Gerardo De Leon. In the film a shipwrecked William Fitzgerald (Richard Derr) finds himself on the stormy island home of Dr. Charles Girard (Francis Lederer). It is eventually revealed that Doc Girard is conducting experiments that involve changing a full grown panther into a man. Relatively played out concepts but shot well and lots of dark gloomy atmosphere.

 The next in the series was Brides of Blood (regarded by many as the official first film in the Blood island "trilogy") in 1968 directed by Gerardo De Leon & Eddie Romero. This film boasts the first appearance of heart throb John Ashley (playing Jim Farrell), virgin sacrifices to an ogre like beast, and those Man Eating Trees, I mentioned earlier. Plenty of cheese to go around, quite enjoyable. The next film would be Mad Doctor of Blood Island in 1969 directed by Gerardo De Leon and Eddie Romero. This outing would be unique because of a new method of zooming the camera in and out wildly whenever someone was being attacked by the beast. John Ashley returns in this one, this time to play Dr. Bill Foster. The next film is the closest thing to an actual sequel in the entire series (being that the films as a whole all just take place on the fictional "Blood Island"). Beast of Blood directed by Eddie Romero in 1971 would take up right were Mad Doctor left off, with John Ashley reprising his role as Dr. Bill Foster. Regarded by many as the best of the Blood Island series Beast of Blood  boasts many memorable scenes, such as the opening action packed fight on the boat & the the severed head of the beast chanting "Dr Lorca!".

  Beast of Blood was technically the last film in the Blood Island Trilogy, but the studio hired the late great Al Adamson to do one last unofficial entry. Brain of Blood, which came out in 1972, was sequel in name only as well as being the only film in the series not shot entirely in the Philippines (parts were shot in California). Kent Taylor stars as Dr Trenton, who played Dr. Paul Henderson previously in Brides of Blood. Some may also recognize his sidekick Angelo Rossitto who played the smarter half of "Master Blaster" in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The film is about Dr Trenton being commissioned by the followers of a man named Amir (who rules a fictional place Kalid) to transport his(Amir's) brain in to a new body. The brain ends up being transported into the body of a giant deformed man named "Gor", who bares a striking resemblance to "Sloth" from the masterpiece The Goonies. Definitely the weakest of the series but still enjoyable and worth a watch.

So in review. Terror is A Man a.k.a Blood Creature was the first film to Feature Blood Island but not technically part of the "official trilogy" which consists of Brides of Blood, Mad Doctor of Blood Island, & Beast of Blood. Brain of Blood was the last in name only installment.

In conclusion I recommend all these films to the genre enthusiast. The Filipino film scene is often overlooked but Eddie Romero & Gerardo De Leon are extremely talented. Their films show quite a bit of character and skill...and everybody knows Al Adamson aint no slouch either.

-Film list-

1. Terror is A Man a.k.a. Blood Creature. 1958. Directed by Gerardo De Leon
2. Brides of Blood. 1968. Directed by Gerardo De Leon & Eddie Romero
3. Mad Doctor of Blood Island. 1969. Directed by Gerardo De Leon & Eddie Romero
4. Beast of Blood. 1971. Directed by Eddie Romero
5. Brain of Blood. 1972. Directed by Al Adamson

recommended yo.