Blood of the Vampire

 

"Blood of the Vampire" is a 1958 horror film directed by Henry Cass, and the stars includes Vincent Ball, Donald Wolfit and Victor Maddern. 

A 19th century village in Transylvania put to death a man named Doctor Callistratus for believing he's a vampire. Then a deformed and violent servant called Carl tracks down a scientist to revive the dead doctor. Six years later, the Doctor is much alive and working at an institute in Carlstadt for the criminally insane, where he performs cruel and evil experiments on living humans. 

This is a very tense and interesting story, set inside a sinister asylum, with brutal guards and vicious dogs. Anyone sent there will expect to leave in the grave! The actor playing the hunchback Carl suffered headaches from all of the make-up. Members of Hammer Production worked on making this film, which explains the gothic atmosphere. I rate this a wonderful 8/10.

Blood Strawberry

 

Earth vs the Flying Saucers

"Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" is a 1956 science fiction film, directed by Fred F. Sears and the stars include Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor. 

Mysterious flying saucers seen everywhere alerts a scientist, Dr Russell Marvin. A message from the objects doesn't make any sense at first, but once they learn about it, it's already too late. The aliens plan to take over the world and already turns their aggression towards humanity. Scientists are looking for ways to stop this and yet the hostile aliens have destroyed locations. 

The special effects used in this 50's sci-fi flick are truly amazing, because Ray Harryhausen (the special effects genius) was involved in making this film. Some of the scenes are actual real footage including the launches of Viking rockets and disasters. Paul Frees is the narrator in the opening of the film and is the same voice actor who talks in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.  

All over this was an action packed sci-fi deserving 8/10.

Blood Strawberry    

Summer of Fear (1978)

"Summer of Fear" is 1978 horror film made for TV and was first titled "Stranger in Our House." Based on the novel Summer of Fear by Lois Duncan. The film is directed by Wes Craven and the cast includes Linda Blair, Lee Purcell, Carol Lawrence and Jeremy Slate. 

Set during the warm summer, Rachel has everything to look forward to, including a party, her boyfriend and a prize for the horse racing contest. Then her orphaned cousin moves into the house and things start going horribly wrong for Rachel. She feels most uncomfortable with her cousin's strange behaviour and then she discovers creepy objects in the room.

The character Rachel in the film has a horse named Sundance while the book character of Rachel has a pet dog named Trickle. That change was because of actress Linda Blair's love for horses. Otherwise the rest of the film is true to the book. The actress Linda Blair and director Wes Craven both work together again on the film "Scream". 

I rate this fine 8/10

Blood Strawberry 

The Brain Eaters

 

This is a 1958 horror sci-fi, in black and white. Directed by Bruno VeSota, and the stars include Ed Nelson and Cornelius Keefe. 

An explosion in a forest causes problems for a local community. The cause of that is a mysterious metal cone that was responsible for animal deaths and human disappearances. Nobody could understand where it came from! Everyone assumed it must be alien in origin, but the mystery deepens. Meanwhile there's violence in the streets. A curious bunch of unknown parasite bugs want to take over the world. 

A young Leonard Nimoy has a small part as a mystic living inside the cone! The nickname of this movie is "Bunny Slippers"! The actor Ed Nelson used his artistic skills to make the parasites. Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein sued the film producers for plagiarising from his novel "The Puppet Masters" although it was settled out of court. It put off the actor John Payne wanting to make a film based on a novel by Heinlein.     

I rate this confusion a 3/10

Blood Strawberry.  

The Bone Eater

 The Bone Eater is a 2007 horror film made for television. It was directed by Jim Wynorski and the stars include Bruce Boxleitner, Adoni Maropis and Michael Horse. 

A construction site digs up a Native American burial ground, waking up a sinister creature. A monster that eats bones! A lot of people keep disappearing, and the local sheriff has been trying to discover why this is happening. The local legend says that a demon was once put in the ground a long time ago.   

There is a lot of special effects in this. This doesn't have any blood and gore but the monster itself is quite scary looking. There are some nice special effects but sometimes the film is silly. While the story is pretty grim, this isn't a typical horror film. It's more like a fantasy adventure film. I found it quite fun to watch. I rate this a dusty 4/10.

Blood Strawberry   

This Island Earth

 

This Island Earth is a 1955 science fiction in colour, directed by Joseph M. Newman and Jack Arnold. The cast includes Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue and Rex Reason. This film is based on the novel of the same title by Raymond F. Jones. 

An engineer named Dr. Cal Meacham experienced a strange event while flying his plane, and then is given unusual vials of formula that generates a lot of energy. He's contacted by an unknown source, offered a manual book with instructions on building a fantastic looking television set, advanced and alien in design. Soon it's made clear that an actual alien organised it.  

There are two different species of aliens in this film, including the white haired humanoids and the brutish big headed mutants. The scenes at the secret facility, then on the alien home world, was fantastic and looked super gorgeous. It took about two years making this but it was so expensive that they later scrapped a sequel. This is one of those films that I'd love to see a remake of. I give this film a stunning 9/10.

Blood Strawberry    

Bride of the Monster

"Bride of the Monster" is a 1955 horror and sci-fi flick, directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. and starring Bela Lugosi, Loretta King and Tor Johnson. 

Mysterious deaths happened in a jungle swamp near a spooky house. Occupied by a mad scientist conducting strange experiments using atomic power, resulting in eerie thunderstorms. The reporter Janet Lawton covers the story about it and then her car breaks down in the swamp, leaving her at the mercy of snakes and alligators. By chance, Lobo, a monstrous man from the spooky old house, carries her off to become an unwanted bride.

This is jam packed with shocks, including a monster with tentacles lurking near the house! Bela Lugosi plays the sinister mad scientist here, but it was one of his final films playing a villain. This movie does have a sequel named "Night of the Ghouls" made in 1959. The original name idea for "Bride of the Monster" during filming was "Bride of the Atom". 

I rate this a monstrous 7/10

Blood Strawberry