The Blood Beast Terror
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| The Blood Beast Terror | |
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| Directed by | Vernon Sewell |
| Produced by | Arnold L. Miller Tony Tenser |
| Written by | Peter Bryan |
| Starring | Peter Cushing Robert Flemyng Wanda Ventham Vanessa Howard |
| Distributed by | Tigon British Film Productions |
| Release date(s) | 1968 |
| Running time | 88 m |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Blood Beast Terror is a 1968 British horror film released by Tigon. It was known in the United States under the title The Vampire-Beast Craves Blood.
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[edit] Story
A series of grisly murders is occurring in the English countryside. All the victims are good-looking young men, between the ages of twenty and thirty, and all have had their throats torn open and all their blood drained. The witness of the latest murder, a coachman named Joe Trigger, is driven insane when he catches a glimpse of the killer.
Investigating the deaths are Detective Inspector Quennell of Scotland Yard and his assistant, Sergeant Allan. Because Joe keeps ranting about a horrible winged creature with huge eyes (getting himself declared a lunatic by the police doctor), Quennell hatches a theory that perhaps a homicidal eagle is on the loose. He and Allan also find at the scene of the latest killing several shiny scales.
The two latest victims happen to be students of renowned entomology professor Dr. Carl Mallinger, who lives nearby with his daughter Clare, and their creepy butler, Granger. When Quennell brings the scales to Mallinger for identification, Mallinger behaves suspiciously and tries to take all of them (Quennell only ends up giving him one). He also puts forth his theory about a killer eagle, only to have Mallinger shoot it down. Little does Quennell know that the entomologist does actually have a pet eagle, which is tormented by Granger (in a mostly unrelated subplot that ends when the eagle attacks and kills Granger).
In the meantime, explorer and naturalist Frederick Britewell returns from Africa with some moth chrysalids for Dr. Mallinger, and the handsome young adventurer soon falls victim to the scientist's daughter Clare, who is in fact the one responsible for all the murders: due to circumstances unknown, Clare is a "were-moth" and transforms at night to drink the blood of young men. Britewell becomes her latest victim after going with her to see a play performed by some of her father's students (which seems to be a spoof of the Hammer Frankenstein genre), but lives long enough to tell Quennell, "Death's head!" when the inspector happens upon the dying explorer. Both Mallinger and Clare claim not to have known Britewell when questioned by Quennell.
Quennell's superior suggests he take a vacation and hand the case over to Sgt. Allan, but Quennell refuses. However he does reveal his intention to send his daughter Meg to stay with some relatives in Sussex until the investigation is over. As they leave for the train station, Allan informs Quennell that Dr. Mallinger did in fact know Frederick Britewell, prompting Quennell to perform an immediate search of Mallinger's home, only to find that the scientist and his daughter have left for Upper Highham. He also discovers a cellar filled with human bones, and the corpse of Granger.
Quennell then informs his superior he will be taking his vacation after all: along with Meg, he goes to Upper Highham incognito as a vacationing banker named Thompson, where he discovers that Mallinger is also undercover as "Dr. Miles." But can he stop Mallinger, who is attempting to create a male were-moth to be a mate for his daughter?
[edit] Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role |
| Peter Cushing | Inspector Quennell |
| Robert Flemyng | Dr. Carl Mallinger |
| Wanda Ventham | Clare Mallinger |
| Vanessa Howard | Meg Quennell |
| Glynn Edwards | Sgt. Allan |
| William Wilde | Frederick Britewell |
| Kevin Stoney | Granger |
| David Griffin | William Warrender |
| John Paul | Mr. Warrender |
| Leslie Anderson | Joe Trigger |
| Simon Cain | Clem Withers |
| Norman Pitt | Police Doctor |
| Roy Hudd | Smiler |
| Russell Napier | Landlord |
[edit] Trivia
This film's shooting title was The Deathshead Vampire, a reference to the fact that Clare's were-moth form is meant to resemble a death's head moth. The British DD Video "Masters of Horror" DVD release calls it The Blood Beast Terror on the DVD cover but the print used for the disc uses the The Vampire-Beast Craves Blood title because they claim the American print of the film provided the best available source material. Unfortunately this is not true and DD Video's release is actually far worse quality than releases with the Blood Beast Terror title on screen.
This was reputedly Peter Cushing's least favorite movie. He thought the script was silly and when he and Roy Hudd met for the first time on the set, Cushing asked him if he'd read it yet. When Hudd responded in the affirmative, Cushing said, "Not very good, is it?" The two then decided to ad-lib their two scenes together in order to give them a more comical tone.
Basil Rathbone was the original choice to play Dr. Mallinger, and looked forward to the role very much. He died before filming could begin, however, and the role instead went to Robert Flemyng.
Kenneth Colley has a brief scene as James, one of Dr. Mallinger's students.
