The Blood Beast Terror
British theatrical release poster
Directed byVernon Sewell
Written byPeter Bryan
Produced byArnold L. Miller
Tony Tenser
StarringPeter Cushing
Robert Flemyng
Wanda Ventham
Vanessa Howard
CinematographyStanley A. Long
Edited byHoward Lanning
Music byPaul Ferris
Production
company
Distributed byTigon Film Distributors
Release date
February 1968
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Blood Beast Terror is a 1968 British horror film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Peter Cushing, Robert Flemyng and Wanda Ventham, released by Tigon in February 1968.[1] In the United States it was released by Pacemaker Pictures on a double-bill with Slaughter of the Vampires under the title The Vampire Beast Craves Blood. The film is also known as Blood Beast From Hell and Deathshead Vampire.[2] The budget was circa £40,000 and this was the first film to be made under the Tigon British Film Productions banner. The Sorcerers (1967), made by the company under the corporate name of Tony Tenser Films Ltd was later rebranded Tigon.[3]

Plot

In 19th century Britain, a series of grisly murders are taking place in the countryside near London. The victims are good-looking young men, between the ages of twenty and thirty, and all have had their throats torn open and their blood drained. The witness of the latest murder, a coachman named Joe Trigger, is driven insane when he catches a glimpse of the mysterious 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, Quennell hatches a theory that perhaps a homicidal eagle is on the loose. At the scene of the latest killing, several shiny scales are discovered.

The two latest victims were students of the renowned entomology professor Dr. Carl Mallinger, who lives nearby with his beautiful daughter Clare, and their scar-faced butler, Granger. When Quennell brings the scales to Mallinger for identification, Mallinger behaves suspiciously and tries to take all of them. Quennell describes his theory about a killer eagle, but Mallinger dismisses it outright. Quennell is unaware that the entomologist has a pet eagle, which the sadistic Granger torments.

Explorer and naturalist Frederick Britewell returns from Africa with some moth chrysalids for Dr. Mallinger and the handsome young adventurer soon becomes a victim of Clare, who is the real murderer; Clare is a "were-moth" and transforms at night to drink the blood of young men. Britewell becomes her latest victim after watching her in an amateur horror 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 exclaim, "Death's head!" to Quennell before he dies. Both Mallinger and Clare claim not to have known Britewell when questioned by Quennell.

Quennell's superior suggests he takes a holiday and delegate the case to Sgt. Allan, but the Detective Inspector refuses. He reveals his intention to send his daughter Meg to stay with some relatives in Sussex until the investigation is over. As they leave for the railway station, Allan informs Quennell that Dr. Mallinger did in fact know Frederick Britewell, prompting Quennell to perform an immediate search of Mallinger's home. He finds that the scientist and his daughter have left for Upper Higham. He also discovers a cellar filled with human bones and Granger's corpse.

Quennell informs his superior he will be taking leave after all: he and Meg go to Upper Higham incognito as a vacationing banker named Thompson and his daughter. There they meet a young bug collector who shows him the proudest exhibit in his collection, a Deathshead moth, and Quennell discovers that Mallinger is also incognito as a "Dr. Miles" staying at a nearby estate. Mallinger is attempting to create a male were-moth to be a mate for his increasingly bloodthirsty daughter.

Clare kidnaps a child to provide blood for the male were-moth, which is growing in a cocoon. After this, Mallinger decides to end the experiment, burning the cocoon. His change of heart prompts Clare to assume moth form and kill him.

Quennell arrives at Mallinger's house with a police officer, to find Clare in moth form attacking another victim. After Clare flies up to escape the scene, Quennell lights a fire in the garden, prompting her to fly back down into it, where she is consumed by the flames.

Cast

Production

Vernon Sewell said "the idea amused me, and Peter Cushing was a great friend of mine, who I liked very, very much. And, again, I was in complete control, nobody has any - you see I could do what exactly what I damn well liked!" The opening scene, set in Africa, was shot on the River Hamble. [4]

Cushing is said to have considered The Blood Beast Terror to be his worst film.[5]

References

  1. ↑ John Hamilton, Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser, Fab Press, 2005 p 115-116
  2. ↑ "The Vampire Beast Craves Blood".
  3. ↑ Hamilton, John (201). "The Making of The Blood Beast Terror". Little Shoppe of Horrors (43): 31.
  4. ↑ Fowler, Roy (8 July 1994). "Vernon Sewell". British Entertainment History Project.
  5. ↑ Senn, Bryan (28 February 2019). "Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills!": Horror and Science Fiction Double Features, 1955-1974. McFarland. p. 317. ISBN 978-1-4766-3571-2.
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