![]() ![]() (So you can overdo it on the vegetables.) It’s disorienting and unintentionally funny, but again, “Doc” does what it wants to do.Īdding to the mayhem, natives begin to turn green and ooze pus. He wiggles the zoom lens - in and out and in and out - incessantly. There is a monster - “Doc” isn’t just a soap opera - and when it appears, the cameraman does something you’ve never seen in any other movie. From left: Tony Edmunds, Alfonso Carvajal, Alonzo, Ashley, Remy, Pettyjohn and Valdez. “Aren’t you?” In a carefully composed shot, the cast observes a native ritual. “What’s wrong?” asks Carlos, who obviously was hoping for a little post-coital spooning. When Carlos tries to kiss Marla, she stops him, and kisses him instead.Īfterwards, Marla collects herself and saunters toward the door. She walks into his room without knocking, disrobes without a word and climbs on top of him without ceremony. When Marla finally decides to have her way with Carlos, she is in complete charge. Even worse, he’s a peeping Tom Willard spies on Marla as she skinny-dips by a waterfall, in a fairly gratuitous sequence. Shiela’s father turns out to be a sullen drunk. (The character will never be this nice again.) There’s also village chieftain Ramu (Alfonso Carvajal), who silently observes the goings-on. His first-in-command is Razak (Bruno Punzalan), a mute brute who smiles like an uncle when he first spots the returning Carlos. He walks with a cane, wears one glove, and exerts a Svengali-like control over his staff. The enigmatic Lorca speaks in calculated vagueries, and exudes creepy charm. Lorca (Ronald Remy, who played the shaved-head vampire in “The Blood Drinkers”). Hero meets villain: Bill (Ashley) in dinner talk with the enigmatic Dr. When Carlos says he’ll see her around, she deadpans, “As much as you want, little Carlos, and maybe more.” This girl is trouble. Lopez’s annoyance is palpable - taunting the young man by calling him “little Carlos.” (They knew each other as children.) Marla dresses like a post card model - sarong, lei, a flower in her hair - and doesn’t walk so much as prowl. Marla immediately inserts herself between Carlos and his mom - Mrs. This is interrupted by a character that practically steals the movie: Marla (Alicia Alonzo) is a diminutive wildcat who looks 16, but watch out. In fact, there seems to be some slight Oedipal thing going on between she and Carlos. Lopez, who is still very lovely for her age. ![]() Right: Later, Marla has her way with “Little Carlos” (Ronaldo Valdez). Marla (Alicia Alonzo) interrupts a mother-son moment, to the palpable annoyance of Mrs. Characters are introduced, questions are raised, monsters are riled. The voyagers land and the fun begins that’s what Blood Island movies do. Carlos Lopez (Ronaldo Valdez) knows that bad things happen on this island, and aims to extricate his widowed mother (Tita Munoz) from this dangerous place. This time, however, there’s a returning Blood Island native on board. In an unrelated matter, Shiela Willard (Angelique Pettyjohn) wants to check up on her father (Tony Edmunds), an émigré who hasn’t been answering her communications. Right: The welcoming committee.īill Foster (John Ashley) is a medical researcher sent to investigate reports of a troubling denizen of the island: a murderous lunatic who bleeds green. Left: John Ashley and Angelique Pettyjohn approach Blood Island. Like its predecessor “Brides of Blood” (1968), “Doc” opens with a boat chugging toward Blood Island, carrying white people who apparently haven’t heard about their destination’s abnormally high monster count. ![]() ![]() Characters withhold information from the audience, exchanging meaningful glances that imply: We have history. Green blood.įor a cheap little indie made in the Philippines, “Doc” has more than its share of character development - and soap opera-like secrets. “The Mad Doctor of Blood Island” is like “The Magnificent Ambersons” with blood. The third of four posts about the bizarre Filipino horror films affectionately known as the “Blood Island Trilogy.” Read previous post. By Mark Voger, author, “Monster Mash: The Creepy, Kooky Monster Craze in America 1957-1972″ ![]()
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