Friday, May 4, 2012

Brides of Blood

Eddie Romero – 1968 – Philippines

One of many Eddie Romero films about nature going haywire on a remote island thanks to the perversions of science.  A group of researchers sail up one day and, (after an inexplicable “rape” scene involving an actress named ‘Beverly Hills’), disembark to learn that the natives have regressed to their old ways; namely, human sacrifice.  Before long we find out why; the flora and fauna of the island have been mutated by atomic radiation and have a ravenous appetite for people.  There is one humanoid beast – known as “the evil one” – who is particularly feared, and every night two nubile young girls in tear-away clothes are tied to stakes and left for him to maul and devour, which he does with lusty glee.  Brides of Blood is probably Romero’s most colorful and happily silly film from this period, what with its gigantic insects and all the plants that reach out to seize passerby.  Both its visual flair and its treatment of serious topics – (nuclear contamination, colonialism, paganism, religious hysteria, etc.) – elevate the film above routine exploitation.  It has a brain and it’s a lot of fun.  Just don’t gaze too closely at some of the monster make-up, especially the “evil one’s.”

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