Visitors Review

duowcewy (2012-05-26 02:18)

If you liked From Dusk Til Dawn,,, (quasi-spoiler)

You HAVE to see this - and then ask yourself how original one of thecentral parts of that film is. Some parts seem - to me - to be direct"borrowings". I actually like Filipino horror films - they tend to befantastic, have pretty good production values (other than the monstercostumes and mad-scientist sets), and have some fine actors in them.This one has good camera-work, good lighting, the soundtrack works.Filipino horror films, like Mexican ones, also have different religiousundertones that add something to them.The acting is usually solid, although the dialogue probably would flowbetter if the Filipinos spoke Spanish. Vic Diaz, who is in this one, isgreat. If you like him, check out his flatulent vampire in VampireHookers. Give it a try - the first time I saw it I thought it was just cheesy,but had to see it a second and third time. I'll bet you Tarantino did.

peace63 (2012-05-25 12:32)

1950s Atmosphere

This film was released in 1971, but I find it very hard to believe thatit was not made in the early 1960s. Before looking it up on IMDb, I sawthis movie tonight and I was positive it was a 1950s flick. This movieis too cheesy to have been made in 1971. The cars are all 1950s orperhaps early 1960s vehicles. The jazz music that is used throughoutthe film is right out of dozens of 1950s movies. If you check all theactors involved, most of them only worked on a couple of movies in the1962-1963 era, and then Blood Thirst in 1971. Robert Wilson had doneall of his film work from 1962-1965. I have to believe that BloodThirst (filmed in Black and White) was probably filmed between1960-1963, and then shelved due to lack of a distributor. Since thisfilm was made in the Phillipines and most of the cast is Fillipinos,and it was in Black and White, and it is awful; the odds are that themovie took a few years to find anyone interested in distributing it.Blood Thirst is so amazingly awfully boring that it is hard to explainhow boring it is. Robert Winston plays a detective who is called on bythe Chief of Police (Vic Diaz) in Manila to help solve some crimes.There is some romance between Winston and Judy Dennis, who plays theAnglo adopted sister of Diaz. The two of them slap each other invarious scenes, and at one point Winston slaps her and then kicks hernightstand where the light is. Apparently this was supposed to implythat they got cozy. The next day he punches her by accident and shespends the night again. Not exactly a good movie to watch for anyonewho wants to make friends.The special effects are less than horrible. The monster is Calderon,the night club manager. He is wearing what looks like a pumpkin on hishead. The other monster is what amounts to a succubus. Hertransformation from a young blonde Anglo into an old Filipino woman(apparently they could not find any elderly Anglos?) is hilarious.Aside from a few scenes of scantily clad women, and the climacticending, the rest of this movie is all talk. It must have been filmed onthe ultimate shoe-string budget. There is no gore, the effects are farfrom special, and the acting is worth a few yucks. Andy Griffith (asAndy Taylor) or Don Knotts (as Barney Fife) could have played the roleof Detective Adam Rourke in either Andy or Barny mode (both would havecost too much), and this movie would have actually been better as afull-fledged comedy.

Mikel3 (2012-05-24 17:49)

This film was a pleasant surprise !

I picked this up in a $1 store on a DVD with another film. I reallywanted to see the other film ('Castle of Blood' -USA title) on the DVDand only watched 'Blood Thirst' out of curiosity and because my wifesaid, "lets give it a chance". We figured how can you go wrong buyingtwo films on a DVD for one dollar especially when one of thefilms('Castle of Blood') is rated highly. The earlier comments herelead me to believe 'Blood Thirst' was going to be a bomb. Instead mywife and I both found it enjoyable maybe even more so than the higherrated film. More than once we were laughing out loud...and the goodpart is those scenes were supposed TO BE funny. As opposed to scenesthat are unintentional funny in some truly bad films. Also, I thoughtthe dubbing to English was well done as was the transfer to a niceclear DVD image. The film had a great early 60s feel to it and the B/Wonly made it better. There were some wonderfully off-beat charactersand scenes. I also found it hard to believe this was released in 1971because of the early 60s look and feel.Anyway, I wouldn't let the other comments here keep you from seeingthis, it's an enjoyable/offbeat little film with some good acting in itand surprisingly funny scenes. It's worth your time for a fun detective/horror film with a few chills and romance thrown in for good measure.And don't forget to check your local discount stores for it. I'm gladto have it in my DVD collection what a bargain!

Andrew Leavold (2012-05-24 10:15)

Vic Diaz vs the Bubblegum Monster

From the clothes, hairstyles and black and white film grain it lookslike Blood Thirst was filmed in the Philippines by an Americanproduction company around the mid Sixties, but wasn't released until1971 on the bottom of a double bill with British vampire movieBloodsuckers (1970). Even in 1971 Blood Thirst would have seemed likean anachronistic curio – quaint, and for the most part uneventful,until the ludicrous ending's payoff where we see the film's chewedbubblegum-faced monster. Then, and only then, can I say: baby, all isforgiven.Chubby Vic Diaz (and let's face it, it's not a Philippines B filmwithout the seedily lovable Vic) plays Inspector Ramos, a Makatipoliceman on the trail of missing hostesses from the Barrio Club, adownbeat tourist trap run by the suspicious Senor Calderon. When thegirls turn up hanging upside down and drained of blood from cuts ontheir arms, he sends for his old friend from the States, a cop namedAdam Rourke who, as a New Yorker, is obviously used to seeing ritualmurders. Posing as an "Ugly American" on a writing assignment, he goesundercover at the Barrio Club, asks one too many questions, cracksjokes like a proto-Arnie while shooting a would-be assassin, and turnsout to be an ill-tempered ladies man with his eye on everyCaucasian-looking woman in Manila. Just like every sleazy Hawaiianshirted white guy on a Philippines hayride.His eyes settle on both Inspector Ramos' adopted sister Sylvia, whoresists Rourke's questionable charms until she can no longer stand it,and on the Barrio Club's featured attraction, the exotic dancer andblond Peruvian bombshell named Serena. It seems her beauty is more thanskin-deep: it's vein-deep, and may be the still-beating heart of ablood cult of Mayan or Incan origin – or older, we're never quite sure– in which Golden Goddesses are kept eternally youthful with the bloodof club hostesses. The Golden Goddess theory may explain, though notfully, why Serena looks more Swedish than Peruvian, but definitelywon't point to where she's stashed her stewardess uniform forScandinavian Airlines.And so to the "horror" element: a blood cult, a bubblegum faced monsterwaving a knife at a young girl strapped to an altar. And…that's prettymuch it. It's an odd film reminiscent of an undercooked episode ofHawaii Five-O minus the pineapple, that's more interested in itsmystery angle than the gore or supernatural elements. It also feelsempty, and not just plot-wise – Blood Thirst is the only film I canrecall that makes a city of over 10 million people seem uninhabited.Still, it's an interesting 73 minutes, more for what it is than what itdoes: a cheapo spook-show which predates the John Ashley/Roger Cormandeluge of Philippine horrors by several years. And, to be fair, it'snot every day you see a monster clobbered to death by an undercovercripple's fake leg.Adam: There's a killer on the loose… a homicidal maniac with delusionsof ancient history. Now, can I use your phone?

Jemiah (2012-05-21 23:50)

Definitely a B-movie - but extremely watchable!

I was pretty startled to find out that this film was made in 1971. Ithas all the earmarks of a 1950s B-lister - ambiguous horror, randyhero, tons of gorgeous dames, peril, black and white photography.There's barely enough horror in this film to call it such, and whatthere is, is extremely cheesy, but I found myself loving itnonetheless. The Manila, Phillipines setting is interesting and thestrained one-liners of the hero (and his primary love interest) aregold-plated howlers. This is a fine movie to put on and mock, whilehaving a few pina coladas, before watching something actually good (orat least, a genuine 1950s B-movie horror classic). You won't feel badabout not giving it your complete attention, but fulfilled when you do.

Woodyanders (2012-05-21 10:16)

Okay Filipino fright flick

Macho wisecracking playboy American sex crime expert Adam Rourke(decently played by Robert Winston) is summoned to the Phillippines byjolly and affable police captain Miguel (a typically fine and engagingperformance by ubiquitous Filipino exploitation cinema mainstay VicDiaz) to investigate a baffling series of brutal murders. Director NewtArnold, working from an overly talky and largely uneventful script byN.I.P. Dennis, sadly allows the pace to crawl along at a sluggish clipand crucially fails to build much in the way of either suspense orspooky atmosphere. Moreover, the infrequent attacks by a ratherlaughable lumpy faced monster are flatly staged. Fortunately, this filmis beautifully shot in gorgeous sepia-tinged black and white bycinematographer Hermos Santos; the various blue, green, and red huesgive this picture an exquisitely moody and stylish film noirish look.In addition, the mellow jazzy score hits the groovy spot, there are afew cool secondary characters (my favorite is the crippled, but stillhighly capable undercover cop who helps Rourke out), the climax isreasonably lively and exciting, and fetching blonde Yvonne Nielson as asexy exotic nightclub dancer adds a little sizzle to the otherwisepretty drab proceedings. A strictly passable timewaster.