‘The blood lust of a frenzied vampire’
The Blood Beast Terror is a 1968 British horror film about a series of gruesome killings in which the victims are all young men.
Directed by Vernon Sewell (Burke & Hare; Curse of the Crimson Altar; House of Mystery; The Man In The Back Seat; Ghost Ship) from a screenplay written by Peter Bryan (The Plague of the Zombies, The Brides of Dracula).
The Tigon production stars Peter Cushing, Robert Flemyng (The Horrible Doctor Hichcock), Wanda Ventham, Vanessa Howard, David Griffin and Glynn Edwards (The Playbirds).
Plot [contains spoilers]:
In 19th century Britain, a series of grisly murders is 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 blood drained. The witness of the latest murder, coachman 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 an eagle is on the loose. At the scene of the latest killing, several large 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 falls victim to 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 (the play is a relatively faithful rendition of the Grand Guignol play “L’Horrible Experience” by Alfred Binet and André de Lorde) but lives long enough to exclaim ‘deaths 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 take 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 insect 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, which prompts Clare to assume moth form and kill him.
Quennell arrives at Mallinger’s house with a police officer and finds 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.
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Cast and characters:
Peter Cushing … Inspector Quennell
Robert Flemyng … Doctor Mallinger
Wanda Ventham … Clare Mallinger
Vanessa Howard … Meg
David Griffin … William
Glynn Edwards … Sergeant Allan
William Wilde … Britewell
Kevin Stoney … Granger
John Paul … Warrender
Russell Napier … Landlord
Roy Hudd … Morgue Attendant
Leslie Anderson … Coachman
Simon Cain … Clem the Gardener
Robert Cawdron … Chief Constable
Kenneth Colley … James
Beryl Cooke … Housekeeper
Roy Evans … Second Porter
Joan Ingram … Cook
David Lyell … Second Student
John Scott Martin … Snaflebum
William Maxwell … First Porter
Michael Mundell … First Student
Norman Pitt … Police Doctor
Malcolm Rogers … Doctor Elliott
Drew Russell … PC Smith
Honor Shepherd … Senior Housemaid
Robin Wentworth … Starkadder
Arnold L. Miller … Policeman
Paul Vernon … Medical Student
Filming locations:
Goldhawk Studios, Shepherd’s Bush, London, England
Grim’s Dyke House, Old Redding, Harrow Weald, Middlesex, England (Clare House-exterior)
Filming dates:
7th August 1967 to 16th September 1967.
Technical specs:
1 hour 28 minutes
Audio: Mono
Aspect ratio: 1.66: 1
Release:
Released in the UK in January 1968 on a double-bill with French/Italian production Castle of the Living Dead.
In the USA, the movie was retitled as The Vampire-Beast Craves Blood by Pacemaker Pictures and released on a double-bill with Italian import Slaughter of the Vampires (with the latter retitled Curse of the Blood-Ghouls).
Trailer:
Full film free to watch online [1080p Premium HD]:
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