BLOOD BEAST/ GIANT LEECHES BLU-RAY

Welcome back, my friends to the show that never ends. No, that’s not right. Hang on. Welcome to another round of Philm Phreaks.  This time around I’m looking at a two-fer Blu-Ray release from Film-masters. The movies included are “Night of the Blood Beast” with a bonus feature of “Attack of the Giant Leeches.” 

Coming from the Corman Brothers, “Night of the Blood Beast” doesn’t get a lot of love. Honestly, I think it deserves more. The story, centering around an astronaut whose ship crashes is well thought out, insightful and interesting. 

I have to wonder, given the way he brought back an unintended visitor, if this film was an inspiration on “Alien.” I also get a “Thing” vibe because of the isolation in a small facility. It also feels a lot like it could be an episode of “The Outer Limits.” 

The movie struggles under the weight of its low budget. A lot of the big ideas here required more money for special effects than they had, forcing them to use animation for the rocket scenes, a fluoroscope imaging part and some stuff under a microscope. Still, this is no worse than a lot of old “Doctor Who” episodes in terms of effects. In fact, the monster costume gets a lot of criticism, but it reminded me both of something you might have seen on “The Outer Limits” or a vintage “Doctor Who” episode. 

Some of the science doesn’t hold up with modern knowledge, but this was released in 1958, three years before a human being was launched into space. So, they were imagining something that hadn’t happened yet. So, I think it’s forgivable. Besides, a lot of old (and even some new) movies don’t hold up with modern science knowledge. 

Some people also complain about the acting of the main character, played by Michael Emmet. Honestly, I think that the sort of wooden nature of his character speaks to the fact that he’s in contact with an alien intelligence and sees things in a different way. I may be reading that in to something that was just a lack of acting skill, but I choose to see it that way. 

Overall, I think this is a creepy, science fiction horror movie that works pretty well. It’s far from perfect, but it’s entertaining. Now, there are a couple of different options for viewing the film. Basically you can choose theatrical version of TV version. I watched the theatrical one, but I believe the only difference is the aspect ratio. There are some minor glitches in the movie because, while they were working with the best quality print they could find, the physical film itself has faced some issues over the years. 

Beyond that, there are some really creepy aspects to the movie. I suppose with a film this old (it was release in 1959) spoilers don’t really apply. The way the leeches take humans captive and keep them alive to keep harvesting blood from them is particularly horrific to me. 

Again, the movie is not perfect, but it has its charms. It holds up better than some movies from it’s time period. The version included in this set is a new 4K scan, and I will say that it looks and sounds worlds better than the other copies I own. 

This set includes a number of intriguing bonus features. To me the best of those are the Mystery Science Theater episodes. Yes, they include the MST3000 episodes featuring the movie on the disc for that film. That’s a great touch, and a cool angle to it. I always say that the bonus features are just that bonuses and not a selling point. I would say that this set has some better bonuses than a lot of releases do. I would also add that just the cool booklet that comes with this is another bonus. 

Overall, this is a great way to celebrate a couple vintage creature features. I think both movies are well worth the time. I am really not sure I can pick one as a favorite over the other because I like them both a lot.