Mad Doctor of Blood Island

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Also Known As

• Blood Doctor
• Grave Desires (USA) (reissue title)
• Le Médecin dément de l'île de sang (France)
• Tomb of the Living Dead

Tagline

• No Waiting. No Appointment. No Escape!

Main Details

• Released in 1969
• Color
• Running Time: 85 Min.
• Production Co: Hemisphere Pictures (I)
• Distribution Co: Hemisphere Pictures (I) (1969) (USA) (theatrical) | Astral Films (1970) (Canada) (theatrical) | Motion Picture Marketing (MPM) (1979) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release)

Cast and Crew

• Directed by Gerardo DeLeon & Eddie Romero
• Written by Reuben Canoy
• Starring John Ashley, Angelique Pettyjohn, Ronald Remy, Alicia Alonzo, Ronaldo Valdez
• Produced by Kane W. Lynn, Beverly Miller, Eddie Romero
• Cinematography by Justo Paulino
• Music Department Tito Arevalo

Film Review

With Mad Doctor of Blood Island, Co-Directors Gerardo DeLeon and Eddie Romero served up another tasty, trashy treat for all the young teens who attended the inner city Grindhouses and suburban Drive-Ins in the late 60s. The film begins with a really fun "Green Blood" prologue. Producer Sam Sherman came up with this idea as a tie-in to the films story featuring a deadly Green Plant Monster. If you don't have any green blood on hand, make up a cold strong margarita and use that as your green blood instead.

60s film heartthrob John Ashley returns to the bloody proceedings this time as Dr. Bill Foster who travels out to "Blood Island" to investigate a chlorophyll disease thats spreading across the area. He is accompanied by Sheila Willard (the sexy Angelique Pettyjohn of Star Trek) a woman looking for her estranged father on the island. During her investigation, the sexy Ms Pettyjohn has other things on her mind, namely Dr Foster. Sheila also discovers that her father drinks a helluva lot to escape from the trouble on the island. Carlos Lopez (Renaldo Valdez) a protege of the family has lost his father "Don Ramon" so Sheila has agreed to take his widowed mother back to the mainland.

Meanwhile, a mysterious doctor named Lorca (Ronald Remy of The Blood Drinkers) is conducting strange experiments in his secret lab. This Lorca guy may look like an Elvis-styled playboy but underneath he is a truly demented freak! One of his guinea pigs...err patients, Carlos' thought to be dead father "Don Ramon" was 'accidentally' transformed into a deadly chlorophyll creature who is now terrorizing the island. The creature tears apart anyone it comes across and its not a pretty sight. The gore FX are pretty heavy at times and hardcore fans will enjoy the incredibly nasty attack scenes featured. There's also some real life animal slaughtering scenes. Yes its certainly tasteless and cruel, but hey, this is a Phillipino horror-exploitation film right? Mad Doctor of Blood Island is another strange, exciting, sexy, campy and gory thriller from the directing team of DeLeon and Romero. The Deuce recommends this film for its bloody fun!

Reviewed by Popeye Pete - 6/13/07