Although not an actual sequel to "Brides of Blood" this film is the second movie of the "Blood Collection" series. In this particular film two people, "Sheila Willard" (Angelique Pettyjohn) and "Carlos Lopez" (Ronaldo Valdez) are coming to Blood Island to visit relatives. Also on the ship is a young pathologist named "Dr. Bill Foster" (John Ashley). When they reach the island they soon discover that a green monster is loose in the jungle and is killing the horrified natives in a very grisly manner. Some of the inhabitants, particularly "Dr. Lorca" (Ronald Remy) and Carlos' mother "Mrs. Lopez" (Tita Munoz), don't seem too surprised. Anyway, in some aspects this film is a bit better than its predecessor. Especially in the special effects department. However, the lighting wasn't good and some of the actors had a noticeable monotone delivery which hurt the overall production values. Now, I realize that this was a low-budget movie and in that regard it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. But the fact remains that there were some areas that could have used improvement and I have rated the film accordingly.

The second in the "Blood Island" series ups the ante with even more explicit sex and violence, recycling much from "Brides of Blood", including John Ashley. I didn't notice any other holdovers from the previous film, but the director hired actors who looked just like them anyway. There are carbon copies of Arcadio, Goro, Esteban Powers, and Alma, as well as the lovely Angelique Pettyjohn standing in for Beverly Hills.The plot is even wilder than before. This time, Ashley and damsel-in-distress-to-be Pettyjohn travel to Blood Island to locate her estranged father. No, the island is not called Matool. Anyway, what they discover is that the island is being stalked by a rampaging green humanoid monster, the result of a mad doctor's botched experiment involving chlorophyll used as a means of transforming human beings. Or something like that, right? Do we really care? There's a monster and it's killing people, and the protagonists don't have the sense to leave.Fans of naked ladies have plenty to look at, as the film literally opens with a nude woman being chased through the jungle by the creature. The gore in the film is gratuitous and ever-present, with the monster clawing people to death, ripping out their guts, and in one especially angry moment, attacking a young couple making out in the jungle. It rips off the man's arm (or was it a leg?) and efficiently removes the woman's head, tossing it in the air. What a cranky monster! It's also worth mentioning that the movie contains a very disturbing sequence where real animals are violently slaughtered on camera--a "native ritual" concludes with the natives rushing at some bound goats and pigs, stabbing them to death with knives, which was a genuine shock for me.Yet personally, I prefer "Brides of Blood" over this one, for one major reason. The director has attempted to disguise the ridiculous monster by using a pulsating zoom lens effect every time it's on screen. It's a gimmick that you'll either love or hate, and it's much more pronounced than the shakycam shenanigans of "The Blair Witch Project" or similar hand-held horror films. On a big screen, this effect would have been absolutely nauseating to me.Still, I'd recommend this movie to anybody who liked the first one, or anybody who digs grade-Z drive-in trash just like I do. The horror exotica settings do a lot to make the film interesting, and believe it or not, the ridiculous dialog exists alongside scenes that actually are well-written and memorable. Who expected THAT?

A native woman is chased through the jungle on Blood Island by a mutant green monster, the result of a failed experiment. When it catches her, it kills her. Three people are sailing toward Blood Island. Sheila Willard (Angelique Pettyjohn) is looking for her father who lives on the island. Carlos Lopez (Ronaldo Valdez) who was born on the island and is returning to see his mother after hearing of his father's death. And finally the hero, Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) who has been sent from the mainland to investigate an incident that happened on this very same boat where a man was rescued from the sea and killed a member of the crew, and when shot had green blood. Upon arrival they are greeted by the Chief, Ramu (Alfonso Carvajal) and his people. Sheila finds her father (Tony Edmunds) who is a drunk, Carlos finds his old friend Marla (Alicia Alonzo) and his mother (Tita Munoz) at her mansion but she doesn't want to leave as all she has left is memories and also claims there is nothing for her on the mainland. Staying at the mansion with her is the crazy scientist Dr. Lorca (Ronaldo Remy) and his henchman Razak (Bruno Punzalan). Soon after arriving Sheila is attacked by a green monster, a native tries to help her only for the monster to kill him instead, Sheila sees her opportunity and escapes. As Foster investigates the island it becomes clear that all is not well. More people are brutally murdered, and Foster discovers that Dr. Lorca has been experimenting on the natives and Carlos's father Don Ramon that has turned him into a chlorophyll-contaminated, living, walking half plant half man monster who savagely mutilates anyone in his path! It's up to Foster to save the day.Jointly directed by Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon on location in the Philippines, I thought it was pretty good fun. The script by Rueben Canoy moves along at a fair pace and remains interesting throughout, there is even a couple of nice lines in there, after meeting Foster for the first time Sheila's father says "he's dealt with wino's more than you and he's a shrewd judge of character, I hate him already!". Technically the films nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, photography, music, acting, sets and special effects while not brilliant, are perfectly acceptable. The monster itself looks decent, except it's cut out eyes so the actor underneath can see, you can see his eyelids. There is a surprising and pleasing amount of blood and gore, again while not brilliant it is effective. Severed limbs and heads, and mutilated corpses with their intestines hanging out look good, there is a bit of animal cruelty in here to, so beware. One thing I really disliked about this film was whenever the monster attacks or is on screen someone made the decision to have the camera constantly zoom-in zoom-out that becomes very annoying, very quickly. The jungle locations gives the film a nice lush green look to it. It's obvious that most of the night scenes were filmed in the day and are far too bright considering that we are supposed to be in the middle of a jungle with no natural light except the moon and stars, but the up side to this is that at least we can actually see whats supposed to be happening. A solid horror exploitation film thats worth a watch at least. Good fun.

Shortly after the Beach Party cycle of films petered out, AIP regular John Ashley went to the Philippines to produce with Eddie Romero a handful of exploitation films, of which this is the best known. It is a little disconcerting to see the arch in his career at this point. All those beach party and hot rod flicks that John did for Mr. Arkoff were admirably quaint, yet seem like Kubrick compared to the standard production values of these films.Reference books all mention how awful these movies are, yet for some they are so putrid that they create a strange kind of attraction. But these films are nonetheless interesting for their bewildering atmosphere: these sweaty, tinny opuses seem to be made in the spirit of 40's B-pictures with liberal amounts of cheap 60's gore. This second entry in the "Blood Island" series (following BRIDES OF BLOOD, which is even worse) concerns the Chlorophyll Monster running amok, scaring natives, and putting viewers to sleep. As dreadful as these spate of Filipino exploitation films are, during their proliferation in the 1960's and 70's, it was always interesting to see who popped up in them. This time, Ashley's co-star is the lovely Angelique Pettyjohn, whom Trekkies would remember from the "Gamesters of Triskelion" episode, and who had yet to embark on a career of Triple X features such as TITILLATION.Romero's monster is so frightening that the height of suspense comes when the creature just stands there and stands there for the longest time when it is cornering somebody. I haven't seen this deadening rot in over 12 years, yet for some reason I am getting a craving to see it all over again. Are we that fed up with the mainstream, that we masochistically seek out films that we know are pieces of painfully inept tedium just to escape some piece of Hollywood mediocrity? Is it more important to trudge through the Grade Z movie universe to find that one moment that actually works or exhibits some whisper of technical competence, than to be de-sensitized by any standard commercial fare where production values are taken for granted? Is it just some piece of lost youth we are attempting to regain in these movie experiences no matter what the price of disappointment? I don't know, but thanks to the DVD revolution, someone is unearthing these curious pictures all over again, as it is well nigh impossible to find this stuff on VHS anymore, and the barrel scrapings of the late show are now lined with infomercials for mouthy psychics and TimeLife books. At least its sequel BEAST OF BLOOD is marginally better.