Bloodlust

Director: Ralph Brooke

Year: 1961

Running Time: 68 Minutes

Rated: M 15+

Genre: Horror

Starring:

Wilton Graff

Robert Reed

June Kenney

Eugene Persson

Joan Lora

Plot

Released in 1961 the plot of this Z-grade horror movie begins with four young adults, Johnny, Pete, Betty and Jeanne who are all out together on a boating trip when they come across an uncharted island. The four decide to explore the island for a bit of harmless fun. When Johnny, played by Robert Reed who we all know and love as Mike Brady from the Brady Bunch falls into what appears to be a trap set to catch large animals. As the others try to rescue him, out of nowhere appears Dr. Albert Balleau, played by Wilton Graff. 

Now inside Balleau’s house he explains to his four new guests why he chooses to live out on this island. Turns out he simply wants to live freely and detached from the outside world, and that he has developed a passion of hunting animals or ‘collecting trophies’ as he puts it. Balleau then briefly introduces his wife Sandra who doesn’t appear to be the happiest person in the world; once she leaves Ballea insists that the four spend the night before returning to their boat. 

After being shown to their rooms they decide to spit up and find out what’s really going on inside the house as they don’t feel particular comfortable staying there. Shortly after doing so Johnny and Betty are secretly met my Sandra and her lover Dean who also reluctantly lives in the house. Dean tells them to go back to their room so that they can explain what’s going on. Meanwhile Pete and Jeanne find their way into a hidden room where they witness one of Balleau’s staff sorting a preparing human body parts for taxidermy. Once the coast is clear they both hurry back to their room to tell Johnny and Betty what Dean and Sandra have just explained to them. 

Now scared senseless they all form a plane to escape but are soon foiled by Balleau who kills Sandra and Dean in the process. His henchmen who are all dressed ridiculously like sailors take the rest back to the house where they all sit around calm and casually as Balleau explains that he is going to send Johnny and Pete along with Tony, the captain of the boat at the beginning of the movie, out into the dark forbidding jungle for Balleau to hunt down and kill, then add to his proud collection of human trophies. Now the fun really begins.

My Thoughts

Bloodlust is so bad it’s bloody hilarious. The plot greatly resembles that of The Most Dangerous Game, you could say that this is a poor man’s version of that film.

At a whopping 68 minutes long you’ve got all the elements of a bad horror movie. We’ve got the evil crazed doctor, a group of naïve young adults, stuffed corpses on display, leach infested quicksand, an insane man roaming about in the jungle screaming incoherently and mindless henchmen who never talk, except for the one with the over the top laugh and the one who melts in the acid bath.

The acting is pretty much what you would expect in a movie like this, except for Robert Reed who manages to give a passable performance along with Wilton Graff who is just perfectly cast as Dr. Balleau. I just love how he delivers his lines, so deliciously evil.

Bloodlust is now public domain and probably has been for a long time, so it can be downloaded completely free and legally which is how I came to watch it. They obviously kept the worse possible copy of downloading because it looks terrible, the sound drops out in a few spots and the picture looks old and worn, but when you’re watching it in bed late on a Saturday night while drinking instant coffee it’s not so bad.

In spite of all it’s flat out awfulness I actually had fun watching Bloodlust, it’s a barrel of laughs and requires almost zero mental ability to watch, so do yourself a favour and download this excrement covered gem and pay a visit to Dr. Balleau’s island of terror. 

2.5. out of 5