A classically told monster movie directed by Vernon Sewell (The Crimson Cult, Burke & Hare), The Blood Beast Terror is set in motion when mutilated bodies begin appearing in the English countryside, drained of blood. Horror icon Peter Cushing (The Flesh and the Fiends, House of the Long Shadows) stars as Detective Inspector Quennell, brought in to investigate the deaths. He consults entomology professor Mallinger (Robert Flemyng, The Horrible Dr. Hichcock), but the doctor seems to be hiding a dark secret about his fetching young daughter, Clare (Wanda Ventham, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter). The deeper Quennell digs into their story, the bloodier the violence, until he discovers a terrifying truth about Mallinger’s experiments that is only revealed in the gruesome final reel. Hearkening back to the classics of Universal Pictures, The Blood Beast Terror offers terrific performances and special effects, and slowly builds to its skin-crawling climax.
For thoughts on The Blood Beast Terror, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
Kino Classics presents The Blood Beast Terror with a 1080p master transfer sourced from a 2K restoration from 2012 that looks pretty great. The transfer provides nice, natural film grain absent of any egregious compression artifacts or other such damage. This leads to a great array of fine detail that should please fans of the film. Subtle details in the gothic production design stand out more than ever before. The film features some decent colors within the costumes and production design that pop off the screen with a notable vibrancy. Skin tones look mostly natural with some makeup skewing a bit pale, and the presentation offers up solid black levels free of crush. The film has been cleaned up immensely with no noticeable instances of damage or dirt detected here. This effort from Kino Classics is a good one.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that handles this material pretty well. The score can sound a bit unstable at its peaks, unfortunately. but otherwise it holds it together well. The soundscape lacks a sense of finesse that allows for subtle facets to shine through. This track shows a bit of age related wear and tear such as hissing and popping. Even with the formidable presence of certain sounds, nothing ever overpowers the dialogue or other important information. Kino Classics has delivered a passable audio presentation. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Novelist/Critic Kim Newman and Writer/Editor Stephen Jones provide a pretty fun and informative commentary track in which they discuss the multitude of titles for this narrative, the unusual structure for the film, the background of the creative figures involved, the ways in which Peter Cushing changed his place in the film, the legacy of the picture and more.
- Trailers: The two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided for The Blood Beast Terror. There are also trailers provided for The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dr. Who and The Daleks, Madhouse, House of the Long Shadow, The Crimson Cult and Burke & Hare.
Final Thoughts
The Blood Beast Terror is an old-school gothic creature tale which plays within the conventions before throwing you a truly unexpected creature that will have you chuckling with delight. The film is more than a bit silly, but it is good fun if you get in the spirit of the journey. Peter Cushing proves to be a familiar, welcome presence who adds a touch of gravitas to the experience. Kino Classics has provided a new Blu-Ray featuring a pretty solid A/V presentation and a great commentary track. If you like your horror to be a bit cheesy, you just might have a good time with this. Recommended
The Blood Beast Terror is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
