The Films (4/5 - AVG)

    I'll admit prior to the Severin Films box set of the Blood Island Collection the only film in the Eddie Romero/Gerry de Leon directed sequence I had seen was the second film of the "trilogy" Mad Doctor of Blood Island, which I bought on Image DVD about 15 years ago.  The DVD was of reasonable quality for the time, but it has long needed an upgrade. Fortunately, those fine purveyors of underground horror and sleaze Severin Films have seen fit to do right by these films, and get them out on Blu-ray.

   So, first things first, the Blood Island films are frequently referred to as a Trilogy. Brides of Blood, Mad Doctor of Blood Island, and Beast of Blood. However, there are actually 4 films in the sequence. In 1959 Gerardo de Leon first made contact with Eddie Romero in reference to one of his short stories. The pair would direct their first monster film together, and the "unofficial" start of the Blood Island sequence Terror is a Man.

    Terror is a Man is essentially a Filipino riff on the Island of Dr. Moreau or at the very least its original cinematic adaptation Island of Lost Souls (it's been decades since I've read the book, details are therefore sketchy).   The film follows a man named William Fitzgerald who ends up on an island with a mad doctor who is attempting to create humans from animals with varying degrees of success. Most notably he has built a man from a leopard. The film it what it is. It has one minor effects scene which is promoted as shocking, and probably was for its time, but should be of no issue to viewers today. Overall, it's a fun experience, but it doesn't feel as essential as the 3 other films in the trilogy.

     Brides of Blood kicks off the trilogy properly. 3 Americans end up in the Philippines to research the effects of nuclear bomb testing in the area. Unfortunately, there seems to be some effect as plant and animal life has gone berserk. Add into this a proper mad scientist, and a monstrous menace, and they will be lucky to get out of their with their lives.

    Terror is a Man was fun, but Brides of Blood kicks things up a notch considerably.  This one is more exciting and faster-paced. It doesn't have the greatest effects, but it does use them to fun, and solid effect. The switch from black and white to color between the films was a solid choice and is used effectively by the directors to bring lush color schemes to the screen quite well.

    I don't think I would be alone in saying Mad Doctor of Blood Island is probably the best film in this sequence of films. It is almost like someone took the gonzo training wheels of this cinematic bike, and now the 2 directors really decided to take their cinematic beastie for a ride. The film again follows a group of Americans to "Blood Island", but this time there is a monster that drips green blood in its wake.  The Americans are looking for the Father of Sheila one of the members of their team, in an element that would make me think of Lucio Fulci's later Zombie (1978).  

     Meanwhile, the monster does its monster thing and begins to bring on a body count, which will surely please genre fans.  The film does kick up elements of sex and nudity up a notch, but also be forewarned there is a scene of extreme real-life animal violence included here. I forgot about that between viewings, and thus was not anticipating it, and it might upset some viewers.

    The final film in the sequence follows almost directly on from this one, Beast of Blood.  The film opens with The Doctor from the prior film, Bill Foster (John Ashley) finding he's the only survivor of the prior film, and heads back to the island for more mayhem with Dr. Lorca who has kept the head of the monster alive(well its head), and ready to be unleashed upon the world again.

    More than any film since Terror is a Man, Beast of Blood feels more tonally different than any other film in the Blood Island sequence.  I have no idea if the director's felt this would be the finale for the series, but they ramped up the action sequences considerably, as such, the film feels largely more fast paced than any other film in the series. Ashley still plays his character much in the same tone as the other 2 entries, but he's solid in what he does. Overall, the experience like the 3 before it was a fun, semi-violent, monster loving ride.

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

    I don't think any company could have made the Blood Island films shine to perfection, but Severin Films has made them look quite as good as I think they could considering the circumstances surrounding the materials available for them.  All 4 films are presented 1:33:1 in 1080p AVC encoded transfers. Whether this is the proper OAR is debatable. However, the films all look quite solid framed this way, so I won't offer any complaints. 

    Terror is a Man comes from a 4k scanned 35mm print from the UCLA archive, and looks positively stunning, nice contrast, excellent detail. Brides of Blood is taken from a 35mm print source, again it looks quite natural and film like. Detail and colors are quite solid.  A 35mm negative source was available for Mad Doctor of Blood Island as such, that was the true highlight of the set. Colors pop, detail is excellent, and the whole affair looks quite natural and film like, a stunner. Beast of Blood, unfortunately, is taken from lesser source material, and it shows.   It has a more faded look in the color department, less obvious detail. I imagine regardless of that it has to be an upgrade from DVD.

    The audio is presented with a DTS-HD mono track in English. Everything here for the most part sounds fine with only some minor issues through the 4 features.

Extras (4/5)

    Severin Films have really done a truly immense job putting together the extras for the Blood Island Collection. Every film besides Terror is a Man has commentary tracks that are specific to the films with Mad Doctor of Blood Island having 2. There are are also multiple featurettes and interviews with film historians, cast, and crew, some new, some archival due to the vintage of the films. Beast of Blood also includes a Super-8 digest version which is an AWESOME inclusion. There are also trailers, TV spots, and more.

Overall

    Severin Films really has been knocking them out of the park this year, and getting something like the Blood Island Collection out there is just another amazing notch on their sleazy horror belt. The Blu-ray's for the most part all look and sound fantastic, and are loaded up with awesome extras features. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.