Night of the Blood Beast (1958) Reviews

• Blood and Resurrection

  flapdoodle642010-04-09

  Considering that the crew appear to have constructed the prop space capsule out of a septic tank, this is a decent little el cheapo scifi flick. A film buff with the slightest knowledge of the major auteurs goes into a B/W 1958 Roger Corman scifi film with a certain set of expectations. Within such parameters, this is a surprisingly well-made film, tense, moody, interesting, and moving along a pace that corresponds well with the plausibility factor. While none of the acting is spectacular, it is all competent and sometimes impressive. The script is surprisingly intelligent, especially considering the title. The title, however corny it may be, works well in this film due the portions of the plot dealing with the death and resurrection of an astronaut. There is a small bit of FX and monster make up in this film; you will be thankful to find out that it does not clash with the septic tank space capsule. Overall, this is an honest, well-constructed little drive-in type scifi/horror film that does the job it was designed for and more. It makes more sense, and is more satisfying than watching all the episodes of the new version of 'V.'

• Funny Low-Budget Sci-Fi Produced by Roger Corman

  claudio_carvalho2011-09-03

  The astronaut Steve Dunlap (John Baer) dies after crashing his rocket on Earth. His body is recovered by the base rescue team and examined by Dr. Alex Wyman (Tyler McVey) and Dr. Julie Benson (Angela Greene), who is Steve's fiancée. Out of the blue, Steve resurrects and Dr. Benson discovers that his body is impregnated with Alien embryos; further, the team finds that an alien (Ross Sturlin) has arrived in Steve's spacecraft. When Dr. Wyman is murdered by the alien, Major John Corcoran (Michael Emmet) and Dave Randall (Ed Nelson) decide to destroy the creature. But Steve is mentally connected to the alien and believes that the creature has peaceful intentions and tries to protect it. But when Steve learns that the alien is an invader, he takes an ultimate decision to protect the earthlings. "Night of the Blood Beast" is a funny and underrated low-budget sci-fi produced by Roger Corman. This type of black and white Z-movie, with bad acting and poor special effects, is part of my childhood and maybe that is the reason why I find most of them cult. "Night of the Blood Beast" is a sort of grandfather of 1979 "Alien" or 1999 "The Astronaut's Wife" and entertains. My note is five. Title (Brazil): Not Available

• Sci-fi beefcake

  ace-1502007-11-17

  An entertaining piece of low budget schlock. Despite the cheesy production values, it's quite well done. A zombified, hairy chested scientist, denied the opportunity to wear a shirt after his pseudodemise, is impregnated with alien sea monkeys, clearly an homage to the ads inside comic books of the era. Why is it that, when Roger Corman is involved, there's a always a shirtless, hairy chested scientist, e.g. Giant Leeches, Crab Monsters? I don't get it, but thanks a million, Roger. The plot and characters are no worse than in any other sci-fi from the fifties and all the actors are veterans of genre TV and movies. The lighting is sometimes good, the score is theremin heavy with an occasional moment of Felliniesque jauntiness. The monster is post-nuclear Sesame Street, but after all the money spent on the sea monkey x-ray scene, you can't have everything. If you pay attention to the opening title sequence, you'll note that the rocket ship separates from its booster rocket and looks amazingly like the space shuttle. Sometimes they get it right.

• Creepy little treat...

  drmality-12008-10-01

  When man was first venturing into space, fear of the unknown ran rampant. Think of movies like "The Creeping Unknown", "First Man Into Space" or TV episodes like "And Then the Sky Was Opened" from "The Twilight Zone" or "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" from "The Outer Limits". What exactly could be waiting for us OUT THERE??? Back then, we weren't as sure as we are now. "Night of the Blood Beast" is another cautionary tale of man's first tentative steps into outer space and as usual, our worst fears are realized. There are not many 50's SF films I haven't seen, but this one eluded me until tonight. I was ready for something awful, but despite comments from the usual MST3K nerds, I found this movie to be very creepy and morbid in its way. With the exception of one scene (which many 50's kids will probably never forget), it's not that graphic, but some of the implications are unthinkable. Pilot John Corcoran attempts to go into orbit, but loses control of his spaceship and is forced to crash in a remote area. Nearby are his scientific colleagues, including his fiancée Julie. This band make their way to the ship, only to find Corcoran dead and the craft a ruin. However, it is noticed that the body seems as fresh as if it died a minute ago even though Corcoran has been dead for hours. A strange kind of mud is also found clinging to the hull of the ship. The scientists take Corcoran's body back to their isolated lab complex, where they see his blood is invaded by a bizarre parasite. The power inexplicably goes dead, cutting them off from contact with the outside world, and then Dave is attacked by something "huge like a bear" that is lurking outside. Something uncanny is going on, linked to Corcoran's crash. And then, suddenly, Corcoran himself returns to life... The movie is ultra-cheap, but has the claustrophobic feel of movies like "The Thing" and "Night of the Living Dead". Michael Emmet is excellent as the living dead astronaut who appears to be an incubator for extraterrestrial creatures (shades of "Alien", but 20 years earlier).The alien monster itself won't impress those used to only CGI creatures, but it's no worse than any monster on "Outer Limits" or "Dr. Who" of the period. In fact, the movie often has the feel of an "Outer Limits" episode, which is high praise. The most startling thing about the film is how Corcoran pleads for understanding of the alien. When the alien itself finally finds its voice, it speaks in calm, reasonable tones despite its grotesque exterior. But is it really just misunderstood? Thereby hangs the tale... Sure, it's cheap and some of the lines are goofy, but overall, this is a cool little film, well worth checking out if you like intelligent 50's SF. And yes, Georgianna Carter is indeed a real looker as Donna Bixby...

• More literary science fiction than prop filled space opera

  dvdeugs2002-04-05

  This movie was not deserving of being MST3K'ed. It clearly predates the American space program, and didn't have a huge budget. But what this movie had was a decent plot that didn't use random action sequences to move things forward, and several very thoughtful moments. It owes more to literary science fiction than to the ray guns of space opera, a very good thing in my book. Okay, I'll admit there were some very hokey lines and some very ludicrous special effects. But it was still a good movie, all in all.