Scott LeBrun So-so entry in the Filipino "Blood Island" horror film series. Dedicated doctor Bill Foster (John Ashley) travels to a small island to investigate strange goings-on, accompanied by young woman Sheila Willard (Angelique Pettyjohn), who herself intends to find out the fate of her father (Tony Edmunds). Running around loose on the island is a green blooded monster.If nothing else, "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" is notable for its audience participation factor, with the audience given doses of "green blood" to drink and protect themselves from harm. As directed by Filipino exploitation icons Gerry De Leon and Eddie Romero, the movie does have a lot of entertaining and effective ambiance. It does have the appeal of a drive-in feature, but it has a fundamental problem in that it's often too dull to work that well. There's more talk than action. There's also some highly annoying camera-work. The gore is decent (and there's also a fair bit of bare female flesh), but the makeup on the monster is awfully tacky.The acting in this one is pretty stiff, right across the board. Jut jawed hero Ashley lacks personality, and the same goes for Ronaldo Valdez, who plays Carlos Lopez. He has some rather amusing scenes with his hottie mom (played by Tita Munoz). The ladies are beautiful, with Pettyjohn an especially fetching leading lady. Fans of exploitation flicks from this part of the world may enjoy appearances by such familiar faces as Ronald Remy, as the evil Dr. Lorca, Bruno Punzalan, as his henchman Razak, and Alfonso Carvajal as Ramu.Unfortunately, this never has much of a momentum, and even the climax isn't that exciting. Still, it has its moments.Five out of 10.

michaelasiclari This is one of those little gems that used to show up late at night on Fright Night with John Carradine as host and other venues on t.v. during the late 70's and early 80's. This movie was so heavily edited that I didn't realize how good it was until I found it on DVD about seven years ago. There was a lot of gore and nudity taken out of the t.v. prints that were thankfully restored on the DVD version. Cant have a "drive-in" classic without those elements now can you? The chlorophyll monster was downright original and appalling at the same time. I loved this Phillipino horror film classic for it's atmosphere and campiness though it is evident that the producers of this flick took their job seriously. Second in the Blood Island series and one of the best. 1970's Beast of Blood is also worth a look . Kudos to that other Romero horrormeister.

GroovyDoom 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?

hoodcsa Forget all the critics (though much of their criticism is technically on target). Watch this film with an open mind and revel in the sheer audaciousness of it all. Gruesome monsters. Trashy, gorgeous heroines. Square jawed men of action. Let the bizarre ennui envelope you. Enjoy the sheer inanity of the whole thing. I saw this as a teen and was utterly captivated by it and the crude power remains intact. On location shooting (in the Philippines) and cast of unknowns adds enormously. It's a wonderful piece of trash film making -- a classic of the sort.