Blood Creature/Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory

First up on this Killer Creature Double Feature is "Blood Creature," which is the U.S. reissue title. This 1959 film was originally released as "Terror is a Man" and "Creature From Blood Island." What you really need to know is that this is yet another un-credited version of H.G. Wells's novel "The Island of Dr. Moreau." This screenplay by Harry Paul Harber makes this the island of Dr. Charles Girard (Francis Lederer) who lives with his beautiful wife Frances (Greta Thyssen), and works on turning a panther into a beast-man (Flory Carlos). When his boat sinks, William Fitzgerald (Richard Derr) ends up on shore of Isla de Sangre (Blood Island) and is treated as a guest. But Frances is afraid of the dark and there is clearly something going on.

What makes this version of the cautionary tale by Wells different from most of the others is that once William finds out what Dr. Girard is up to and that Mrs. Girard is really, really, unhappy, he watches the experiments and engages in discussions with the doctor on the nature of man. The whole bit where the hero tries to get the woman he loves out of harm's way bit really does not happen in this one. Apparently when William notes there is a fine line between genius and madness, he does not feel comfortable making a judgment as to which side of the line the mad scientist is working on. So things get to take

Actually, as a Dr. Moreau rip-off movie this one is pretty good. Director Gerardo de Leon knows how to light his shots to great effect and how to best show (or not show) the beast-man. The love triangle does not really get in the way of the film, and the fact that Frances is sympathetic towards the beast-man instead of fearing him (that is left to the maid), makes this one stand out as well. Best of all, despite the promise of the trailer for this film, it does NOT have the "Terror Chimes" that tell you when to cover your eyes (as is the case with Creature Feature DVDs there are the trailers for both features, plus a third trailer for "Devil''s Hand", and the Popeye Cartoon "Spree Lunch"). I was surprised, but this one ends up being a solid four stars and a better telling of the Dr. Moreau story than anything made in the last couple of decades, so it gets four stars.

Our second feature, "Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" was also released in the United States as "Ghoul in a Girls' Dormitory," "Monster Among the Girls," although its original title as near as I can determine was "Lycanthropus." Now, you have to admit from the title you are expecting to see a werewolf run around a dormitory filled with half-naked young girls, but that is not the case. Yes, European films got to more explicit nudity and gore earlier than their American counterparts, but this film still predates that point in cinematic history and "German shepherd in an institute for wayward girls" would be a more accurate title.

It turns out this particular girl's dormitory is not at a college but a private institute for wayward girls, or at least, a version of what this badly dubbed Italian production thinks would be an American reform school, which means they are mostly bad girls, but with one good girl, Priscilla (Barbara Lass) for us to root for. The plot is basically that Dr. Julian Olcott (Carl Schell) is the academy's new teacher and becomes the target of chief bad girl, Mary (Mary McNeeran). It seems Julian used to be a real doctor, but there was some sort of scandal. He was cleared in court, but his career was still ruined and now he is starting over as a teacher. As for Mary, this is one troubled kid and before we can clearly number all of her sins she is killed by a creature of the night. Everyone thinks there are wolves on the loose, but we know better because we have seen the title of the film.

So, basically "Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory" is a mystery thriller that asks who oh who can the werewolf and/or ghoul possibly be? (actually when we see it in action it is clearly a German shepherd). The problem is that although everybody (and I mean EVERYBODY) in this film acts suspiciously if you do not know who the werewolf really is then you should give up on this genre altogether. The finally tally on this one is that there is no nudity, the transitions of the monster are laughable, and there is no mystery at all to whodunit. Still, this is an entertaining bad movie, which has some sense of style even if the acting is pretty bad (and some priceless moments of dubbed translation). Bottom line is that there are enough decent moments to go along with the deliciously bad parts to make this worthwhile if you like to enjoy bad movies.

The drive-in double bill DVD concept is a good one, but the quality of the Blood Creature print is truly awful, with lots of jumps and scratches! Surely a better copy of this film could have been found.

Note: I only watched "Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory."
The print was perfectly dreadful and "Wereworlf in a Girl's Dormitory" was a disgraceful piece of junk. This (shudder) Madacy DVD has a Popeye cartoon plus theatrical trailers, which barely manages to give this lousy disc 2 stars.

I've read the other reviews and am impressed with their background knowledge. I, too, am a fan of 60's trash horror films, and bought this DVD only because of the price. I am most entertained, and happy with this humble investment. "Blood Creature" was eerie & atmospheric, a little claustrophobic, with storms, etc., adding to the mood. It's silly and fun, and the beautiful Greta Thyssen is there to boot! (I remember her from a film called "Journey to the Seventh Planet", a Danish film that was released in America by American-International, the greatest studio ever to put out "the best of the worst", all the drive-in movies, and practically everything Roger Corman ever did. Richard Derr also appears, typically luggish and looking customarily concerned. I loved him in "When Worlds Collide", one of my favorites. "Werewolf..." is fun, too, with creepy atmosphere and a Peter Lorre look-alike who is sufficiently bizarre. The dubbing is really bad (every line sounds like it came out of a studio microphone...which it did), but there's a lot of homage to the films of James Whale & Val Lewton: suspense and dark intrigue. The song "Ghoul in the School" is an added treat. These two films, tacky as they are, would be OK for the price, but there are previews and even a Popeye cartoon (featuring Bluto & Wimpy, alas, no Olive Oyl). Whatever aesthetic elements may be lacking regarding the actual artistic worth of these 2 films, I wouldn't worry about it. My hat goes off in salute to Madacy Enterainment for putting out a very good package at an unbelievably good price. I hope they continue this trend, and maybe we'll see Corman's original "Not of This Earth" or maybe even "Journey to the 7th Planet". One can only hope.

Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory (AKA Lycanthropus, The Ghoul in School, and I Married a Werewolf) is one of those movies with a great title, like I Married a Monster from Outer Space and Slave of the Cannibal God, that grabs your attention with its lurid and even ludicrous premise, and makes you want to see the movie, if only to see if it lives up to the title. And like I Married a Monster and Cannibal God, which are pretty solid films, Werewolf just about makes it, too. The plot has a werewolf finishing off the girls at a "finishing school," which is actually an upper-class reformatory, and the attempt to catch the beast. The black and white image quality and the sound are good in this transfer. There's even a catchy little 2-line title song -- `There Was A Ghoul In School!'

I first saw Blood Creature (AKA Terror Is a Man, Creature from Blood Island, and The Gory Creatures) on late night TV many years ago, and it was pretty scary even on the small screen and with commercial interruptions. There was just something uncanny and unnerving about those not-quite-human eyes staring out of those white bandages. This was the first entry in the Philippines/Eddie Romero Blood Island franchise. Richard Derr (When Worlds Collide) stars as a shipwreck survivor who washes up on an island inhabited by a mad scents (Francis Lederer) and his beautiful, lonely wife (Greta Thyssen--Miss Denmark 1952) and a bandage-swathed creature who threatens them all. Inspired by The Island of Dr. Moreau and well worth watching. The black and white image quality and the sound are not too good, though. The image is sharp, but there are lines and streaks, and some dialog is lost on the soundtrack. Just passable.

This DVD offers few bonus features. Just the movie trailers, a preview of another movie (The Devil's Hand) and, of all things, a Popeye the Sailor Man cartoon, which is amusing. The stern FBI warning comes at the end of the movies here, and is a rather cute animated feature. All this disc needs to complete the Friday night drive-in experience is promo to visit the snackbar, a Movietone newsreel, and a warning about pay-TV! This double feature is a nice addition to the collection of any fan of the horror genre, and it's a bargain at this price.