On this first viewing of low budget Tigon Studios' so-so The Blood Beast Terror (1968) since I last watched it thirteen years ago, I had The Reptile vibes (a Hammer Studios creature feature from 1966) this go-around. Granted, what ails insect specialist/expert Professor Mallinger's "daughter" isn't some curse for her father's sins, but the young beautiful woman startling unsuspecting men unaware of what she really is conjures those similar vibes. And Flemyng of this film and Noel Willman of The Reptile sort of both act stuffy, angsty, and off-putting. They certainly both have secrets that torment them. Flemyng brought about his own destruction. And his handiwork won't stop hunting for more victims to drain the blood from.
On this revisit, I could tell (as others with reviews) Cushing's heart just wasn't in it. I read a trivia blurb about how this film was a paycheck to help pay for his beloved wife's medical bills. I can't fault him for that, nor do I blame him for just not giving the film his all. In saying that, his presence alone made this an easier watch. I'm not sure if he was absent I could say that. There is a little play inside Flemyng's home, with a small attending audience, that made me smile. I do think if Cushing's Inspector would have been in attendance for that, it would have been a bit too on the nose, though he does get a look in at the play through the window of Flemyng's home, giving us a wink-wink smile...there is enough hybrid Frankenstein and Burke and Hare to keep it from being too explicitly homage. Still, I thought that was a wonderful little nod to Cushing. This role of Inspector isn't among Cushing's Frankenstein work, that's for sure. A female moth with wings and big eyes draining the blood of young men as the monster is just too laughable. But I get why someone might retort with, "But wasn't "The Fly" or "The Reptile" just a creature design head plopped on a person"? Yes. But while those just left a more effective impact, the Moth head (and the costume, too, to be honest) looked rather hokey. Admittedly, though, I am a sucker for this kind of camp, even if I feel for Cushing. I read somewhere a comment from Cushing about his career, in regards to starring in mostly horror instead of Shakespeare. He mentioned that his success was tied to starring in horror as opposed to Hamlet, that he would be remembered more for what he decided on instead of what he might have desired. Watching The Blood Beast Terror, there was this thought running through my mind, a brief sadness along with it: Cushing has this one life, as we all do, and he really didn't get to have the career he probably wanted. We all know he was more than capable in working on the London stage for a majority of his career. I'm selfish in that I'm glad his output is available for me to enjoy as I appreciate his body of work, respecting that even in rubbish like this moth creature feature, the great actor could pull from himself a serviceable performance. You could picture him looking at the medical bills and this script he probably sighed in frustration and accepted. And to think that just a decade prior, Cushing was featured in very prominent roles as Van Helsing and Frankenstein...but the man loved his wife and took on roles beneath him as a result. I admire him for that. 2/5
Peter Cushing stars as Inspector Quennell, a detective trying to uncover who it is murdering folks in his jurisdiction. Scales are left at the crime scene and the victims all suffered nasty lacerations where teeth had been gnawing, draining their blood, eating their flesh. Robert Flemyng is a mad genius, an expert in entomology and a geneticist who has somehow created a giant Deaths-head moth, who masks itself as a beautiful woman, Clare(Wanda Ventham), pretending to be his daughter, luring young men with her feminine wiles before returning to insect form and attacking them. While I didn't feel it was as horrible as many feel it is(..including Cushing, from what I've read), this creature feature doesn't even try to thrill the viewer with any surprises, instead director Sewel and writer Peter Bryan fashion this after many a monster movie. You have the detective searching for the causes behind grisly(..though, unseen)murders. We see the mastermind behind how the monster was created. We see how the unmasked monster operates. We see how the mastermind's own creation causes enough problems with her feeding habits that he must hit the road with the detective in steady pursuit soon making the startling discovery that a giant killer moth is doing in innocent men. Creature turns on creator. Creature's weakness for blood/flesh does her in eventually. Of course, this film provides Cushing's inspector with a cute daughter, Meg(Vanessa Howard), who will find herself in possible danger. Her potential boyfriend, William(David Griffin), a bug catcher will also face certain peril due to his killing a deaths-head moth for his collection. The film features lovely countryside setting with beautiful flowers of a variety of colors and shows how vindictive and cunning Clare is at spotting males, and maneuvering them away from the eyes of possible witnesses. This is no world-beater, but it's an adequate time-waster. I've seen much worse, but Cushing doesn't look very comfortable or inspired in this role, which is a very rare case in such a storied career. Roy Hudd, as a mortician, is a hoot always eating(..and offering snacks to Inspector Quennell and Sergeant Allan, played by Glynn Edwards when they are reviewing the bodies of victims)and grinning wide, cracking wise and often irritating his guests. The killer moth is basically a bug costumed stunt-person.- September 2008
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