In 1964 director Al Adamson made a serious thriller
known as Echo of Terror. Legend has it that this was a nice
thriller for its kind but it was also un-sellable. A year later Adamson
shot more scenes and included stuff that could be more bankable but the
film was then considered no good. Still, several years later, Adamson got
horror great John Carradine to shoot a few scenes to make the film more
“horrific”. Finally, the film became known as Blood of Ghastly Horror and
was released to drive-ins in 1972.
The film starts off as a maniac/zombie is stalking the streets. Within the
first four minutes of the film four people are killed. The following day
there is a daring jewelry heist that goes wrong when the alarm is tripped.
Also in town is a mad scientist (played by Carradine) that seems to be
doing brain transplants or something of that nature that is turning people
into zombies. Confused? I certainly am but that’s all that can be said
about the plot to Blood of Ghastly Horror.
This movie hasn’t a single thing going for it and turns out to be nothing
but one big bore. It’s always nice to see John Carradine on screen but
he’s only got a few short scenes here. He might as well not have been in
the film at all. A strange thing about Carradine, it seems the stranger
the script is, the better the performance you get from him. The other
actors turn in the normal bad performances you’d expect.
The biggest problem
with the film is the fact that you’ve got nearly three different films
here. The original movie wasn’t able to be sold so new scenes were
added. That version couldn’t be sold so they added horror elements.
I’m certainly interested in seeing the original Echo of Terror but all
this editing certainly ruined the film here. Forget what the title
says. Blood of Ghastly Horror isn’t bloody, ghastly or even horror.
I’m really not sure what this film is. |
|
