Bloodlust! (1961)

Truly Dreadful Film

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This film is obviously a take on the story, "The Most Dangerous Game", only it features two couples rather than the one person in the story. I saw this film as an episode of Mystery Science Theater and it does some okay things, but overall, it just comes across as a bit lame and there are more than a couple of plot holes in this one. The film features Robert Reed as one of the four who come to the island because it looks cool and it features a lot of henchmen wearing sailor outfits that look right out of a Popeye cartoon and a man who likes to go out for an evening's diversion. Oh, and it has two drunks in the film too, but one of them is only faking.The story has a group of four young adults on a boat in the middle of nowhere. They have apparently chartered the boat from a man who likes to drink a lot and he soon passes out leaving them stranded in the middle of the ocean. To pass the time while they wait for him to sober up, they take the dingy out to an island in the hopes of doing a little exploring. They hang out at the beach and decide to go into the forest so that they can find some things to have a clam bake on the beach. Unfortunately, Robert Reed's character stumbles into a pit trap and soon they find themselves as guests of the man who owns the island. He seems friendly enough, but while exploring the house they find he has quite a number of deadly secrets, the main one being the fact he likes to hunt people on the island. Soon the two guys in the group are sent into the forest along with the captain of their boat to be hunted by the hunter with his trusty crossbow.This made for a rather good episode of MST3K. The film only had a one hour running time, which means we got a short to go along with it, about two kids spending the summer on the farm, but this short only took up one segment meaning most of the film is intact here. There are many jokes focusing on the Brady Bunch dad and the fact the other guy is a bit dorky. There is also a lot of riffs on the various henchmen as they managed to give them humorous names. They also made fun of the one henchman who was a dead ringer for Mr. Carlin from the Bob Newhart show.The movie was not all bad as it did not drag too much and it certainly does not overstay its welcome. However, there are just too many flaws to consider it a good movie. The main thing I have a problem with is the fact that the hunter in this film owns the island and employs a lot of henchmen. Before this life he was in the army where he developed his blood lust and before that he was a curator at a museum. Neither of these things explains why this guy owns a freaking island and can apparently employ a bunch of guys who are okay with him killing. That is another thing, where did he find these guys? I would think they might be prisoners, but it is mentioned he uses prisoners in his hunts. I just find it a bit too hard to swallow that he was able to employ all these people who are not allowed to leave the island, seems like there is no benefit to them. There are other things that make little sense, but then that is why it was featured on MST3K.

I first saw this film on MST3K. And, as usual, it was ripe with comedic brilliance. On it's own, the movie wasn't too bad. Though it was a blatant rip-off of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932). Four college kids are on vacation. Bored, and with only one more day to party, they spot a tropical island from their boat. Despite the drunk captain's objections, they row towards it. As you can guess, they'll wish they had heeded his advice. Once on the island, they come across an odd gentleman with a passion for hunting. For almost half the movie, we're introduced to a cast of expendable characters. Here and there, a few of the kids get into Scooby Doo-type hijinks. And discover a bizarre trophy room. The film really takes off during the second half, when the men are separated from their girlfriends and sent out into the jungle to be hunted. A couple of shocking brutal deaths help keep the movie interesting. And the villain gets a nice comeuppance at the end, though it does seem a little too convenient. Overall, it's held up pretty well. But definitely see THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME first.

Yet another remake of Most Dangerous game, this time a bunch of young adults coming upon an island where the mad man who lives there decides to hunt them. More a typical teen drive in film (the two couples who are the main focus are always together and the whole thing seems oddly set bound) then a real gripping remake of a classic story. The film does have some great pieces, the trophy hall is cool, and some of the rantings of the mad man are good, but the film as a whole never fully comes together, certainly the hunt never really amounts to much. As a stand alone film, its watchable but never much more than okay. As part of a double feature of drive in style films this will play better

A group of youngsters land on a beautiful, seemingly deserted island while taking a detour on their boating trip. After exploring the wooded island for a few hours they run into a seemingly sweet older man who convinces them to stay at his house since it is getting dark and there are a lot of scary animals roaming the woods at night. The group all agree but there's just something not right about this older man. It turns out he is a crazy millionaire who lets victims loose on the island while he hunts them down and kills them to keep as "trophies". Really not a bad story (although not original) but the execution really is a bit silly. The dialog really is bad especially at the beginning. Robert Reed plays one of the youngsters in an early role of his. It is somehow amusing to hear his voice once you know him as Mike Brady. Although most of the acting was plastic, I thought the part of the crazy millionaire played by Wilton Graff, was pretty decent in what is clearly a role best suited for Vincent Price. A few of the bit parts were well played too actually. This is a remake of "The most dangerous game" that falls short in many places but I really didn't feel bored with this 68 minute movie.