I don't suppose any character from the original Blood Island film, "Brides of Blood" (1968), would ever have had the bad sense to step back onto that radiation-mutated pesthole again, which probably explains why, in part 2 of the trilogy, "The Mad Doctor of Blood Island" (1969), we have all-new characters, and even returning actor John Ashley plays a different person. This time, Ashley plays pathologist Bill Foster, who comes to Blood Island accompanied by Angelique Pettyjohn (beloved in 1969 by all Trekkers for her turn as the Triskelion drill thrall Shahna, and soon to be famous for appearances in porn cinema), who is looking for her lost father. So what's shaking on the island now? Howzabout a chlorophyll-mutated monster that likes to rip his victims to bits, for starters! This film has the same exotic Filipino locales as the first and the same lustfully gyrating native dancers, but ups the ante with more nudity, a slightly more interesting story, nicer scenery, and lots more blood and guts. It also unfortunately features the same egregious day-for-night photography, the same lousy dubbing and the same slapdash editing that were the hallmarks of the first picture. And yet, the film is so pulpy, the story is so much fun, Ronald Remy is so convincing as the mad Dr. Lorca, and Angelique proves to be such an effective screamer that many technical faults can be forgiven. This film has absolutely nothing to do with the first--it is a sequel in name only--but I suppose seeing these things in order is always a good idea. My beloved "Psychotronic Encyclopedia," which usually has a high tolerance for shlock cinema, deems this film "awful," but I still had fun with it. Anyway, I guarantee that you will not find a better picture dealing with Filipino chlorophyll mutation anywhere...with the possible exception of part 3 of the trilogy, "Beast of Blood" (1970). I for one am sufficiently curious to find out...

If you are a Z-grade movie fan then you'll pleased to hear that this is one gloriously bad film. You get the full works here - paper-maché monster masks, screaming maidens, wooden acting, brief flashes of nudity, cave walls that are less-than-solid and a surprising dash of 1960s gore. However the best part, or worst depending on your point of view, is the wonderfully stodgy dialogue on display, for example:

Man: "What a scare you gave me. But then you are a kind of ghost yourself aren't you". Woman: "What sensitivity".

Add to this a plot involving chlorophyll (the stuff that makes leaves green) poisoning, native rituals and you've got yourself a decent B-movie. There are some aspects that will undoubtedly annoy most people, the large number of "padded" scenes for example, but the worst has to be the bloody annoying manic lens zooming!. Otherwise the film is fun to watch and will no doubt please most fans of Romero and low-budget horror fare.

A native woman is chased through the jungle on Blood Island by a mutant green monster, the result of a failed experiment. When it catches her, it kills her. Three people are sailing toward Blood Island. Sheila Willard (Angelique Pettyjohn) is looking for her father who lives on the island. Carlos Lopez (Ronaldo Valdez) who was born on the island and is returning to see his mother after hearing of his father's death. And finally the hero, Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley) who has been sent from the mainland to investigate an incident that happened on this very same boat where a man was rescued from the sea and killed a member of the crew, and when shot had green blood. Upon arrival they are greeted by the Chief, Ramu (Alfonso Carvajal) and his people. Sheila finds her father (Tony Edmunds) who is a drunk, Carlos finds his old friend Marla (Alicia Alonzo) and his mother (Tita Munoz) at her mansion but she doesn't want to leave as all she has left is memories and also claims there is nothing for her on the mainland. Staying at the mansion with her is the crazy scientist Dr. Lorca (Ronaldo Remy) and his henchman Razak (Bruno Punzalan). Soon after arriving Sheila is attacked by a green monster, a native tries to help her only for the monster to kill him instead, Sheila sees her opportunity and escapes. As Foster investigates the island it becomes clear that all is not well. More people are brutally murdered, and Foster discovers that Dr. Lorca has been experimenting on the natives and Carlos's father Don Ramon that has turned him into a chlorophyll-contaminated, living, walking half plant half man monster who savagely mutilates anyone in his path! It's up to Foster to save the day.

Jointly directed by Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon on location in the Philippines, I thought it was pretty good fun. The script by Rueben Canoy moves along at a fair pace and remains interesting throughout, there is even a couple of nice lines in there, after meeting Foster for the first time Sheila's father says "he's dealt with wino's more than you and he's a shrewd judge of character, I hate him already!". Technically the films nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, photography, music, acting, sets and special effects while not brilliant, are perfectly acceptable. The monster itself looks decent, except it's cut out eyes so the actor underneath can see, you can see his eyelids. There is a surprising and pleasing amount of blood and gore, again while not brilliant it is effective. Severed limbs and heads, and mutilated corpses with their intestines hanging out look good, there is a bit of animal cruelty in here to, so beware. One thing I really disliked about this film was whenever the monster attacks or is on screen someone made the decision to have the camera constantly zoom-in zoom-out that becomes very annoying, very quickly. The jungle locations gives the film a nice lush green look to it. It's obvious that most of the night scenes were filmed in the day and are far too bright considering that we are supposed to be in the middle of a jungle with no natural light except the moon and stars, but the up side to this is that at least we can actually see whats supposed to be happening. A solid horror exploitation film thats worth a watch at least. Good fun.