The Blood Beast Terror (1969)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Just what I expected

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

I really see no different from this film and other horror films starring the great Peter Cushing. Nor do I see a difference in shape-shifting to a (were)wolf or a moth or a bat - it's still horror and this one is done tastefully as I would expect from a Peter Cushing film of this time era.Beautiful Gothic imagery, a good suspenseful inspector/detective story blended in quite well with the horror we see on screen. I love some of the music in this film as well - works quite well - eerie sounding. The acting is good - it's as if the actors really believe they are the characters and this really is happening - just the way it is suppose to be, very convincing.Good late night film - I quite enjoyed this one.8.5/10

There is no dressing it up, this is a bad film. It may not be, as Peter Cushing was to say, the worst film he ever made, but it's laughably bad all told. Out of Tigon Productions, it pretty much is what it is, a cheap attempt at trying to give Hammer Film Productions a run for their money. Now the fact is is that Tigon did manage to churn out some decent horrors, in fact in the case of Witchfinder General one of the true greats of Brit horror, but it's stuff like this that really drags their name down.Entomology Escapades.Plot is kind of irrelevant since the editing and directing is all over the place, but in a nutshell a "winged" predator is literally sucking the life out of dandy young men in period England. Cushing is the "not so" intrepid copper who can't see the obvious from act 2, and the rest is a sort of reverse Bride of Frankenstein; only with moths! There's a little bit of cleavage, some shrieking and some fiery malarkey, and even a fake play within the play that is actually more fun than the movie! The effects are awful, where the "moth creature" looks like something that would come last in a fancy dress competition, and the acting away from the ever graceful Cushing is not worthy of an acting credit. Is there fun to be had? Yes, definitely, the whole thing feels like some freaky alternative dream world induced by drinking too much anti-freeze. So get someone to strap yourself up (and by that I mean straight-jacket), imbibe something really potent before hand, and marvel at the sheer incompetence of it all. 3/10

In the late 60s, Tigon British Film Productions set out to emulate the success of Hammer Studios, whose popular werewolf, vampire, mummy and Frankenstein's monster movies had helped them to corner the market in lavish Gothic horror. Rather than go up against these traditional heavyweights of the genre, Tigon's first monster movie, the intriguingly titled The Blood Beast Terror, featured an entirely original creation, but one that was destined to fail—it is, after all, rather difficult to be afraid of something quite so bloody silly as a giant killer moth!Despite the presence of seasoned Hammer performer Peter Cushing, and a decent supporting cast including Robert Flemyng, Glynn Edwards (Dave from TV's 'Minder'), comedian Roy Hudd, and babes Vanessa Howard and Wanda Ventham, the film is a total disaster, with Peter Bryan's script delivering very little in the way of surprises, the weak direction from Vernon Sewell (The Curse of the Crimson Altar) resulting in an uneven pace and zero atmosphere, and the ridiculous titular creature—furry of face, with big, red, multi-faceted eyes and feathery antennae—eliciting more laughs than screams of terror.3.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

I watched this,last night and to be honest I was genuinely surprised at just how bad it is.What is a promising idea is ruined by lack of budget. The monster is laughable, blatantly someone wearing a catsuit with a rubber mask on.The script itself is shocking. Segments appear to have little relevance to what is going on and merely there to drag out the running time to feature length. The butlers dislike of the Hawk is never explained, other than the brief mention the start of the hawksmoth, which is then never referred again. Yes, I know he has a scar on his face, obviously from some encounter but what has this to do with the plot? At one point a Policeman asks Peter Cushing who he thinks is responsible for the murders. To which Cushing replies not who but what and starts talking about gigantic vampire moths. To which the Policeman nodds sagely like this is an everyday occurrence in Victorian London.The young leads/love interest are probably the two most annoying examples of this type of genre, just because they are so dull, and like the Policeman seen to regard gigantic vampire moths as nothing out of the ordinary.Peter Cushing described this as his worse film. He's right.