Roger Corman was the executive producer for this film and this alone was reason for me to see the film. Now I am not saying all of his films were brilliant, but as a director and producer, he was able to get the absolute most out of minuscule budgets. In fact, many of his budgets were nearly as low as those of Ed Wood--yet Corman only had one film that failed to earn back its production costs (and I LIKED that film a lot). In the case of "Night of the Blood Beast", the film only cost $68,000 to make--so naturally it couldn't help but do well at the box office!
The film begins with an astronaut returning to Earth when he loses control of his rocket and crashes. A couple happen upon the wreck and try their best, but the astronaut is dead. However, when the rest of the rescue party arrives, they notice that the corpse is strange. It is not rigid and the body temperature is normal...even hours after death! Then, when they look at his cells under a microscope, they see that there is a LIVE sort of foreign cell that is taking over the body! Yikes. Then, really bad things start to happen...which isn't surprising since it's called "Night of the Blood Beast"!
Once again, I should point out that the film cost next to nothing to make by Hollywood standards of the time. Yet, even with no-name actors, the film manages to work pretty well. Had the budget been higher, the monster wouldn't have been so laughable. It seriously looked like a combination of a sea monster, swiss cheese and a child playing dress-up! It's a shame, as the film was very good otherwise and is still worth seeing--and with a very unique ending.
The film begins with an astronaut returning to Earth when he loses control of his rocket and crashes. A couple happen upon the wreck and try their best, but the astronaut is dead. However, when the rest of the rescue party arrives, they notice that the corpse is strange. It is not rigid and the body temperature is normal...even hours after death! Then, when they look at his cells under a microscope, they see that there is a LIVE sort of foreign cell that is taking over the body! Yikes. Then, really bad things start to happen...which isn't surprising since it's called "Night of the Blood Beast"!
Once again, I should point out that the film cost next to nothing to make by Hollywood standards of the time. Yet, even with no-name actors, the film manages to work pretty well. Had the budget been higher, the monster wouldn't have been so laughable. It seriously looked like a combination of a sea monster, swiss cheese and a child playing dress-up! It's a shame, as the film was very good otherwise and is still worth seeing--and with a very unique ending.