Search - Blood of Ghastly Horror on DVD

Charming Trash

tashcrash | South Shore, MA | 04/20/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is one beauty of a head-scratcher. It is, literally, 3 movies in one. Al Adamson made the tight-yet-pointless heist film ECHO OF TERROR (a/k/a TWO TICKETS TO TERROR) in 1964, only to see it chopped up and intermixed with new footage several years later (starring John Carradine as an ethical but mad scientist) and retitled MAN WITH THE SYNTHETIC BRAIN, and sold as a horror cheapie to television. Not to be outdone, he and producer Sam Sherman further complicated matters by adding a third plot strand to the mix (something to do with killer zombies and yet another mad scientist, not to mention a rather sickly looking Tommy Kirk), and another new title, BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR. In order for the final incarnation to make sense, there are flashbacks-within-flashbacks all over the place. There was yet another version, PSYCHO-A-G-GO, which had musical numbers spliced amongst the madness!
Amazingly, it's quite an enjoyable viewing experience following the severely warped logic of the narrative, which only gets more confusing with each viewing.
Topping it off is some of the best commentary I've yet heard on any dvd, provided by Sam Sherman, who promises to some day restore the integrity of Adamson's ECHO OF TERROR to its original glory (well, one can hope).
As with Ed Wood, it's hard not to admire director Al Adamson's earnestness, and Vilmos Szigmond's cinematography (on the ECHO OF TERROR portions), despite the faded print used for the dvd, shows a precocious eye for composition. A most unusual recommendation!"

Sorry if u don't get it

Dave Leamon | Los Angeles, Ca United States | 08/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie rocks. While it does seem at times - well, pretty much the whole movie - that the end result is just a bunch of disparate clips strung together, there actually is a semblance of a plot that rears its head unexpectedly. But even looked at in terms of its fragmentary nature, this flick is a great exercise in dadaist, hallucinogenic filmmaking. It is supremely entertaining in a "so bad it's good" way, and should be approached with an open mind and relaxed critical hackles. If you still just don't get it, like the previous reviewer , then that's your loss, pally."

Al's done better.

Christopher W. Curry | Indianapolis, IN | 10/03/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As I sit typing this I've concluded that Al Adamson's 1971 Blood of Ghastly Horror reigns as the most convoluted mess of a movie that I've ever seen in my life. The acting, lighting, directing and editing is of immeasurable low quality, and the narrative? Whoa! No movie could possibly deliver all that this one claims to, well not competently anyhow.

Al's '71 celluloid offspring is no less than 4 films patched clumsily together in a feeble attempt at creating an enjoyable motion picture. It was shot in `chill-o-rama' but truthfully it should have been `confuse-o-rama' because the only chill you'll feel is the whisking of air through the empty spot in your wallet where you once had some cash but now you have this DVD.

Blood of Ghastly Horror seems to have been doomed to an endless amount of uncertainty from the get-go. Initially it was a jewel heist movie called Two Tickets of Terror (1964) then changed later that same year to Echo of Terror. Poor Al couldn't sell it; hell he couldn't give it away. Plan B was put into effect and in 1965 he added some dancing chicks and re-christened it Psycho A Go Go, but still no go (go). Fine, he pulls out all the stops and hires waning but always-proficient actor John Carradine to star alongside the cavernous cleavage of Regina Carrol. Seven years after it was originally shot Adamson threw in a `Nam vet gone mad subplot along with a few zombies and some nonsensical voodoo (...), re-titled it Blood of Ghastly Horror and off to the drive-in we go.

As if all of this wasn't puzzling enough `ole Al gave it an alternate moniker for the southern regions that couldn't or wouldn't run a movie with `blood' in it's title. So The Man with the Synthetic Brain became the obvious answer and this also served as the T.V. label as well. Sound good? Well it's not. There are no smooth transitions here, just cut, chop, slice, paste and insert. The hair-do's change chaotically as do the vehicles and décor. You either give into its inanities or you simply turn it off. Producer Sam Sherman said that it was a big hit in Pakistan.

By Christopher Curry"

Blood of Ghastly Horror

Christopher W. Curry | 12/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"EXCELLENT!!! IF OLD B-MOVIES IS YOUR BAG, WITH A TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE STORY, THIS IS YOUR MOVIE. THE MOVIE HAS MANY DIFFERENT TURNS, WITH MULTIPLE STORIES, WHICH WILL NOT MAKE THE ENDING EASY TO GUESS. IT ALSO HAS THAT GREAT 60'S B-MOVIE CHARM. THIS IS BAD DRIVE-IN CINEMA AT ITS BEST."