Well, if I wanted to say something nice about this film, I guess the color and quality of the DVD print were good. Sadly, that's probably about all I can say that's positive about this dud! By 1970, most of the ultra-schlocky sci-fi films were a thing of the past. However, HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS proves that this genre of bad films was still alive and twitching! The film begins with a horribly narrated segment about vampires. Then, rather abruptly, the film switches to an outer space film. Given the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury programs, you'd think they'd have some impact on how the film portrays space travel, but this isn't the case with this bizarro throwback from 50s sci-fi films. The set is exactly like these 50s films--with nothing resembling a real space ship and all the appearance of a cheap set. Additionally, the crew are hilariously inappropriate--with the clichéd busty woman, a very old man with heart trouble (John Carradine) and some men who spend much of their time ogling the lady.
Now I have compared this film to earlier low-budget sci-fi films, but this isn't totally fair. At least most of these previous films TRIED to look realistic--this film has the worst special effects for space I have ever seen. It really appears as if the budget was not more than $.79! For outdoor scenes on the vampire planet where they land, magenta-colored filters were used--though later they abruptly became green filters, red and then yellow filters! They also encounter several silly creatures. One looked like Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street--in reality, an elephant wearing a fur skin! Others were the usual small lizards running around on tiny sets. Then, some rather random caveman video is included--that is, until you find out they are VAMPIRE CAVEMEN!!!! Oddly, in the middle of all this, the film abruptly switches back to Earth several times to show a couple making love "the new way" (complete with lots of electronic equipment). These scenes aren't really explicit nor are they "hot"--just random and pointless. At one point, the lady voices her dissatisfaction with his performance--I couldn't agree more! Then, of course, it's back to the vampire planet for more 1,000,000 BC-style entertainment. Much of the caveman material isn't blended at all into the plot and it just goes on and on and on. Watch them fight again and again--mostly in an effort to pad out the film. Possibly the most interesting action that takes place in all this were the fights between the cavemen and the crab-human-bug hybrids as well as the fight between the cavemen and bat-monkeys. These fights were unintentionally pretty funny and at least offered a mild diversion.
Sadly,though, no matter how inept this film is, generally it's very dull and not even worth seeing so you can laugh at its ineptness. A truly bad and silly film--worthy of any Top 10 Worst list!
Now I have compared this film to earlier low-budget sci-fi films, but this isn't totally fair. At least most of these previous films TRIED to look realistic--this film has the worst special effects for space I have ever seen. It really appears as if the budget was not more than $.79! For outdoor scenes on the vampire planet where they land, magenta-colored filters were used--though later they abruptly became green filters, red and then yellow filters! They also encounter several silly creatures. One looked like Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street--in reality, an elephant wearing a fur skin! Others were the usual small lizards running around on tiny sets. Then, some rather random caveman video is included--that is, until you find out they are VAMPIRE CAVEMEN!!!! Oddly, in the middle of all this, the film abruptly switches back to Earth several times to show a couple making love "the new way" (complete with lots of electronic equipment). These scenes aren't really explicit nor are they "hot"--just random and pointless. At one point, the lady voices her dissatisfaction with his performance--I couldn't agree more! Then, of course, it's back to the vampire planet for more 1,000,000 BC-style entertainment. Much of the caveman material isn't blended at all into the plot and it just goes on and on and on. Watch them fight again and again--mostly in an effort to pad out the film. Possibly the most interesting action that takes place in all this were the fights between the cavemen and the crab-human-bug hybrids as well as the fight between the cavemen and bat-monkeys. These fights were unintentionally pretty funny and at least offered a mild diversion.
Sadly,though, no matter how inept this film is, generally it's very dull and not even worth seeing so you can laugh at its ineptness. A truly bad and silly film--worthy of any Top 10 Worst list!