‘A blood-dripping brain transplant turns a maniac into a monster…’
Brain of Blood - also known as The Creature’s Revenge and The Undying Brain -- is a 1971 American horror film directed by Al Adamson (Blood of Dracula’s Castle; Dracula vs. Frankenstein; Nurse Sherri) from a story by Samuel M. Sherman and a screenplay by Kane W. Lynn. It stars Grant Williams, Kent Taylor, John Bloom, Regina Carrol, Vicki Volante, Angelo Rossitto, Zandor Vorkov and Reed Hadley. The film is the only Hemisphere (The Mad Doctor of Blood Island; Beast of Blood) production to be filmed in the United States.
Plot teaser:
Amir, the benevolent ruler of Khalid, is dying, but there is hope in transplanting his brain into another body. Freshly deceased, he is flown to the United States where Dr. Trenton, having unwisely put off body acquisition until the last minute, transplants Amir’s brain into the body of the disfigured simpleton assistant who failed in said chore. Dr. Trenton has a few nefarious plot twists of his own in mind, and then there’s the thing with the dwarf and the woman chained in the basement…
Reviews:
“This movie was just crying out for some of Adamson’s signature foibles— some brain-damaging dialogue, some sudden and inexplicable detours through what looks for all the world like an entirely different movie, the unexpected appearance of a coked-up Russ Tamblyn at the head of a shabby and unconvincing motorcycle gang. As it is, Brain of Blood is just too damn close to making sense, you know? Now I’m not saying it wasn’t 87 minutes well-spent in spite of all that, mind you, but with a little less discipline and a funding crisis or two, it could have been ever so much more.” 1000 Misspent Hours and More
“Stunningly bad acting, hilarious stock horror movie music, a midget medical assistant (who torments women in a dungeon during his spare time) and unbelievable special effects make this an almost-classic that has to be seen to be believed The inept, oat-meal-like monster make-up effects are also a riot. Despite the almost total lack of prosthetic technology, the film managed to pull off a mildly gruesome brain transplant scene. Not as funny as some of Adamson’s other works—or most of the material cranked out by Herschell Gordon Lewis (“Blood Feast”). But it’s nonetheless a great bad-movie.” eSplatter
“here’s some truly terrible acting (particularly in the case of Ms. Carroll), silly dialogue, a bit of gore (the brain transplant scene, which is very bloody and fairly well done, goes on for about five minutes), a car chase, a couple of explosions and a Gor flashback that reveals the history of his deformity (a couple of rednecks took his toy away, hit him with a shovel and then poured battery acid in his face). It’s cheap, badly made and overloaded with assorted nonsense. In other words, your standard Al Adamson flick.” The Bloody Pit of Horror
Choice dialogue:
Mohammed: “Amir is a legend in Khalid, without him it would be another poor nation struggling to break out of of centuries of stagnant feudalism.”
Plot keywords:
Muslim | Mohammed | brain | mad scientist | surgery | transplant | gore | dwarf | car chase | battery acid | torture | cellar | chained women | rooftop chase | fight
Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Lost Video Archive
