Terror Is A Man (Full Frame)

DVD, 89 minutes

This relatively little-known 1959 film is nonetheless one of the true Horror Classics of the screen. It borrows elements from both "Frankenstein" and "The Island of Dr. Moreau" (originally filmed as "Island of Lost Souls"). The film tells a weird tale of a doctor on an isolated island who performs surgery on a large jungle cat in attempting to make the animal into a "man." What he succeeds in creating is a creature he has tormented that only lives to kill. This is the first in a series of popular Horror Films made by famous filmmaker Eddie Romero in the Philippines. The moody, low-key photography underscores the film's theme of brooding evil in a locale of mystery and intrigue. When this film was reissued to theaters . in 1965 as "Blood Creature," it received wide distribution and the success that had eluded it earlier. This led to the production of three "Blood Island" thrillers in the same vein - "Brides of Blood," "Mad Doctor of Blood" and "Beast of Blood," also produced by Eddie Romero in Philippine locales. "Terror Is A Man" is seen here in the restored version made from the original 35mm film elements.