Blood Bath AKA

 

BLOOD BATH-1966-After it seems like a vampire killed a woman, some beatniks (including Sid Haig & Jonathan Haze) check out Max (Karl Schanzer) the artist's new painting. Then waitress Daisy (Marissa Mathes) has a discussion with ballet dancing Dorean (Linda/Lori Saunders) about a secret meeting she has with a man. 

While looking at some paintings Daisy meets artist Antonio Sordi (William Campbell), who's artist ancestor was burned at the sake after being betrayed by his mistress Melizza. While having a flashback/hallucination, he turns into the vampire and kills Daisy with a meat cleaver. Sordi is also the person Dorean was meeting on the beach. Later at a party, he attacks a woman who falls into a pool. Daisy's sister Donna (Sandra Knight) goes looking for her (Max recognizes her from Sordi's latest painting) but Sordi denies knowing her. She learns about Sordi's ancestor who came back as a vengeful vampire after being burned, eventually being staked. 

Donna sees a connection between the missing women and Sordi. She decides to shadow him but he kills her on a merry go round (while others do nothing). His vampire self terrorizes Dorean but she escapes. Max has a fight with the vampire who seems to fall to his death but his body disappears. Poor Dorean seeks shelter at Sordi's bell tower residence where she discovers a dead corpse (Patrick Magee). Sordi isn't dead and thinks Doreann is Melizza come back to him. Fortunately some of his victims come back to life and throw him in bubbling wax. 

This movie has a crazy history. It started out life as a US-Yugoslavian production called “Operation Titan” for which Roger Corman provided American actors William Campbell and Sid Haig as he planned to distribute it in the US. Corman was unhappy with the resulting film and finally asked Jack Hill to write a new script and shoot new scenes while incorporating some of the original. Hill turned it into a horror film called “Portrait in Terror”. Corman was still unhappy with this new version and hired Stephanie Rothman to shoot more scenes. Unfortunately star William Campbell refused to do anymore re-shoots and an unidentified actor portrays the vampire monster which is why the Sordi character transforms into a totally different monster! Sid Haig's character also grows a beard for his later scenes! New scenes were also shot for a TV version called “Track of The Vampire”. 

There's always a story with Roger Corman!

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Mike Raven

CRUCIBLE OF TERROR-1971-John (James Bolam), an in debt art dealer, his girlfriend Millie (Mary Maude) and mutual friend Jane (Beth Morris) accompany her husband Mike (Ronald Lacey) to visit his eccentric sculptor father Victor (Michael Raven) who before the credits appears to put a woman in plaster and molten metal to make a sculpture. Also at the remote former mine are manservant Bill (John Arnatt),who has a roomful of medieval weapons and Victor's feeble-minded wife Dorothy (Betty Alberge) who carries around a stuffed dog. Besides being a mad killer Victor is a pompous conceited pervert who insults his defenseless wife. Though Vic has a model (Judy Matheson) for a mistress, he seems to take a shine to Millie (who has Deja’ Vu about the place).  At night Millie has a dream a masked figure throws blood on her. While Mike drunkenly rants Jane agrees to pose for Victor but she spurns his advances and is later stabbed to death. The next day while Millie and the model frolic on the beach it’s revealed that Mike stole some of his father's paintings and they have an argument about Dorothy. Mike is then bludgeoned to death after a very stupid scene where the model throws rocks at him. John goes back to London to get cash to buy Victor’s paintings. Out for a walk, Millie sees Victor watching her and runs into a cave where she finds Dorothy hanging out with some dolls. After someone throws acid in the model's face, Millie agrees to model for Vic. She spurns his advances and runs into another cave where she finds Mike's decomposing body and Dorothy who’s committed suicide. When she encounters Vic again she faints. He plans to make her his next statue. 

Though it's talky in stretches and Raven comes across as a poor man’s Christopher Lee, the story does have a bizarre if improbable twist ending involving a Japanese woman and a cult that worship the dead. Me Me.Lay (JUNGLE HOLCAUST) has a small role.

 CRUCIBLE OF TERROR is the only movie directed by Ted Hooker and some stories say lead actor Michael Raven, a former DJ put up half the budget. The same year as this Raven was also in Hammer's LUST FOR A VAMPIRE and Amicus' I, MONSTER. He later wrote and starred in DISCIPLE OF DEATH.

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Another Silent

THE DRAGON PAINTER-1919-Tatsu (Sessue Hayakawa) is an eccentric painter who lives alone waiting for the gods to return his princess who they took away from him and turned into a dragon. His work is shown to a famous artist who realizes Tatsu is a genius. One problem. He won t leave his mountain home. The artist s daughter Ume Ko (Tsuru Aoki, Hayakawa's real life wife) dresses up as the princess to lure him out. Then the trouble begins. The two fall in love and Tatsu seems to lose his passion for painting. A nicely made silent film with beautiful photography and a heartfelt story. 

Japanese born Sessue Hayakawa was the first Asian film star(his other famous film is THE CHEAT) and by 1919 was as popular a star as Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The director William Worthington was also an actor.  

Once again thanks to TCM for showing this and thanks for reading!