Brain of Blood [Blu-ray]

Overview

King Amir (Reed Hadley), the beloved leader of a small Middle Eastern country named Khaleed, is sick with terminal cancer and he isn't prepared to die. His confidants arrange with an American scientist to carry out an experimental operation: Amir's brain will be transplanted into the skull of a healthy new body, allowing him to cheat death and continue ruling as a benevolent despot. When he succumbs, the corpse is rushed to the United States, where Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor) immediately removes the brain and places it in a specially prepared receptacle. Trenton sends Amir's associates away so he can finish the procedure, but as they drive down a steep mountain road, their car is besieged by a menacing driver who succeeds in forcing them off a cliff. Robert (Grant Williams) survives, and suspects that someone is trying to usurp Amir's throne. Meanwhile, the mad doctor dispatches his servant Gor (John Bloom) to find him a healthy male body for Amir to inhabit. Gor, a hulking monstrosity with a twisted face and a child's intelligence, is too clumsy in his horrible task, and Dr. Trenton deems the victim unusable. But Amir's brain can only live outside of the body for a matter of hours, even though they keep it nourished with plenty of fresh human blood (obtained by keeping some teenage girls chained in the basement and tapping them like kegs). Gor is picked to host the transplanted brain, despite his hideous scars, and when Amir awakens and discovers the horrific body the doctor has given him, he goes mad. Robert returns to save his leader, but now Dr. Trenton is demanding control over Khaleed, and special electrodes he secretly implanted in Amir's brain mean he might succeed. Directed by Al Adamson, this gory shocker features Adamson regulars like Zandor Vorkov, Angelo Rossitto, and Regina Carrol.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/09/2019
UPC:	0663390002827
Original Release:	1971
Source:	Severin
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00
Sales rank:	28,423

Special Features

Closed Caption; Memories of Blood: interviews with director Al Adamson, producer Samuel M. Sherman, associate producer J.P. Spohn, actor Zandor Vorkov, actor Sean Graver, and filmmaker Fred Olen Ray; Partial audio commentary with producer/co-writer Samuel M. Sherman; Trailer; Radio spot

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kent Taylor	Dr. Trenton
Grant Williams	Bob
Reed Hadley	Amir
Regina Carrol	Tracey
John Bloom	Gor
Angelo Rossitto	Dorro
Vicki Volante	Katherine
Zandor Vorkov	Mohammed
Richard Smedley	Angel
Gus Peters	Charlie
Bruce Kimball	Jim

Technical Credits

Joe Van Rogers

Kane Lynn

Al Adamson	Director,Producer
Samuel M. Sherman	Producer
Joe Van Rogers	Screenwriter
Kane Lynn	Screenwriter,Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

Exploitation director Al Adamson never shied away from using graphic violence in his films, making up for cheap special effects with a willingness to go at least one step too far. Still, Brain of Blood rates as one of his grisliest, an elbow-deep wallow through crimson pools of cruelty and sadism. Everything about this slight variation on the Frankenstein riff is just a little nastier than it needs to be. The film's first half is stained with gore, full of close-focus neurosurgery footage (fake, but with enough gruesome detail to make anyone blanch), and frightened, captive girls who are milked for their plasma. The remainder concerns the monster running wild in the forest, as well as characters debating the moral pros and cons of this terrible operation; rest assured that the outcome favors science and politics over God. Famous dwarf Angelo Rossitto is unsettling, cackling insanely as he waddles about with hypo in hand and a golf cap on his head. Except for a brief shot as a corpse, Reed Hadley appears as Amir at the beginning and end of the film only, essaying the bulk of his role as a voice-over (appropriate, since the actor began his career in radio and provided narration for many feature films). There's lots of action, but the plot is less convoluted than the usual Adamson patchwork show, making it easy to follow if one can stomach the sickness on display. The downbeat conclusion is no surprise considering the juicy bleakness of Adamson's vision, giving his faithful drive-in audiences all the depraved shocks they buy tickets for, plus a few extra to make them wish they hadn't.

All Movie Guide - Fred Beldin