The Mad Doctor of Blood Island

**The Mad Doctor of Blood Island** is a 1969 Filipino horror film co-directed by Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon. The cast includes John Ashley, Angelique Pettyjohn, Eddie Garcia, and Ronald Remy. It stands as the third installment in a four-film series called the "Blood Island" series, produced by Romero and Kane W. Lynn. The other entries are *Terror Is a Man*, *Brides of Blood*, and *Beast of Blood*. Beverly Miller served as associate producer on this film and later co-produced several other Filipino horror movies. Compared to earlier films in the series, this one is known for including more nudity and gore.

The story follows a man who travels to an island where a mad scientist, Dr. Lorca, is creating human-plant mutants whose blood runs green with chlorophyll, using the local natives as his subjects. The film later aired on television under the title *Tomb of the Living Dead*. In some states, it was briefly advertised as *The Mad Doctor of Crimson Island*.

**Plot**

On Blood Island, a woman running naked through the jungle is killed by a green-skinned, man-like beast. Around the same time, a ship arrives carrying American pathologist Bill Foster, who is investigating a strange chlorophyll disease affecting the islanders; Sheila Willard, who hopes to reunite with her father; and Carlos Lopez, who wants to convince his mother, Mrs. Lopez, to leave the island. The ship's captain claims the island is cursed and tells of a man they once picked up on a raft who bled green blood before escaping into the sea.

Sheila finds her father is a hopeless alcoholic. Mrs. Lopez refuses to leave, even though her husband, Don Ramon Lopez, recently died under suspicious circumstances. Dr. Lorca refuses to share any details about Don Ramon's death. When Foster and Lopez dig up Don Ramon's grave, they find it empty.

Rumors spread about a green-skinned monster with chlorophyll blood that has been killing natives. One night, a native with green sores tries to break into the government house but flees into the jungle when confronted. Sheila is attacked by the chlorophyll monster but escapes when a native who comes to help is gruesomely mutilated. During their stay, Sheila and Dr. Foster fall in love.

It is revealed that Dr. Lorca has been experimenting on the natives, including Don Ramon, who sought Lorca's serum as a cancer treatment but was turned into a monster instead. Don Ramon is the green-blooded beast killing people. He kills his wife and nearly kills his son Carlos, but at the last moment, a flicker of humanity returns, and the creature attacks Dr. Lorca in his hidden lab. A fire breaks out, causing an explosion that kills Dr. Lorca, his assistant, and the monster.

Sheila, her father, Dr. Foster, and Carlos return to the ship, relieved to leave Blood Island. But as the ship departs, a grisly hand dripping green blood appears from under a boat tarp.

**Cast**

(As listed in the source.)

**Production**

Before this film, Ashley had starred in *Brides of Blood*. That film was popular enough in the U.S. that American distributors asked him to appear in a follow-up. Ashley agreed, which led to his moving to the Philippines and co-producing several more films there with Romero, Beverly Miller, and Roger Corman. *Mad Doctor* was produced by Romero and Kane W. Lynn, along with Miller and Irwin Pizor, on a budget of either $125,000 or $100,000. Like *Brides of Blood*, it was aimed at an American audience, and its plot and dialogue made no reference to the Philippines. The score was composed by Tito Arévalo.

**Promotion**

A prologue invited theatergoers to take part in a bizarre initiation. Each patron received a free packet of colored liquid labeled "green blood." At a certain point, the audience was told to "recite the oath of green blood" and tear open the packets to drink the liquid. By doing this, viewers could safely watch "the unnatural green-blooded ones without fear of contamination." The prologue was shot at Clark Air Base in Manila using American teenagers. Sam Sherman came up with the idea of distributing the liquid gel-packs. He later said in an interview that he drank one of the packets, which contained an aqua-colored gel, and it made him sick. However, Miller (the associate producer) said he actually saw dozens of teenagers drinking the stuff in theaters he managed in Kansas City. Another gimmick involved the camera zooming in and out rapidly each time the monster killed or stalked someone. Some theatergoers complained this made them dizzy, and it was actually designed to hide the shoddy make-up effects.

**Release**

The film was released in the U.S. in 1969 on a double feature with the 1967 West German film *The Blood Demon*. In 1969, some states (Rhode Island in particular) saw local newspapers begin omitting the word "blood" from film titles they advertised. In certain areas, *Mad Doctor* was advertised as *The Mad Doctor of Crimson Island*, and *The Blood Demon* became *The Crimson Demon*. This practice did not last long, and by the time the sequel *Beast of Blood* was released, Hemisphere could again use the word "blood" in their titles. Image Entertainment released *Mad Doctor* on DVD in 2002, featuring a commentary track by Sherman and an interview with Romero.

**Reception**

*Mad Doctor of Blood Island* received mostly negative reviews from critics. Dennis Schwartz from Ozus' World Movie Reviews gave the film a C grade, calling it "dreary."