Then, without warning, the story veers off in an exciting new direction.
Two of the prison’s most recent arrivals, prostitute Lee Daniels (Pam Grier) and revolutionary Karen Brent (Margaret Markov), are being transferred to a facility in Manila, where they’re to be questioned by government officials. Lee’ pimp, Vic (Vic Diaz), is a ruthless prick, and the authorities want to put him away for good; whereas Karen might hold the key to crushing the rebellion once and for all.
Handcuffed together, Lee and Karen are loaded onto a bus and sent on their way. But once on the road, Karen’s compatriots, led by Ernesto (Zaldy Zshornack), launch a surprise attack to free her, and in the confusion she and Lee slip away, spending the next several days hiding in the jungle.
Ordered by his superiors to recapture the duo as soon as possible, Captain Cruz (Eddie Garcia) of the Manila police force hires bounty hunter Ruben (the great Sid Haig) and his thugs to track down the escaped prisoners.
Lee and Karen, still shackled to one another, stay on the move, narrowly avoiding the law, the bounty hunters, the revolutionaries, and Vic’s cronies (who want to retrieve a briefcase full of cash that Lee swiped) every step of the way.
That’s a lot of story to cram into an 86 minute film, yet director Romero and his writer H.R. Christian (whose screenplay was based on a story by Joe Viola and Jonathan Demme) somehow make it work, keeping things flowing at a solid pace while at the same time giving weight to each and every character. Grier and Markov are strong as the escapees who have no choice but to team up, a la Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis in 1958’s The Defiant Ones (which also featured escaped prisoners handcuffed together). But unlike that earlier movie (and despite this film's title), race is never an issue between the two. They start out as adversaries (while in prison, they get into a fight and are thrown in “the oven” as punishment), yet Lee and Karen are never really enemies. They just have different goals: Karen wants to return to her friends in the revolution, while Lee’s intention is to get off the island as quickly as possible with the money she stole from Vic. The camaraderie between the two builds over time, and comes across as 100% genuine.
Also good is Sid Haig as the cowboy vigilante. His character is a hard-ass, but he’s also responsible for most of the film’s laughs (like when he’s cavorting with a subordinate’s two daughters as the poor guy sits in the next room, listening to everything that’s going on behind the closed door). In addition, Black Mama White Mama is both an impressive action film - with a handful of intense gunfights - and a solid thriller.
So while it may have started off as a run-of-the-mill prison flick, Black Mama White Mama ultimately proved, in true Eddie Romero fashion, it was a lot more than that.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
While scuba diving off the coast of a tropical island, Matt Farrell (John Ashley) is kidnapped by Steinman (Jan Merlin), the chief henchman of scientist Dr. Gordon (Charles Macauley). For years, Dr. Gordon has been conducting a series of bizarre experiments, crossing humans with animals in an effort to create a “super race”.
Gordon intends to use Farrell as his next experiment, but when Gordon's daughter / assistant Neva (Pat Woodell) falls in love with the prisoner, she and Farrell team up to free the good doctor's “specimens” and, with them in tow, try to make their way off the island.
Despite its meager budget and reputation as a grindhouse classic, The Twilight People offers more than simple exploitative goodness. For one, as mentioned above, it’s a damn fine take on Wells’ novel, and director Romero dedicates a fair portion of screen time to building the personalities and relationships of his characters. Whether it's Farrell’s love affair with Neva or his mano-et-mano showdowns with the dangerous Steinman, we get to know our heroes (and villains) well enough to be completely invested in what happens to them.
Then there are Dr. Gordon’s “experiments”, the part human – part animal hybrids that join Matt and Neva on their journey to freedom. Primo the Ape Man (Kim Ramos), Kuzman the Antelope Man (Ken Metcalf) and Lupa the Wolf Woman (Mona Moreno) all get a chance to shine, but Ayessa the Panther Woman, played by the always amazing Pam Grier, is a definite highlight. Never uttering a word save some growls, Grier does a fine job making us both fear and admire her character, and though she appeared in The Twilight People a year before her star-making turn as the title character in Jack Hill’s Coffy, Grier’s screen presence is strong.
That said, nobody… not even the great Pam Grier… can top Darmo the Bat Man, played by Tony Gosalvez. Sporting wings that don’t look very impressive, Darmo spends the early moments of the escape perched in a tree, acting as lookout. The more I saw Darmo, the more I wanted to see him fly. Or at least try to fly. Then, towards the end of the film, I got my wish, and I was blown the hell away! Not that Darmo’s flights are particularly convincing; the effects are shoddy at best. But that doesn’t make these sequences any less awesome, and the final shot of the movie is one I guarantee you will never forget
A lot happens in The Twilight People, not the least of which is Eddie Romero solidifying his reputation as a first-rate storyteller. But it’s Darmo the Bat Man who steals the whole damn show!
Rating: 8 out of 10
Three Americans - research scientist Dr. Henderson (Kent Taylor); his beautiful but neglected wife Carla (Beverly Powers, credited as “Beverly Hills”); and young Peace Corps volunteer Jim Farrell (John Ashley) - make their way to a secluded tropical island. Jim, who wants to help the locals improve their quality of life, hooks up with pretty villager Alma (Eva Darren), who, along with her grandfather Arcadio (Andres Centenera), is the only native who speaks English.
Dr. Henderson is there to study the effect that nearby atomic testing may have had on the indigenous flora and fauna. He finds more than he bargained for when, the moment the sun goes down, the trees seemingly spring to life! Invited to stay in the spacious mansion of Esteban Powers (Mario Montenegro), a Spaniard who moved to the area years earlier with his now-deceased wife, the Hendersons come to realize there is more danger on this island than they ever realized.
As Dr. Henderson is busy collecting specimens, Jim makes a horrifying discovery: a fierce humanoid monster also calls the island home. The villagers, who are convinced this creature is a God, sacrifice young women to it in a bizarre nighttime ritual. When Alma is selected to be the monster’s next victim, Jim has no choice but to get involved.
A low-budget horror film (co-directors Romero and Gerardo de Leon shot the movie for about $75,000), the effects in Brides of Blood aren’t the best. The scenes where the trees come to life, grabbing at anyone who passes by, are sometimes more humorous than scary (the branches and roots are clearly controlled by strings), and the monster itself is bulky and awkward (though, in the final act, there is a damned impressive transformation scene).
When it comes to the “mystery” surrounding the monster, it isn’t much of a mystery at all. I had it figured out in the first half-hour. As for the blood (which even spurts from cut branches and vines) and boobs (the village sacrifices are stripped down, then tied to a post), it is at about the levels you’d expect from a movie of this ilk, and there’s even a native dance in the finale that’s as sexually suggestive as they come.
Yet, thanks to its well-developed characters, Brides of Blood rises above both its budgetary limitations and exploitative elements to deliver something much more substantial. Dr. Henderson and his wife Carla could have easily been your average, run-of-the-mill miserable couple; he the work-obsessed scientist who ignores his wife, she the sexually frustrated spouse who sleeps around. There’s even a troubling rape scene on board the ship, in which Carla tries to fend off an amorous crewman she had flirted with earlier in front of her husband (she happily succumb to the attack the moment this crewman gets rough with her). But Romero and de Leon, as well as writer Cesar Amigo, throw in a handful of intimate scenes between the Hendersons, where we see exactly why poor Carla acts out. At one point, she tries to seduce her husband, who is fast asleep next to her, and no matter how hard she tries, he will not wake up!.
Also well-handled is the romance that blossoms between Jim and Alma, and we even learn a little about Esteban, and why he ended up on the island. By rounding out its characters in such a way, aided in large part by exemplary performances, Brides of Blood pulls us in, then keeps us on the edge of our seats, wondering how it's all going to play out.
And for a film that, going in, you assume will be nothing more than a schlocky monster movie, making us care as much as we do is an impressive feat.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10