- For the episode, see MST3K 607 - Bloodlust!.
| “ | I think I've convinced them of the foolishness of trying to leave tonight... | ” |
| - Dr. Balleau |
Bloodlust! is a 1961 thriller directed by Ralph Brooke.
Plot[]
Bloodlust!
Two couples - Betty & Johnny and Jeanne & Pete - are vacationing at sea together. When the ship's captain passes out drunk, they decide to go to a nearby jungle island. As they depart, Capt. Tony awakens and calls out, warning them not to.
As they explore the island, Johnny falls into a pit. The others start pulling him out but look up to see Dr. Balleau and two servants. Balleau orders the servants to help get Johnny out.
That night at his house, Balleau tells the couples that he moved to the island "after the war" to indulge his passion for hunting. Both couples want to leave, but Balleau says they cannot because wild animals prowl the jungle. Ballaeu makes his wife Sandra show Betty and Jeanne to the guestroom, while Balleau's servant Jondor escorts Johnny and Pete to their room.
Later, Sandra and houseguest Dean Gerard (her lover) discuss Dean's latest plan for their escape. Meanwhile, Johnny and Pete go to Betty and Jeanne's room to talk about their situation. They decide to explore the house. Betty and Johnny are stopped by Sandra and Dean, who take them back to the guestroom. Jeanne and Pete discover a vat of bubbling acid and a woman's body floating in an aquarium. They go back to the guestroom to tell the others what they have seen.
Dean tells them his escape plan. He and Sandra will slip out of the house, steal a boat, go to the mainland and then come back with help. But as they sneak through the front gate, Balleau follows, carrying a spear.
Two days pass. No one has seen Balleau or heard from Sandra and Dean. Betty and Johnny discover Balleau and his "trophies" - the mounted bodies of people he has hunted. Sandra and Dean are among them. Balleau tells Betty and Johnny that he was a sniper during the war. At first he detested sniping, but then began to enjoy it, and soon the enjoyment "turned into a lust - a lust for blood!"
As Balleau tells both couples that he will hunt Johnny and Pete, Jondor comes in dragging Capt. Tony behind him. Balleau adds Tony to the hunt for failing to bring Balleau sufficient inmates from the "penal island." Balleau says he will hunt only the three men. Betty and Jeanne will stay with him and now that Sandra is dead, he is "looking forward to getting to know [them] better ... much better."
Jondor locks the girls in the guestroom. Balleau says that he will carry a crossbow and only three arrows, one for each man, To make things more "sporting", he tosses Tony a pistol and says they will find ammunition in the "Tree of Death." But they find just one bullet. Tony runs off with it, leaving Johnny and Pete to fend for themselves. When Tony attempts to shoot Balleau, the gun will not fire. Balleau has removed the firing pin. He kills Tony.
After escaping from the guestroom, Betty and Jeanne enter the tunnel Pete and Jeanne had found earlier. They go into the room with the vat of acid, hoping to arm themselves with knives, but a servant discovers them. He and Betty tussle and Betty judo-flips the servant into the acid, killing him.
The girls head into the jungle, looking for Johnny and Pete. Balleau and Jondor are still hunting the boys when Jondor falls into a leech-filled pond. Balleau leaves him to drown. Betty and Jeanne find Johnny and Pete. They head for Balleau's house, planning to use his rifles against him. They find rifles, but no ammunition.
Balleau finds the couples hiding in his trophy room. Holding them at gunpoint, he poses them in the tableau they will be in after he has killed them. Suddenly, Jondor, covered with leeches, bursts in. Jondor grips Balleau in a bear hug and, as Balleau screams, impales him on a cross, killing him as the couples watch.
Cast[]
- Wilton Graff as Dr. Albert Balleau
- Robert Reed as Johnny Randall
- June Kenney as Betty Scott
- Eugene Persson as Pete Garwood
- Joan Lora as Jeanne Perry
- Bobby Hall as Jondor
- Troy Patterson as Captain Tony
- Lilyan Chauvin as Sandra
- Walter Brooke as Dean Gerard
Notes[]
- This movie is an adaptation (the fifth to its date) of the short story The Most Dangerous Game, written by Richard Connell and published in 1924. A 1932 film version became a RiffTrax presentation in 2020.
- Some of the promotional material identifies the film as Bloodlust. The film's title card includes an exclamation point.
- Much of the background music used in this film was also used in The Unearthly.
- June Kenney, Troy Patterson, and Eugene Persson also appeared together in Earth vs The Spider.
- This film is the final screen acting credit of Joan Lora (Jeanne).
MST3K Connections[]
- June Kenney also portrayed Carol Flynn in Earth vs the Spider, Asmild in The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent, and a basement girl in Village of the Giants.
- Walter Brooke also portrayed a network commentator in Space Travelers and Clifford Foster Evans in San Francisco International.
- Robert Reed also portrayed Captain Jim Walsh in SST- Death Flight.
- Eugene Persson also portrayed Mike Simpson in Earth vs the Spider.
- Troy Patterson also portrayed Joe in Earth vs the Spider.
- Bill Coontz (insane man in the woods) also portrayed Bill Coontz in The Girl in Lovers Lane and an unspecified role in High School Big Shot (for which he was also a stuntman).
- Harry Wilson (trophy) also portrayed a monster in the basement in The Unearthly
- Composer Michael Terr was also musical director for King Dinosaur, music supervisor for The Unearthly and The Violent Years, and composer for The Sinister Urge.
- Costumer Marjorie Corso was also costumer for Earth vs the Spider, Teenage Cave Man, and The She-Creature, as well as wardrobe supervisor for Tormented.
- Makeup artist Jack Dusick was also makeup artist for The She-Creature.
- Unit manager Brianne Murphy was also script supervisor for Agent for H.A.R.M..
- Assistant director Leonard J. Shapiro was also assistant director for Project Moon Base and The Amazing Transparent Man.
- Property master Richard M. Rubin was also property master for Attack of the Giant Leeches.
- Prop designer John Cengia was also prop designer for Attack of the Giant Leeches and The Screaming Skull.
- Sound mixer Philip Mitchell also did sound for It Conquered the World, Teenage Cave Man, and The Unearthly.
- Stock music composer Henry Vars was also composer for The Unearthly and The Leech Woman.