It's strange this film sat on a shelf for six years, because in 1965 (when it was completed) it would have been a perfectly viable mid-60s "bottom half of the bill" or drive-in feature. It's also beautifully lit/shot in a noirish style (I can't even remember there being any daylight scenes) for such a silly B horror. It's also odd that the lead actor apparently gave up acting after this, since he's very handsome and personable (and has a great Sean Connery-like build), even if the script leans too hard on giving him wisecracks that undercut the already pretty minimal suspense here.
Shot and set in the Philippines, the film nonetheless makes little effort to have much local character, instead going for sort of a generic U. S. programmer feel, with a brisk pace but little feel for suspense or atmosphere. So, it's a very good-looking low-budget movie that nonetheless doesn't seem willing to take its horror subject (vampire-like murders) seriously enough to actually be creepy. I'm not even sure why there's a rubbery "monster" (as separate from the vampire) that looks like it's out of "The Incredible Melting Man."
Interestingly, the director later was 1st A. D. on a terrific lineup of mainstream Hollywood films (including "Godfather Part II," "Towering Inferno," "Blade Runner" and "The Abyss"), but directed nothing again himself until Van Damme's much-liked first starring film "Bloodsport" nearly twenty five years later. I guess he just didn't have the hunger to make his own movies. He clearly had the technical expertise necessary, though this enjoyable genre throwaway suggests he didn't care enough to seek out good material to direct, or to elevate mediocre material beyond the above-average visual sheen.
Shot and set in the Philippines, the film nonetheless makes little effort to have much local character, instead going for sort of a generic U. S. programmer feel, with a brisk pace but little feel for suspense or atmosphere. So, it's a very good-looking low-budget movie that nonetheless doesn't seem willing to take its horror subject (vampire-like murders) seriously enough to actually be creepy. I'm not even sure why there's a rubbery "monster" (as separate from the vampire) that looks like it's out of "The Incredible Melting Man."
Interestingly, the director later was 1st A. D. on a terrific lineup of mainstream Hollywood films (including "Godfather Part II," "Towering Inferno," "Blade Runner" and "The Abyss"), but directed nothing again himself until Van Damme's much-liked first starring film "Bloodsport" nearly twenty five years later. I guess he just didn't have the hunger to make his own movies. He clearly had the technical expertise necessary, though this enjoyable genre throwaway suggests he didn't care enough to seek out good material to direct, or to elevate mediocre material beyond the above-average visual sheen.