Richard Derr plays William Fitzgerald, a shipwreck survivor whose boat washes up on the beach of an isolated Pacific island. There he is made welcome by Dr. Charles Girard (Francis Lederer) and the doctors' sexy young wife Frances (Greta Thyssen). However, all is not right on this island paradise. The natives have recently fled because of the project on which Girard works: turning a panther into a human. Occasionally this beast (Flory Carlos) gets loose and goes on a rampage.This unofficial adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau", scripted by Paul Harber, also incorporates bits of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". It gives us a mad scientist who definitely does not come off as that mad. He's played in a relatively even handed manner by the excellent, sharp featured Lederer. As we can see, Girard is actually pleased to have some more company on the island and is eager to show off his work in the hopes that Fitzgerald can appreciate what he's doing.That doesn't happen, of course. Fitzgerald is appropriately mortified - yet fascinated, in spite of himself - at the prospect of this character attempting to play God. Frances is certainly unhappy, and yearns to get away. She sees Fitzgerald as a sort of savior.The creature is played in an endearing Frankensteins' Monster sort of way. While it is creepy, it's also natural that we take some pity on it. After all, it didn't ask to be this way. The makeup effects are surprisingly good; we only see bits of it at first, with the creature resembling The Mummy, but when the bandages fall clear, we do get a good look at this combination of feline and man.This was an early effort for Filipino exploitation & genre legends Edgar F. (Eddie) Romero and Gerardo (Gerry) De Leon, who also gave us the "Blood Island" series about a decade later. They give "Terror Is a Man" (renamed "The Blood Creature" for the North American market) plenty of wonderful atmosphere, shooting it in a stark black & white. It takes on the tones of a nightmare, and would play very well on a television set in the wee hours of the morning.The acting is generally good, especially from Lederer. Oscar Keesee (as the thuggish assistant to the antagonist), Lilia Duran (as lovely local Selene), and Peyton Keesee (as the young boy Tiago) co-star."Terror Is a Man" is well worth seeking out, particularly if you love Filipino cinema.Eight out of 10.

"Terror is a Man" is a very, very low-budget film but despite this it's still a pretty good version of the classic H.G. Wells story "The Island of Lost Souls". So, despite being made in the Philippines, having a MOSTLY unknown cast and a relatively cheesy creature, the film was deftly made and featured a nice appearance by Francis Lederer as the mad doctor.The film begins with a man in a lifeboat washing up on the shores of a mostly deserted island in the Pacific. He soon learns that only about a half dozen people live there and they all work for a weirdo doctor who is doing weird experiments. What, exactly, this experiment is doesn't become apparent until later, when you learn the crazy guy is trying to 'evolve' creatures into human form. What this really means are 50 or more surgeries that cause excruciating pain for the poor creature--all in the name of 'science'.Unlike the original tale, there is only the one creature and there's a romance tossed in to boot. But, good suspense, acting and a credible explanation for why you don't see much of the creature all work to make a spooky and worthy horror film.By the way, I did have one question that I thought of while watching the film. If the folks have been on this island for two years, how does the Doctor's wife have a perm?!

This is the film that practically started the influx of Filipino exploitation that exploded in the 70s. It's a slow but mediocre version of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU with a cat creature experiment that gets loose and kills a few secondary characters among scientific jabber about the experiment being for the benefit of mankind rather than personal vanity. This is lackluster stuff and is too Americanized. The Blood Island trilogy and women's prison flicks that would come ten years later is the kind of delirious entertainment that Filipino exploitation is remembered for. Worth a look but hardly memorable.

The lone survivor of the sinking of the "Pedro Queen," William Fitzgerald (Derr) washes ashore on a remote Pacific island one thousand miles off the coast of Peru. He is taken in by Dr. Girard (Lederer) and his wife, Frances (Thyssen). Fitzgerald soon learns that the doctor is conducting unusual medical experiments the island, assisted by his wife, who is a nurse, and a few servants. Shortly after Fitzgerald's arrival, he learns that a "panther" is loose on the island and has even killed people. He is puzzled when he learns that the native villagers have fled the island, allegedly because they fear what the doctor might be doing. The mystery deepens when Fitzgerald starts investigating the mystery of the doctor and the creature he is working on."Terror is a Man" is an uncredited adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel "The Island of Doctor Moreau." Whereas the classic 1932 version "Island of Lost Souls" and the 1977 version "The Island of Dr. Moreau" both feature large numbers of "manimals," this film has only one. By excising these creatures, the film loses the interesting cultural aspects of the manimal society and lacks, among other things, the key character known as the Sayer of the Law. The creature in this one is the tormented victim of doctor and is abused by the servant Walter (Oscar Keesee). Despite the differences between this version and the two better known adaptations mentioned above, this film is reasonably well made though somewhat slow-paced. Dedicated horror film fans should probably give this one a chance.