TWIN TALES OF TAGALOG TERROR, 2020 EDITION

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Kulay Dugo ang Gabi (1694 ) -  Released as The Blood Drinkers (USA) or The Vampire People (USA)

Staring: Ronald Remy, Amalia Fuentes, Eddie Fernandez, Eva Montes
Produced: Cirio H. Santiago, Premiere Studios in Manila, dist by Hemisphere Pictures in US
Written: Cesar Amigo (screenplay), Rico Bello Omagap (story)
Directed: Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero

Brides of Blood (1968)
Staring: Kent Taylor, Beverly Powers (as Beverly Hills), John Ashley,Eva Darren
Produced:Kane W. Lynn (Hemisphere Pictures)
Written: Cesar Amigo
Directed: Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero

I am grateful to have a group of friends who love unusual movies. We often have movie nights to watch some pretty far out films like Liquid Sky, I Drink Your Blood, and recently, we had an unplanned Russ Meyer double feature - Faster PussyCat and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. One of my favorite movie nights was a double bill of The Blood Drinkers (1964) and Brides of Blood (1969), two Filipino horror films we dubbed as TWIN TALES OF TAGALOG TERROR! These movies shown together tell a story about the influence of not just the political climate in the Philippine Island in the 1960s  but also how American filmmakers radically changed the industry in both countries. Together they represent the calm before a giant typhoon that would sweep back across the Pacific Ocean to the drive-ins and grindhouse theaters of The United States.

MONSTROUS FEMALE FEAR : THE POWER OF SADY BOYLE'S 'DEAD BLONDES' AND DAVID CRONENBERG'S 'RABID'

I am a horror film fanatic. I love how they are both exciting and thought-provoking, as well as their capacity to be so weird! Having spent so much of my life watching, enjoying, analyzing, and discussing horror films, my worldview has been undeniably influenced by them. Last year, I set myself to the task of reading more, not only to broaden my understanding of the world I live in, but also to seek understanding of the world through the eyes of others. So, when the Faculty of Horror podcast recommended Sady Doyle’s Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power, my interest was piqued.