As you watch this film your thinking that this is just another psycho doctor movie where he's hell bent on proving his experiments are correct but then the film becomes a minor Frankenstein entry, complete with a resurrected corpse. Good location shooting in a small Welsh village add flavor to this story and good color in the type of film. You would also think that this is a film from Hammer studios, but it is not. Hazel Court is good as the nurse but veteran actor Kieron Moore who has worked in other science fiction films is pretty good also. This is one of the few times he's played the villain and not the hero that saves the day. This does have its share of blood and the overall mood of the film is effective in a grisly way. Future director Nicolas Roeg is one of the cameramen on the film. Horror film fans should check this eerie little film out.
41 Reviews
Surprisingly interesting and well-done, considering.
robert-blau25 July 2004
Saw this one (again) on (Chicago's own) "Svengoolie" this weekend, and was amazed how interesting and well-done it was, considering the preposterously bizarre and grotesque underlying story. Also, how they make sympathetic, and almost get you to root for, the main character -- a guy who makes Dr. Mengele look like Hippocrates.
Meanwhile, it's striking how appealing Hazel Court is. Definitely a woman with a quality, she's developed nicely since "Devil Girl from Mars" (1953).
So, if you're up for a movie about a warped physician performing hellish experiments on (unwilling) human subjects, this is definitely the one to see. Mellow and affectionate.
Meanwhile, it's striking how appealing Hazel Court is. Definitely a woman with a quality, she's developed nicely since "Devil Girl from Mars" (1953).
So, if you're up for a movie about a warped physician performing hellish experiments on (unwilling) human subjects, this is definitely the one to see. Mellow and affectionate.
Do you know that I had analyzed the protein value of an acorn by the time I was six!
sol121816 June 2005
(Some Spoilers) Thrown out of the prestigious Vienna Medical Academy for his illegal experiments Dr. Peter Blood, Kieron Moore,is now back home in the lovely and scenic coastal town of Port Carron England to continue his work undercover and underground.
Using his fathers position as the town doctor Robert Blood, Ian Hunter Peter builds a laboratory in the deserted coal mines outside the town to do his business undisturbed. While vacationing in the South American jungles Peter discovered the drug Curare from the local native tribesmen and has been using it in his experiments in his theory of eternal life. A brilliant but arrogant student Peter felt that he's smarter then all the professors and teachers in the academy put together. Which lead to him being run out of town, Vienna, on a rail.
Still not learning his lesson Peter is back on the road to destruction with him kidnapping people in and around town and after knocking them out working them over, in his secret lab,by taking organs out of one and putting them in another to keep the one receiving the organ going until he needs a new transplant. Looking and acting normal on the outside the tall dark and handsome Peter attracts, his fathers Dr. Robert Blood's assistant, pretty nurse and recent widow Lnda Parker, Hazel Court,who at first falls in love with him.
Peter putting on an act that he's in love with Linda takes her to his secret lab in the coal mines to, what seems to me, knock her out put her under the paralyzing drug Curare. Peter then use her in his experiments of involuntary organ donations. Lucky for Linda Peter's mad scheme is interrupted by the local town hobo Tregaye, Fred Johnson, who unknowingly to himself, and Linda, saved her life by popping up just at the right time.
Actually the brilliant Peter didn't come across that smart at all in the movie with all his experiments falling flat on their faces. All of Peter's victims from mine inspector George Beale, Andy Alston, to the local town undertaker old man Morton, Gerald Lawson, to the before-mentioned hobo Tregaye didn't produce the results that he hoped for.
In the end Peter ended up being the victim of one of his experiments that went very wrong for him but just right for the town and people of Port Carron. That experiment finally put and end to his insane actions once in for all.
Using his fathers position as the town doctor Robert Blood, Ian Hunter Peter builds a laboratory in the deserted coal mines outside the town to do his business undisturbed. While vacationing in the South American jungles Peter discovered the drug Curare from the local native tribesmen and has been using it in his experiments in his theory of eternal life. A brilliant but arrogant student Peter felt that he's smarter then all the professors and teachers in the academy put together. Which lead to him being run out of town, Vienna, on a rail.
Still not learning his lesson Peter is back on the road to destruction with him kidnapping people in and around town and after knocking them out working them over, in his secret lab,by taking organs out of one and putting them in another to keep the one receiving the organ going until he needs a new transplant. Looking and acting normal on the outside the tall dark and handsome Peter attracts, his fathers Dr. Robert Blood's assistant, pretty nurse and recent widow Lnda Parker, Hazel Court,who at first falls in love with him.
Peter putting on an act that he's in love with Linda takes her to his secret lab in the coal mines to, what seems to me, knock her out put her under the paralyzing drug Curare. Peter then use her in his experiments of involuntary organ donations. Lucky for Linda Peter's mad scheme is interrupted by the local town hobo Tregaye, Fred Johnson, who unknowingly to himself, and Linda, saved her life by popping up just at the right time.
Actually the brilliant Peter didn't come across that smart at all in the movie with all his experiments falling flat on their faces. All of Peter's victims from mine inspector George Beale, Andy Alston, to the local town undertaker old man Morton, Gerald Lawson, to the before-mentioned hobo Tregaye didn't produce the results that he hoped for.
In the end Peter ended up being the victim of one of his experiments that went very wrong for him but just right for the town and people of Port Carron. That experiment finally put and end to his insane actions once in for all.
Ahead of it's time
horrorbargainbin30 July 2002
Dr. Blood's antics in the lab are pretty gruesome, not schlock like I expected. The dialogue is mature and not dumbed down for the kids. I found it completely entertaining, and not just as a curiosity. The Misfits should have wrote a song about this one.
Don't toy with God's will, Dr. Blood!
capkronos20 May 2003
Dr. Peter Blood (Kieron Moore) shows up in a small Cornish village to move in with his father (Ian Hunter) to carry on with the old man's experiments. Maddened by his ambition and arrogance, Peter paralyzes unwilling victims with curare (African arrow poison) until their still-beating hearts can be removed and transplanted into other bodies. Will his new widowed nurse girlfriend Linda Parker (Hazel Court, as always, a strong female lead) catch on before it's too late? Saddled with a very implausible plot and pretty minor compared to some concurrent Corman and Hammer films, this still has good acting, nice location filming, atmosphere and a decent surprise ending.
Not a single 'ooh arr' to be heard.
BA_Harrison10 June 2018
Six years before the world's first human heart transplant, Dr. Blood's Coffin saw Kieron Moore star as Dr. Peter Blood, a biochemist determined to bring a man back to life by giving him a new heart. Of course, this being a horror flick, Blood is seriously deranged, his procedure requiring the donor to be still alive while the transplant takes place.
In order to carry out his plans, Blood returns to his rural home village in Cornwall (where absolutely no-one has a West Country accent), and proceeds to drug and abduct locals, taking them down to the tunnels of a nearby disused tin mine where he has set up a rudimentary operating theatre using medical supplies half-inched from the local surgery run by his unsuspecting father.
When he's not injecting victims with curare (which causes paralysis) and playing God in the mine, Peter spends his time wooing his father's curvaceous widowed nurse Linda (Hammer babe Hazel Court). As time goes on, Linda becomes suspicious of Peter, leading to a shocking climax that sees the demented doctor reanimating the nurse's decomposing husband.
While all of the above sounds like a lot of ghoulish fun, Dr. Blood's Coffin is less entertaining than it might have been, suffering from too many dialogue-heavy scenes and a lack of genuine horror, the only slightly disturbing scenes being the hasty removal of organs by a flustered Peter (he's a fast worker, completing the surgical procedure in minutes). The finale, in which Linda's mouldy husband comes back to life is incredibly silly, but easily the most enjoyable part of the film, director Sidney J. Furie finally delivering on the movie's macabre premise.
In order to carry out his plans, Blood returns to his rural home village in Cornwall (where absolutely no-one has a West Country accent), and proceeds to drug and abduct locals, taking them down to the tunnels of a nearby disused tin mine where he has set up a rudimentary operating theatre using medical supplies half-inched from the local surgery run by his unsuspecting father.
When he's not injecting victims with curare (which causes paralysis) and playing God in the mine, Peter spends his time wooing his father's curvaceous widowed nurse Linda (Hammer babe Hazel Court). As time goes on, Linda becomes suspicious of Peter, leading to a shocking climax that sees the demented doctor reanimating the nurse's decomposing husband.
While all of the above sounds like a lot of ghoulish fun, Dr. Blood's Coffin is less entertaining than it might have been, suffering from too many dialogue-heavy scenes and a lack of genuine horror, the only slightly disturbing scenes being the hasty removal of organs by a flustered Peter (he's a fast worker, completing the surgical procedure in minutes). The finale, in which Linda's mouldy husband comes back to life is incredibly silly, but easily the most enjoyable part of the film, director Sidney J. Furie finally delivering on the movie's macabre premise.
How NOT to seduce a cute, recently widowed nurse!
Coventry28 June 2018
People sometimes complain that horror movies nowadays lack originality, and that most of them are uninspired and blatant imitations of just a few half-decent films. Well, that may be correct, but it's definitely not a phenomenon that only popped up now. Shameless rip-offs always existed, and here's an example of the late 50s/early 60s to prove it! Sidney J. Furie's "Dr. Blood's Coffin" clearly got made to cash in on the tremendous success of Hammer Studio's first real horror production; - "The Curse of Frankenstein". It must be said that, in spite of the obvious budget restrictions, "Dr. Blood's Coffin" is a grisly little flick with reasonably gruesome make-up effects and quite a bit of violence. On the other hand, "The Curse of Frankenstein" was gruesome as well and, unlike "Dr. Blood's Coffin", it also had a solid screenplay, terrific scenery, great acting and a continuously tense atmosphere. Furie's film is rather incompetent and overall boring, to be honest. The film opens with a feeble attempt to keep the identity of the mad doctor secret, but after ten minutes or so, they realize that idea was just dumb and unfeasible. Dr. Blood Jr. (with a name like that, you're just destined to make a career in mad science) gets kicked out of the medical university in Vienna for conducting unorthodox experiments on deceased patients, although he personally prefers to think of them as revolutionary and courageous. He returns to his hometown in Cornwall, where he settles at his father's small doctor's practice and flirts with the widowed nurse. His main objective naturally remains to complete his research, and thus Peter Blood paralyzes unsuspecting villagers with curare and subsequently drags them to an improvised laboratory in an abandoned mineshaft. Personally, I don't think it's very smart to kidnap people in a town with a population of barely 50 people and I also don't really see the added value of killing people only to revive them via primitive heart transplants. But hey, the idea is sick enough for a horror film and there are filthy make-up effects, especially during the utterly grotesque climax with a revived zombie husband! The rest of the film is unfortunately dull and endlessly repetitive. One of Blood's victims escapes, for example, and the poor sucker spends the next fifteen minutes crawling over the ground. Dr. Blood himself whines so much about his cowardly fellow scientists that he forgets to seduce the nurse! "Dr. Blood's Coffin" is passable Brit-horror from the early sixties, only worth seeking out in case you already watched all the much more superior Hammer, Amicus and Tigon productions from the same era/decade.
Doctor Blood's Coffin
Scarecrow-8819 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Peter Blood(the dashing Kieron Moore, perfectly conveying the drive and determination of a scientist with paranoia and madness brewing inside)returns to his small village home of Grenville after extensive schooling in Vienna. What his father Dr. Robert Blood(Ian Hunter), the beloved, hardworking village physician, or nurse Linda Parker(the lovely Hazel Court), his possible love interest, neither know is just what Peter is capable of in pursuing his goal to make a living, beating heart revive a dead body. Peter takes it upon himself to choose the lowest of village folk to paralyze with a poison that removes their ability to move much or talk, enabling him to surgically remove their hearts while they remain alive, with horrified eyes revealing the only cries of help available to them. Peter has a secret "lab" in a small place within tunnels underneath the ruins of an abandoned mine. Opportunity arises for Peter to gain control of human subjects when his father must leave for nearby Plymouth, out of town, as he works in his place with access to tools, equipment, and space. But, it'll only be a matter of time before Peter will make that ultimate mistake which will reveal his evil ways. He wholeheartedly believes in what he's doing..scientists must be "ruthless and unafraid" of what the critical majority as a whole thinks, Peter feels that important people should live in place of the "inferior" beings who merely occupy space, when their beating hearts could thrive in those better suited to make the world a better place.
This was actually a pleasant surprise. I thought the premise was grisly enough and the idea that Peter has trust from those in the village, creates much in the way of suspense. There's this masterstroke of a scene where this poor soul, given poison, makes his way, painstakingly, out of Peter's cavernous lair outside to an ocean embankment only to face the fact that the village is using as their physician, currently taking Robert's place, the very man who committed the sickening act to him. Hazel Court is the voice of reason, using Peter's attempts at being God against him to no avail when she suspects, and is right, that he's doing inhumane things. Kenneth J Warren is the village Sergeant Cook, who is investigating missing citizens and unusual deaths. An important scene comes in the middle portion of the film when Peter is first caught by the village's elderly coroner, attempting a surgical heart removal on a citizen in the morgue. Interrupted by coroner Morton(Gerald Lawson)while in the process of removing the heart, Peter kills him accidentally setting off a chain of events will lead to his downfall. The body he was working on dies, so he'll have to seek a second victim. Peter has to somehow hide Morton's body, take over as coroner doing autopsies which have the poison he put inside them, trying to evade curious eyes seeking answers to odd occurrences. You see, through Moore's performance, a man squirming to correct mistakes he himself made trying somehow to stay one step ahead.
I'm a fan of "mad scientist" movies, and this does follow the Frankenstein model, but I liked the performances. The film is ultimately about life and death and how Peter wishes to prolong those important with the hearts of those who waste them on drink or lost dreams. I also felt director Sidney J Furie uses the ruins and tunnels effectively. I think this is so story-driven, that the low budget doesn't harm it. Only one real puzzling occurrence for me was the ending when Peter is actually successful only for the one revived from the dead(..a real nifty twist is who the corpse revived is and how they relate to Linda)to turn on him violently..I guess it follows Frankenstein in that regard as well because when one tries to play God he will reap what he sows.
This was actually a pleasant surprise. I thought the premise was grisly enough and the idea that Peter has trust from those in the village, creates much in the way of suspense. There's this masterstroke of a scene where this poor soul, given poison, makes his way, painstakingly, out of Peter's cavernous lair outside to an ocean embankment only to face the fact that the village is using as their physician, currently taking Robert's place, the very man who committed the sickening act to him. Hazel Court is the voice of reason, using Peter's attempts at being God against him to no avail when she suspects, and is right, that he's doing inhumane things. Kenneth J Warren is the village Sergeant Cook, who is investigating missing citizens and unusual deaths. An important scene comes in the middle portion of the film when Peter is first caught by the village's elderly coroner, attempting a surgical heart removal on a citizen in the morgue. Interrupted by coroner Morton(Gerald Lawson)while in the process of removing the heart, Peter kills him accidentally setting off a chain of events will lead to his downfall. The body he was working on dies, so he'll have to seek a second victim. Peter has to somehow hide Morton's body, take over as coroner doing autopsies which have the poison he put inside them, trying to evade curious eyes seeking answers to odd occurrences. You see, through Moore's performance, a man squirming to correct mistakes he himself made trying somehow to stay one step ahead.
I'm a fan of "mad scientist" movies, and this does follow the Frankenstein model, but I liked the performances. The film is ultimately about life and death and how Peter wishes to prolong those important with the hearts of those who waste them on drink or lost dreams. I also felt director Sidney J Furie uses the ruins and tunnels effectively. I think this is so story-driven, that the low budget doesn't harm it. Only one real puzzling occurrence for me was the ending when Peter is actually successful only for the one revived from the dead(..a real nifty twist is who the corpse revived is and how they relate to Linda)to turn on him violently..I guess it follows Frankenstein in that regard as well because when one tries to play God he will reap what he sows.
Routine, but watchable for dedicated horror fans.
Hey_Sweden21 June 2018
The title has more punch than the story ultimately delivers in this mild shocker, yet another variation on the old "Frankenstein" theme. Kieron Moore ("Crack in the World") stars as Dr. Peter Blood, an intense scientist determined that his experiments in extending life will be successful. Unfortunately for him, he's not very good at what he does, either getting caught in the act or leaving critical evidence in his wake.
"Doctor Blood's Coffin" is mainly noteworthy as one of the horror pictures made in England by under-rated, Canadian-born filmmaker Sidney J. Furie before he hit his stride with "The Ipcress File". The story & screenplay are the work of Nathan Juran (credited as Jerry Juran), himself a famed director of such things as "20 Million Miles to Earth". But, alas, this yarn is lacking in truly interesting features, although the tunnel settings are somewhat unusual. (Said underground tunnels, originally used as tin mines, run throughout much of the locations.)
These locations are quite picturesque, and the film does look lovely in colour, although one can't help but think that it would have had even more atmosphere had it been filmed in black & white.
The picture also offers its audience an opportunity to watch gorgeous Brit scream queen Hazel Court in a contemporary-set tale, unlike the period pieces from the 50s and 60s for which one might already know her. She's quite a formidable leading lady, obliged to scream at one point, but indignant enough that she and Moore pontificate back and forth on what constitutes the "right" thing to do. The excellent supporting cast also includes Ian Hunter as Dr. Blood Sr., Kenneth J. Warren as the police sergeant faced with baffling deaths, the colourful Gerald Lawson as local funeral director Mr. Morton, Fred Johnson as amiable miner Tregaye, and Andy Alston as one of our demented antagonists' intended victims. You have to give this guy credit for his extended, arduous escape.
Overall, this is short on suspense and originality, and spends too much time with Moore as he aggressively pursues Court (not that you can blame him, of course); this doesn't stay on track all that well. Even the finale is underwhelming.
Five out of 10.
"Doctor Blood's Coffin" is mainly noteworthy as one of the horror pictures made in England by under-rated, Canadian-born filmmaker Sidney J. Furie before he hit his stride with "The Ipcress File". The story & screenplay are the work of Nathan Juran (credited as Jerry Juran), himself a famed director of such things as "20 Million Miles to Earth". But, alas, this yarn is lacking in truly interesting features, although the tunnel settings are somewhat unusual. (Said underground tunnels, originally used as tin mines, run throughout much of the locations.)
These locations are quite picturesque, and the film does look lovely in colour, although one can't help but think that it would have had even more atmosphere had it been filmed in black & white.
The picture also offers its audience an opportunity to watch gorgeous Brit scream queen Hazel Court in a contemporary-set tale, unlike the period pieces from the 50s and 60s for which one might already know her. She's quite a formidable leading lady, obliged to scream at one point, but indignant enough that she and Moore pontificate back and forth on what constitutes the "right" thing to do. The excellent supporting cast also includes Ian Hunter as Dr. Blood Sr., Kenneth J. Warren as the police sergeant faced with baffling deaths, the colourful Gerald Lawson as local funeral director Mr. Morton, Fred Johnson as amiable miner Tregaye, and Andy Alston as one of our demented antagonists' intended victims. You have to give this guy credit for his extended, arduous escape.
Overall, this is short on suspense and originality, and spends too much time with Moore as he aggressively pursues Court (not that you can blame him, of course); this doesn't stay on track all that well. Even the finale is underwhelming.
Five out of 10.
Cornwall, Yes; Cornball, No
ferbs5414 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The 1961 British horror film "Doctor Blood's Coffin" is here given the DVD treatment by an outfit called Cheezy Flicks, but I believe that appellation does this film an injustice. Far from cheesy, it is, rather, an intelligently written, well acted and atmospherically shot picture that makes excellent use of its English coastal locale. In it, Kieron Moore plays Dr. Peter Blood (hey, wasn't that Errol Flynn's character's name in the 1935 swashbuckler "Captain Blood"?!?), a modern-day research scientist who returns to his hometown in Cornwall after his experiments on bringing the dead back to life with still-living hearts cause him to be kicked out of Vienna. Back home, he enters into a relationship with his father's pretty nurse assistant, Linda, played by Hazel Court (in the late '50s and early '60s, surely one of the prettiest actresses the U.K. had to offer), and secretly continues his work, using several of the town's unwilling test subjects. Moore is just fine in the lead role as the dedicated but quite insane scientist, Court is gorgeous as usual (especially when shown in a low-cut sundress), and Australian character actor Kenneth J. Warren (who will always be Emma Peel nemesis Z.Z. von Schnerk to me!) is quite sturdy as the local police sergeant trying to get to the bottom of all the mishegas. The film gets increasingly bizarre as it progresses, especially when Dr. Blood decides to prove his case by bringing Linda's late husband back as a nice surprise. There are several mildly gross surgical sequences to please all the gorehounds out there, and, for me, the highlight: a fine and heated discussion between Blood and Linda regarding the moral consequences of his work. This three-minute scene provides possibly the best thesping I've ever seen either actor give us. Ultimately, this supposedly "cheesy flick" turns out to be anything but, and is highly recommended for all fans of levelheaded British horror.
Spoilers follow ...
parry_na13 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Initially, I was surprised this was made as early as 1961. Its graphic content, misty Cornish locations, promotional features picturing a lurching zombie, and lurid title seemed more like a production from in early 1970's (Sergeant Cook is played by Kenneth J. Warren, known for 70's horror flicks 'I, Monster' and 'The Creeping Flesh'). As such, I'm surprised it made such little impact.
Also surprising is the fact that the lead character is actually called Doctor Blood (Peter Blood, played by Kieron Moore). Horror veterans Hazel Court stars as Nurse Helen and Paul Hardtmuth is briefly seen as Prof. Luckman, both actors previously having starred in Hammer's ground-breaking 'Curse o0f Frankenstein (1957).' One of the cameramen is no less than Nicholas Roeg, who went on to direct horror classic 'Don't Look Now (1971)' amongst other things.
Dashing Irish actor Kieron Moore plays Blood, a character tailor-made to be the hero of the piece, but turning out to be the crazed villain. He's very good, especially considering he is playing against type. Also, the contrast between sunny, beautiful Cornwall and Blood's unwholesome experiments is effectively realised.
More reminiscent of films of this period (especially the more mannered Hammer entries), however, are that the shocks are reserved strictly for the final act, where the magnitude of Blood's delusion is given free reign. Up until then, we have an engaging enough drama, with Court in particular keeping the interest alive – sadly free of scares until the finale, which is great, but too brief.
Also surprising is the fact that the lead character is actually called Doctor Blood (Peter Blood, played by Kieron Moore). Horror veterans Hazel Court stars as Nurse Helen and Paul Hardtmuth is briefly seen as Prof. Luckman, both actors previously having starred in Hammer's ground-breaking 'Curse o0f Frankenstein (1957).' One of the cameramen is no less than Nicholas Roeg, who went on to direct horror classic 'Don't Look Now (1971)' amongst other things.
Dashing Irish actor Kieron Moore plays Blood, a character tailor-made to be the hero of the piece, but turning out to be the crazed villain. He's very good, especially considering he is playing against type. Also, the contrast between sunny, beautiful Cornwall and Blood's unwholesome experiments is effectively realised.
More reminiscent of films of this period (especially the more mannered Hammer entries), however, are that the shocks are reserved strictly for the final act, where the magnitude of Blood's delusion is given free reign. Up until then, we have an engaging enough drama, with Court in particular keeping the interest alive – sadly free of scares until the finale, which is great, but too brief.
Really cool
indie1924 July 1999
Waited over 30 years to finally watch this
Stevieboy66631 July 2018
Local people are mysteriously disappearing in a small community in Cornwall, England, and it's no secret that it's all down to one Peter Blood, son of the local doctor.
I started watching horror movies way back in the 1980's when I was a kid & I remember seeing this great sounding title in the TV guide, however for whatever reason I missed it and it's taken 30 odd years to finally watch it. And it didn't disappoint, though it's hardly a classic either. It is really nicely filmed in colour, with great coastal Cornish locations. The cast, which includes scream queen Hazel Court, is good. In particular I liked the character of Mr Mortimer, the drunk undertaker. There a few moments of gore, including quite graphic heart transplants, plus the zombie near the end is one of the earliest examples of a decaying corpse, which were to become so popular over the following decades. The only thing that let's the film down is that it can be pretty slow at times, but it is worth sticking with because the finale is pretty shocking.
This is passable entertainment, with a few gruesome scenes.
scsu197516 November 2022
Kieron Moore plays Peter Blood (I had that same temporary condition after a biopsy). He returns to his hometown where his father (Ian Hunter) is the town doctor. Peter is also a doctor, but his specialty is taking hearts from the living and transplanting them into dead people - a procedure not covered by Blue Cross. Peter does his experiments in an abandoned mine, so apparently even the clowns at the Wuhan Lab wouldn't give this guy space. About the only thing normal about Peter is his attraction to his father's nurse Linda (Hazel Court). She finally realizes he not only has a screw loose, but also several nuts and bolts. Of course, we are treated to Peter's obligatory "so what if I kill a few people as long as science is advanced" soliloquy. He then proceeds to show off his method by bringing Linda's dead husband back to life - sort of.
If you watch the trailer, you've pretty much seen enough. Hunter brings a little respectability to the proceedings, but that's not saying much. Court is gorgeous as ever, with her tight white nursing outfit. She also wears a tight blue number highlighting the stuff that the tight white number covers up. Also, the coastal scenery is nice to look at.
If you watch the trailer, you've pretty much seen enough. Hunter brings a little respectability to the proceedings, but that's not saying much. Court is gorgeous as ever, with her tight white nursing outfit. She also wears a tight blue number highlighting the stuff that the tight white number covers up. Also, the coastal scenery is nice to look at.
right out of the dungeon ...
Poe-1724 October 2004
Set in a "Cornish village" (high marks for any film of this vintage set in "a cornish village" - those cornish villages went through the mill in the middle years of horror), Dr. Blood's Coffin checks in as a Frankenstein -ish offering. Got your mad scientist tinkering with humans, more lurid and atmospheric lab scenes than the graphic and in your face stuff current movie viewers are used to.
Creepy scenes. In the old days, I loved movies that gave me one creepy scene that made closing my eyes to go to sleep a challenge.
Old horse, corny now but from that impossible to resist title to the whopper denouement, one of the knighted efforts to keep horror alive when 99% of cinema thought horror undignified and unworthy. If you like Freddy, Scream and Jason, you owe a nod of thanks (though not necessarily a viewing) to films like Dr. Blood. If you're a fan of creepier things like "The Ring" and remakes of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Dawn of the Dead", you also owe a nod of thanks to films like this one. You guys, might even find the "loyalty to the cause" in a viewing of this film.
Creepy scenes. In the old days, I loved movies that gave me one creepy scene that made closing my eyes to go to sleep a challenge.
Old horse, corny now but from that impossible to resist title to the whopper denouement, one of the knighted efforts to keep horror alive when 99% of cinema thought horror undignified and unworthy. If you like Freddy, Scream and Jason, you owe a nod of thanks (though not necessarily a viewing) to films like Dr. Blood. If you're a fan of creepier things like "The Ring" and remakes of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Dawn of the Dead", you also owe a nod of thanks to films like this one. You guys, might even find the "loyalty to the cause" in a viewing of this film.
Wasted potential
Leofwine_draca4 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
DR BLOOD'S COFFIN bears all the hallmarks of a classic slice of British Gothic horror: it's got an eerie setting in the deserted Cornish tin mines (also put to good use in the similar PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES), it features an actress many consider to be Britain's best scream queen (the delectable Hazel Court), and the Frankenstein-style plot features a misguided scientist who performs experiments on the living and the dead in a bid to become a pioneer heart transplant surgeon. What's not to love?
Quite a lot, it actually turns out, and not least the clunky script, which routinely AVOIDS every moment of possible excitement in favour of talky, talky, boredom. A full twenty minutes or so of the running time is taken up with a guy CRAWLING – incessant, repetitive, and yawn-inducing. The potential horrors of the script are diluted and avoided, with a single snippet of bloody surgery the only horror we get until the climax, in which a fine-looking zombie (that would look great in a Hammer or Italian zombie film) shows up for some last-minute action.
Before then, we get a staged romance between Kieron Moore and Hazel Court, who can really do better. There are some locals with silly accents and some nice locations in then-contemporary Cornwall, but that's about it. Sidney J. Furie, who later on made the supremely scary THE ENTITY, doesn't distinguish himself in this forgotten outing. Kieron Moore is miscast as the protagonist: we needed someone of Cushing's calibre to make this guy likable, but Moore is just a schmaltzy jerk and Court's the sole decent actor mired in a sea of muddle headed wrongness. Funnily enough, the execrable script was written by Nathan Juran – the director responsible for colourful fantasy classic THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD!
Quite a lot, it actually turns out, and not least the clunky script, which routinely AVOIDS every moment of possible excitement in favour of talky, talky, boredom. A full twenty minutes or so of the running time is taken up with a guy CRAWLING – incessant, repetitive, and yawn-inducing. The potential horrors of the script are diluted and avoided, with a single snippet of bloody surgery the only horror we get until the climax, in which a fine-looking zombie (that would look great in a Hammer or Italian zombie film) shows up for some last-minute action.
Before then, we get a staged romance between Kieron Moore and Hazel Court, who can really do better. There are some locals with silly accents and some nice locations in then-contemporary Cornwall, but that's about it. Sidney J. Furie, who later on made the supremely scary THE ENTITY, doesn't distinguish himself in this forgotten outing. Kieron Moore is miscast as the protagonist: we needed someone of Cushing's calibre to make this guy likable, but Moore is just a schmaltzy jerk and Court's the sole decent actor mired in a sea of muddle headed wrongness. Funnily enough, the execrable script was written by Nathan Juran – the director responsible for colourful fantasy classic THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD!
Plymouth Adventure
richardchatten16 June 2023
A bizarre example of the strange mystique enjoyed in the horror genre by Cornish tin mines (which came to full fruition in 'The Plague of the Zombies'), complete with a huge closeup of a palpitating heart in Eastman Color.
Something of an anomaly in the career of Sidney J. Furie, soon to go far, although not as far as Nic Roeg (as his name appears in the credits) which gave them both the chance to cut their teeth in the application of colour.
Keiron Moore modestly declares that "all I need is a laboratory, a test tube and a few chemicals" which explains why Peter Blood went into medicine and gave this picture its lurid title; while Hazel Court proves a comely wench as the film's damsel in distress.
Something of an anomaly in the career of Sidney J. Furie, soon to go far, although not as far as Nic Roeg (as his name appears in the credits) which gave them both the chance to cut their teeth in the application of colour.
Keiron Moore modestly declares that "all I need is a laboratory, a test tube and a few chemicals" which explains why Peter Blood went into medicine and gave this picture its lurid title; while Hazel Court proves a comely wench as the film's damsel in distress.
Some things are better left alone.
michaelRokeefe13 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
A young biochemist Dr. Peter Blood(Kieron Moore)arrives in remote Porthcarron, Cornwall to move in with his father(Ian Hunter) the well respected doctor of the lonely village. The elder Dr. Blood is proud of his son but questions some of his strange medical practices. Young Dr. Blood is far from suspect in the mysterious disappearances of villagers...who are kept hidden in abandoned tin mines where Peter Blood experiments with the locals as part of his heart transplant research. When not carrying out his hideous experimentation the young doctor is wooing his father's nurse Linda Parker(Hazel Court). This chiller at times seems very disjointed and clueless in direction, but ends eerily in imitation of famed Hammer films. Also in the cast are: Fred Johnson, Kenneth Warren and Paul Stockman.
A Doctor Who You Never Want To Hear Is "Ready to see you now"
morrison-dylan-fan7 November 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Seeing the films very low rating on IMDb,I began to suspect that I had wasted some cash picking up this luckily,during my viewing of the movie,I was thrilled to find that this film is actually an excellent,over-looked,moody low budget Frankenstein-riffing British Horror.
The plot:
With some fellow students and doctors beginning to question the nature of his operations,Dr Peter Blood decides that he should leave Vienna and pay a visit to his father, (Dr Robert Blood)to get a job at his local quiet community hospital in a small English countryside town called Grenville.
On his arrival,Peter successfully covers up all of the "troubles" that happened in Vienna,and makes all of the locals and doctors believe that "the local boy dun good" has come back to help all of the residents with his new,vast knowledge of medicine.As Peters father and the rest of the staff, (including Nurse Linda Parker,who is developing a deep crush for the good doctor )start to show him a huge amount of respect and begin giving Peter the chance to become the head doctor of the hospital.
Peter Blood discovers that the small town is surrounded by a vast number of disused mining mountains,which start to make Peter consider if he has found the perfect location to continue his operations,of bringing the dead back to life
View on the film:
Checking the credits of director Sidney J. Furie,his career seems to be filled with some very interesting moments, (such as the post-Bond Ipcress File, Scorsese- praised 1982 horror The Entity,the almost forgotten Robert Redford film Little Fauss and Big Halsy and an early music bio-pic with 1972's Lady Sings The Blues)that are over-shadowed by some truly cringe-worthy moments. (2005's American Soldiers and the franchise-killer Superman IV:The Quest For Peace)
For this film, (which also has future director Nicolas Roeg as its camera operator)Furie thankfully shows the best of his directing ability's,with the beautiful Cornwall location allowing Furie to give the film a good "wilderness' mood, due it being shown,that since everyone has put their trust in Peter Blood,none of the locals begin to suspect for a moment that the recent disappearance's of people near the disused mining mountains,may possibly be connect to the newest resident of the area.
Whilst the screenplay by Nathan Juran,James Kelley and Peter Miller does not shy away from showing its Frankenstein influence,the movie still puts an excellent,fresh spin on the Frankenstein story,with the madness of Peter Blood, (wonderfully performed ruggedly by Kieron Moore) only being see-able in a few,well-paced accidental drop of the mask moments from Blood,who the rest of the time is given a terrific tense mood,as the writers and director start to show the creation that Peter is attempting to secretly make in the forgotten,empty mountains.
Final view on the film:
An excellent,sadly forgotten moody British Horror film,with great location directing from Furie,a terrific screenplay and a fantastic creepy performance from Kieron Moore.
The plot:
With some fellow students and doctors beginning to question the nature of his operations,Dr Peter Blood decides that he should leave Vienna and pay a visit to his father, (Dr Robert Blood)to get a job at his local quiet community hospital in a small English countryside town called Grenville.
On his arrival,Peter successfully covers up all of the "troubles" that happened in Vienna,and makes all of the locals and doctors believe that "the local boy dun good" has come back to help all of the residents with his new,vast knowledge of medicine.As Peters father and the rest of the staff, (including Nurse Linda Parker,who is developing a deep crush for the good doctor )start to show him a huge amount of respect and begin giving Peter the chance to become the head doctor of the hospital.
Peter Blood discovers that the small town is surrounded by a vast number of disused mining mountains,which start to make Peter consider if he has found the perfect location to continue his operations,of bringing the dead back to life
View on the film:
Checking the credits of director Sidney J. Furie,his career seems to be filled with some very interesting moments, (such as the post-Bond Ipcress File, Scorsese- praised 1982 horror The Entity,the almost forgotten Robert Redford film Little Fauss and Big Halsy and an early music bio-pic with 1972's Lady Sings The Blues)that are over-shadowed by some truly cringe-worthy moments. (2005's American Soldiers and the franchise-killer Superman IV:The Quest For Peace)
For this film, (which also has future director Nicolas Roeg as its camera operator)Furie thankfully shows the best of his directing ability's,with the beautiful Cornwall location allowing Furie to give the film a good "wilderness' mood, due it being shown,that since everyone has put their trust in Peter Blood,none of the locals begin to suspect for a moment that the recent disappearance's of people near the disused mining mountains,may possibly be connect to the newest resident of the area.
Whilst the screenplay by Nathan Juran,James Kelley and Peter Miller does not shy away from showing its Frankenstein influence,the movie still puts an excellent,fresh spin on the Frankenstein story,with the madness of Peter Blood, (wonderfully performed ruggedly by Kieron Moore) only being see-able in a few,well-paced accidental drop of the mask moments from Blood,who the rest of the time is given a terrific tense mood,as the writers and director start to show the creation that Peter is attempting to secretly make in the forgotten,empty mountains.
Final view on the film:
An excellent,sadly forgotten moody British Horror film,with great location directing from Furie,a terrific screenplay and a fantastic creepy performance from Kieron Moore.
Slow paced 1960s British horror
a_chinn10 June 2017
Before directing more respectable of films like "The Ipcress File" and "Lady Sings the Blues," Sidney J. Furie directed this campy dated British horror film. The titular doctor has been run out of Vienna, so he returns to the English countryside where he continues his radical heart transplant experiments to raise the dead, ALA Dr. Frankenstein. Locals begin disappearing and our bloody doctor comes under suspicion. From a technical standpoint, it's a competently made film, but the story is slow and not all that interesting or horrific, at least until the film's climax. Stick with Hammer Film Productions if you're in the mood for 1960s British horror.
Good but unsung little horror film in the Frankenstein vein
dbborroughs2 November 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Creepy little horror film that I like a great deal. The plot has Dr Blood returning to his home in England to take over for his dad. Unfortunately for the town the younger Blood is actually trying to follow in the footsteps of Dr Frankenstein and revive the dead, and to that end he has set up shop in an abandoned mine and has been kidnapping the locals to continue the experiments that got him run out of Vienna. Coming out of the British horror boom of the late 1950's and early 1960's this is neat little low key film that uses its locations and a muted color scheme to great effect. Where the Hammer films in someways heightened everything into an almost fairytale like feel, this film goes the opposite way using the drabness of the real world to make a real feeling film. Indeed the film doesn't throw too many unreal twists or way out ideas at you its all low key and close to reality which helps to add to the feeling of unease. Is the film perfect? No. Its clunky in some of the ways that the revive the dead films are and perhaps things are a bit too contrived, with Hazel Court's rescue being too aptly timed. That said its still a nice way to pass a rainy Saturday night n front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn and a soda. 7 is out of 10.
It's OK
preppy-312 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
SPOILERS!!!! Story about people disappearing in a remote Cornish town. It seems the well-liked doctor Peter Blood (Kieron Moore) is killing people he thinks are not needed and transferring their hearts into the corpses of intelligent people. HOW this is supposed to bring them to life is never explained. Pretty nurse Linda (Hazel Court) begins to suspect that something is up.
The plot is pretty stupid but this is an OK horror film. The scenery is beautiful (I believe it was shot in Ireland) and it moves fairly quick. Moore and Court are great in their roles which helps. If you're going to watch this for blood or violence forget it. It's not a gory film at all but there are a few shots of exposed beating hearts. The ending is silly but effective. All in all just an OK horror film. Great title though.
The plot is pretty stupid but this is an OK horror film. The scenery is beautiful (I believe it was shot in Ireland) and it moves fairly quick. Moore and Court are great in their roles which helps. If you're going to watch this for blood or violence forget it. It's not a gory film at all but there are a few shots of exposed beating hearts. The ending is silly but effective. All in all just an OK horror film. Great title though.
Lovely scenery
jamesroyhold18 June 2018
The title doesn't make any sense but I've come to expect that from movies so it's no biggie.
My only complaint is they spent a long time building to the climax. Once it came, it was rushed and unsatisfying. They should have added more interaction between Hazel Court and her resurrected husband.
Otherwise it is an entertaining movie. I enjoyed the Cornish scenery, the old mines and the sea. Very nice. And Hazel Court was nicer still. A lovely lady by all counts.
My only complaint is they spent a long time building to the climax. Once it came, it was rushed and unsatisfying. They should have added more interaction between Hazel Court and her resurrected husband.
Otherwise it is an entertaining movie. I enjoyed the Cornish scenery, the old mines and the sea. Very nice. And Hazel Court was nicer still. A lovely lady by all counts.
surprisingly effective given the budget
planktonrules12 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is an ultra-cheap movie made in the UK with little in the budget to allow for big name stars. So it's left to Kieron Moore to play the young and severely misguided Dr. Blood. It seems that the young doctor has been away in college conducting experiments but he's now returned home to assist his father in his practice. What exactly his previous experiments were is unknown to everyone--they just know he's a nice guy and they can trust him to look after the good people of this small town. The only "big name" in the film is Ian Hunter, as the Sr. Dr. Blood.
Unfortunately for the town, the young doctor's experiments have to do with reviving the dead--a practice frowned upon in most municipalities. And, when he starts killing people to do this research, people eventually realize he is at the heart of the murders. Poor guy, as he sounded so sure of himself and sincere! The movie is much better than the low rating on IMDb. It's not a great film, but very watchable.
Unfortunately for the town, the young doctor's experiments have to do with reviving the dead--a practice frowned upon in most municipalities. And, when he starts killing people to do this research, people eventually realize he is at the heart of the murders. Poor guy, as he sounded so sure of himself and sincere! The movie is much better than the low rating on IMDb. It's not a great film, but very watchable.
Here, have some curare with your coffee
ctomvelu12 October 2012
Slow-moving, low-key mad scientist flick about a young doctor joining his father's practice in a small Cornish town. The young doctor sets up a secret lab to pursue unorthodox experiments involving transferring organs from living victims into corpses. No wonder he got thrown out of university. What makes this modest effort mildly interesting is the actor who plays the mad scientist: Kieron Moore, a James Bond lookalike who exhibits a perfectly charming side when he's not butchering the townsfolk. The luscious Hazel Court is his nurse and love interest. I cannot honestly recommend this movie to even the most devout horror fan, even with a suave mad scientist. Of course, seeing Hazel Court in anything is OK by me. She and the equally beautiful Barbara Steele were the horror movie queens of the early 1960s.
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