BLOODLUST (1961)

Captain Tony has chartered his boat to two young couples on a vacation: handsome, hunky Johnny; his gal Betty whom we discover, when Johnny gets too lovey-dovey with her on deck, knows some judo moves; Pete, who wears glasses (which of course means 'nerd,' though he's never as nerdy as you expect him to be); and his gal Jeanne who is fairly nondescript. At the height of the afternoon, Tony passes out cold drunk and the four passengers decide to take a dinghy to a small nearby island to do some exploring. (What they don't see is Tony waking up, seeing them at sea, and trying to warn them not to go to the island.) Once there, a clambake seems in order, but Johnny falls into a deliberately-set trap in the woods, and suddenly they find themselves facing three armed men: the bearded Dr. Balleau and two guards. Despite their threatening appearance, Balleau seems kindly, if a bit aloof, and takes them back to his small house, explaining that he is a wealthy retired man who lives mostly alone on the island to satisfy his yearning for hunting, having animals shipped onto the island to be bagged and stuffed as trophies. Also living in the house are Belleau's considerably younger French wife Sandra and a family friend named Dean who is always soused (but whom Belleau keeps on because he's a good chess player. The four want to go back to the boat, but Belleau insists they stay the night because of the nighttime dangers in the jungle. Soon they find out about other dangers: Dean, who only fakes being a drunkard, is Sandra's lover, and the two are desperate to get off the island because Belleau is a madman--he has Tony procure people to drop off on the island and Belleau hunts them, always killing them and then stuffing them to put on display in his private trophy room. The six of them make plans to steal a boat and escape, but we all know what happens to the best-laid plans, and these plans aren't particularly well-laid.

As you may have figured out, this B-thriller is an uncredited remake of the short story "The Most Dangerous Game," most famously filmed in 1932 with Joel McCrea and Fay Wray, and also in 1945 as A GAME OF DEATH. Among the three versions, this comes in last, mostly due to the low budget (cheap sets, weak writing), and also because of the lackluster performance of Wilton Graff as the madman. He never comes off as mad, sinister, or even particularly threatening--his brutal guards are more effectively scary than he is. Of course, British actor Leslie Banks set a high bar in the 1932 film that is unlikely to be bested--unless someone like Anthony Hopkins were to do a remake. For a cast of B-actors who mostly remained unknown, the rest do fine, though the only real standout is Robert Reed (as Johnny), who went on to eternal fame as the dad in The Brady Bunch. Here, he spends most of his  time showing off his nice build in a skintight t-shirt (with sweat stains that are so consistent, I feel they must have been applied on purpose by a continuity person). His bearing as a rather reluctant hero (he's not foolhardy and doesn't seem to want to be the gang leader) is convincing. Bobby Hall is also convincing in the wordless role of Jondor, an ill-treated assistant to Belleau. I must also mention Troy Patterson as Tony, better when he's sober than drunk, and the uncredited Harry Wilson as a shrieking madman who is loose in the jungle--every time he shows up, he's unnerving. Scenes of Belleau killing people with a crossbow are fairly explicit, as is the last scene of Belleau getting his deserved end. I first saw this on MST3K where it was mocked mercilessly, but seen on its own, it does at least hold your attention (or maybe it was just Robert Reed's t-shirt that kept me watching). BTW, the title is from the explanation Belleau gives for his bent: he was a gentle museum curator who became a sniper in the war, and could never get rid of that… Bloodlust! Pictured are Reed and June Kenney (as Betty). [DVD]