DOCTOR BLOOD'S COFFIN

Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)

Reviewed by Chris McMillan | Mon, December 26 2011

• Hazel Court
 
• Horror
 
• Ian Hunter
 
• James Kelley
 
• Kenneth J. Warren
 
• Kieron Moore
 
• Nathan Juran
 
• Peter Miller
 
• Reviews
 
• Sidney J. Furie

Directed by: Sidney J. Furie
Written by: Nathan Juran, James Kelley, Peter Miller
Cast: Kieron Moore, Hazel Court, Ian Hunter, Kenneth J. Warren
MOD DVDs are a boon to genre movie fans. Studios are releasing movies that wouldn't generate enough profits to make a wide release feasible, thus allowing fans to purchase films that might have remained in a vault forever. The cost is a bit of an issue (you can't wait for these titles to end up in a Walmart dump bin sale), but at least one can buy a decent quality DVD without resorting to bootleg copies.
That said, I doubt many horror fans were clamoring for Doctor Blood's Coffin, a recent addition to the MGM Limited Edition Collection. While the film does feature the lovely Hazel Court, its plodding story and lack of monster action dooms this 1961 British horror film to being little more than a decent time-waster you'd catch on television.
The film opens with a surgical-masked doctor about to operate on a patient. His superior interrupts the procedure, telling the doctor that human trials are immoral. Though the masked doctor protests, claiming his procedure could save the lives of brilliant men (at the cost of those deemed less worthy), he ends up storming out of the room as the credits roll, threatening he'll find a place where he can continue his research without moral constrains.
The film then moves to a small Cornish village, where Dr. Robert Blood (Ian Hunter) and his nurse Linda Parker (Hazel Court) are reporting the latest in a series of medical equipment thefts. At the same time, villagers have been disappearing at an alarming rate, so Sergeant Cook (Kenneth J. Warren) decides to form search parties to scour the countryside and abandoned tin mines the next morning.
Later in the day, Dr. Peter Blood (Kieron Moore) shows up at his father's office and admires Linda while she's bent over filing some records. Of course, Linda is a bit annoyed by this unwanted attention. But, as this is the early '60s, men will be pigs and women will forgive them, especially after finding out the pig in question is a handsome biochemist and the boss's son. Soon, the pair is flirting and taking long drives along the countryside and nearby coastline.
But I'm getting ahead of the plot. That night, the man chosen to lead the search of the mines is kidnapped and brought to a makeshift laboratory deep in the tunnels under the village. During the attack, the kidnapper leaves behind a shattered hypodermic with traces of a mysterious liquid, which Robert Blood rushes off to a lab in the nearest major city. Peter volunteers to guide the Sergeant through the tunnels, as he explored them during his youth and claims to know his way about the mines.
And this is the point where I should issue a spoiler alert. But it's not really a spoiler when the movie reveals that Peter is the kidnapper (and the masked doctor from the beginning of the film) within the first 30 minutes. No misdirection, no red herrings, no possible plot twists, nothing. The only mystery is what Peter is doing, which is reveled somewhere around the one-hour mark. And the film still has a half-hour to go at that point.
As one might expect, the plot takes a rather Frankenstein-like turn. Peter has found a way to take a still-beating heart and implant it into a corpse to regenerate life within the dead body. As mad scientist plans go, it's rather wonky, as all Peter does is slap the organ into the corpse and it comes back to life. Though he's using curare to keep his victims and their hearts alive during the procedure, the idea stretches one's suspension of disbelief past the breaking point. The film would have been better served with a bit more eerie chemicals or some simple electrical equipment — anything that would link the procedure with the more superior films that came before it.
And, as one expects, the plot includes the argument that a reanimated body is simply evil, as it has no soul. It's unfortunate this occurs within the last few minutes of the film, as the script never has time to explore the ideas. The monster just shows up, staggers about, chokes a couple of people, then dies once again as spilled chemicals fill the mine with poisonous gas. The script offers the audience no clue toward the creature's motivation, and its attack seems dictated simply because it's a monster and that's what monsters do.
A bigger problem with the screenplay is too much time is spent on the growing relationship between Peter and Linda, which we know will come to a bad end. It's obvious the script wants the audience to identify with Linda, but she is painted as the damsel in distress dating a madman and little more. It's not that we don't care for her, but we aren't given a reason to care. Had the script fleshed her out better, Linda's sudden Christian beliefs might have carried more weight during the film's conclusion.
And Peter is simply the scientist who wants to better the world by sacrificing those with wasted lives to keep more deserving men alive. (Once again, it's the '60s and I doubt Peter could think of a woman that would better the world with a prolonged life. But, if it's any consolation, all his victims are men.) And, as we know he is the villain of the piece, his struggles to stay ahead of the authorities, his father and Linda generate no real suspense. The script would be better served were it written like a traditional mystery, where red herrings abound, or had the monster been resurrected earlier in the film and let it loose on the village in a couple scenes.
For a MOD DVD, the quality of the picture and sound is very good. Just don't expect any extras, as the DVD doesn't even include a trailer. And, while it worked fine on my Mac, the cover advises that it might not play on any devices or PC drives other than a "play only" device. I figure I need to include that little warning, if anyone is relying on a computer or other devices to play DVDs.
But decent picture and sound quality doesn't mean one should run out and snatch up a copy ofDoctor Blood's Coffin. Even Hazel Court's presence isn't enough to recommend this film. As I mentioned, it would be a fine time-waster on a Saturday afternoon creature feature, with a beverage of your choice and perhaps a fellow horror fan or two. But as a full-price purchase, the movie fails to warrant such an investment.