Charming and brutal

Beautiful, moving film.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

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.

Shipwreck survivor William (a solid and likable portrayal by Richard Derr) finds himself stranded on an island with mad scientist Dr. Charles Girard (a fine and credible performance by Frances Lederer), who has surgically transformed a panther into a man (Flory Carlos in convincing grotesque make-up).Although done on a modest budget, this picture nonetheless is made with some real finesse so it doesn't look or feel cheap: Directors Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero relate the compelling story at a steady pace, do an adept job of crafting a spooky atmosphere with a strong sense of dread, and stage the exciting climax with skill and flair. Paul Harbor's compact script smartly explores the ethical implications of the premise. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this movie on track, with especially praiseworthy work from the gorgeous Greta Tyssen as Girard's fed-up neglected wife Frances, Oscar Keesee as disloyal and lecherous drunken assistant Walter Berrera, and Lilia Duran as scared local Selene. The crisp black and white cinematography by Emmanuel I. Rojas boasts several neat stylistic flourishes. The spirited shivery score by Gervacio Santos hits the stirring shuddery spot. However, it's the way that the panther man elicits a complex blend of both fear and pity that rates as this film's key artistic triumph. A nice little fright feature.

Apparently there are scientists around who want to turn animals into men. This is the story of one of them. Of course, the signature story is that of "The Island of Dr. Moreau." Here, a man traps black leopards and evolves them (?) into bipeds that have great strength. He is messing where he shouldn't be messing. A castaway comes along and gets in the way (by being moral in one sense but messing with the pretty wife in the other sense). Anyway, there is a nasty sidekick who hits the animal/man with a two by four and catman becomes violent when he sees this guy. Anyway, other than a kind of oppressive jungle setting, there is little new ground here.

TERROR IS A MAN, with Greta Thyssen (--now that's a great name for a porno starlet, if you take my meaning--), directed by Gerry De Leon, is an ancient mystery/ horror flick in the mad scientist sub-genre about a mysterious creature on an island quite far from the Latin—American (Peruvian) shore. The Sci—Fi 'ideas' involved are quite murky; 'Fitzgerald' seems a bit contrary; at first he holds that the beast is human, then that it's not human. What does the turning of a feline into a human has to do with the creating of a superman? The mad scientist talks a lot about improving the man, but as a matter of fact he tries to turn a feline into a human.My faithful readers know that I review here good movies, B movies (--like this one--), old movies (--including silent ones--) and TV series. I recently wrote about a Robertson chiller, DOMINIQUE, and that was an interesting B movie; TERROR IS A MAN begins well but it sinks. A conventionally intriguing plot, a handsome lead, a blonde sexpot; she's an overly delicious classical curvy blonde of the Marilyn type, the lead, 'Fitzgerald', is of the Mature type. But the movie is silly and ridiculous.