EDITOR’S NOTE: Doctor Blood’s Coffin was on Chiller Theater on Saturday, November 23, 1974 at 11:30 p.m., Saturday, August 28, 1976 at 11:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 16, 1977 at 1:00 a.m.
Biochemist Dr. Peter Blood (Kieron Moore) has come home with the idea that he can take the living hearts of people whom he deems unworthy of life to bring back dead people who deserve life. But it is also a seminal zombie film, which made The Dead One the first color zombie movie and also portrayed them as shambling murderers.
Yes, Dr. Blood has a lab in the tin mine and has an ancient South American curare container that he uses to make those walking dead people. It’s all because he thought that he died in the tin mine as a kid, and it brought him back to life. He also has a weird courtship with his assistant Linda Parker (Hazel Court), who has just lost her husband to, well, death. Death at the hands of Dr. Blood!
You would think two men fighting over you would be the height of romance, but when one is dead, and the other is a lunatic, it loses its luster.
Director Sidney J. Furie shot the film back-to-back with The Snake Woman, utilizing most of the same crew, and that’s what this played double features alongside. Box Office gave this the best review: “‘The picture is strictly for patrons who like their gore in large doses. Theatres catering to the horror fans should find an eager audience, but its ghastliness will restrict it to that category. Young children should not be encouraged to see the picture; in fact, it is likely to cause nightmares among sturdy adults.”
You can watch this on Tubi.
