A scientist (Robert Flemyng),working with genetics, creates a creature that is capable of transforming back and forth between a giant Death Head moth and a beautiful woman. The creature masquerades as his daughter when she is in her human incarnation and feeds on the blood of her victims when she is in the moth form.

So, Peter Cushing has allegedly said this was his least favorite role or the film he considered his worst. This is taken from IMDb, and there is no source or exact quote. I can see why he might say that -- this is not the best Cushing role by any means. But it is far from a bad film. Tigon gets a rough break, being treated as the third best British horror studio (behind Hammer and Amicus),but this does not mean their films are awful.

Apparently Basil Rathbone was going to play the part of the scientist. I think the only good that would come from that would be a slight increase in star power. Flemyng handles the role very well, and I am hard-pressed to say Rathbone could have improved upon it in any way.

Horror icon Peter Cushing stars here as Detective Inspector Quennell, faced with a baffling series of killings. The male victims are typically clawed at and drained of blood, and a bunch of mysterious objects (like scales) are left in the English wilderness. This may possibly involve the esteemed insect expert Professor Mallinger (Robert Flemyng) and his frosty daughter Clare (Wanda Ventham).

Cushing personally considered this the worst of all his pictures, but in truth it's not all that bad. It *does* have treasures for lovers of B grade monster movies. Yes, it has its problems - it wastes some time, gets silly, lacks distinction, and ends up turning horribly (yet delightfully) cheesy. But it's *fun*, damn it, entertaining in a reasonable manner.

The filming is adequate - Vernon Sewell ("Burke & Hare") is the director, Stanley A. Long the cinematographer, Paul Ferris the composer of the enjoyable music score. The special effects? Not so much. In fact, they are utterly laughable, but this will just add to the entertainment value for some peoples' tastes.

Of course, no film can be completely worthless with the great Cushing as the hero. Most people watching can figure out the "mystery" early on, but you don't much mind watching a talent like Cushing catch up to us as he works to decipher the clues. The supporting cast is very fine - Flemyng (who hated working on this film himself),Ventham (trivia: she's the mother of current actor Benedict Cumberbatch),the gorgeous Vanessa Howard as the inspectors' daughter, David Griffin as goofy, likable bug hunter William, Glynn Edwards as the reliable Sergeant Allan, William Wilde as the insect collector Britewell, Kevin Stoney as the scar-faced butler Granger, John Paul as the jovial Warrender, Russell Napier as the landlord, and Roy Hudd (who gets "guest star" billing) as the comedy relief morgue attendant. Kenneth Colley, recognizable to "Star Wars" franchise fans as Captain / Admiral Piett, has the small role of James.

An effort by the less well known British genre company Tigon, "The Blood Beast Terror" may be far from British horror cinema at its finest, but, as I said, it will still appeal to lovers of cheese.

Six out of 10.

In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, dozens upon dozens of horror films were made in the UK and often starred Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee. Well, by the late 1960s, the well started to run dry, so to speak, and the best years were generally behind. Now of course there were a few exceptions (such as the original WICKER MAN),but generally the films made in this later period were pretty silly or repetitive and THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR definitely falls into the category of "pretty silly". While the acting, as usual, is good, the problem is that the mystery of all the deaths had a horrible payoff--with one of the stupidest monsters of the era. Now I could tell you all about it, but that might spoil the suspense--though I doubt it. The bottom line is that that is a rather dismal failure with the dopiest conclusion in monster history! Don't say I didn't warn you!