THE BLOOD ROSE (1969)
Article #343 by Dave Sindelar
Posting date: 7-10-2002
Viewing date: 2-21-2002

An artist blackmails an ex-surgeon to restore the face of his wife, who was hideously scarred by burning.

At the end of this hour and a half movie, you’ll feel like ninety minutes have passed, which really isn’t a putdown; I could say it felt like several years have passed. It takes a good forty of those minutes to establish a set-up that must have been as old as the hills by this time, being the same basic premise as EYES WITHOUT A FACE with the novelty that the artist and the doctor are two different characters. I’ve never seen that movie, so let’s take the basic plot even farther back to THE CORPSE VANISHES, a movie which I know it resembles; not only is it about someone trying to use the bodies of beautiful women to restore the beauty of his wife, it also throws a dwarf into the proceedings. And though Monogram would probably produce something as exploitative and lurid as this movie, it would never have made it as arty, distant, and detached. But maybe it’s just as well; these movies can be a little hard to take if they get too close to you; as it is, I watched it comfortably knowing it was taking place a million miles away. I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not. The ending is out of left field, though; I’ll give it that.