The Legend of Blood Mountain (1965)

DEMON HUNTER aka THE LEGEND OF BLOOD MOUNTAIN was an Atlanta-lensed monster flick starring Atlanta TV legend George Ellis as his "Bestoink Dooley" character. The writing and cinematography are "freshman year film school" at best but the film has a surprising amount of charm and is helped by a running time of just over one hour. It is comprised of set pieces that make you constantly go "WTF??". The blood and monster effects are pretty lame even by 1965 standards (you have to remember that American had already been hit over the head by the appalling excess of BLOOD FEAST by this point) so more laughs and chuckles than real horror. Despite the massive flaws it DID make money and the cast has a certain charm that is hard to ignore. Especially George. No matter how bad the comedy bits get and no matter how bumbling Bestoink is, he manages to maintain a certain dignity during the proceedings that most actors would never be able to manage with such material. You often watch this movie and swear that it was written and shot by Hal P. Warren of "Manos" infamy. Even some of the background music is very reminiscent of the jazz tooting in "Manos". From a "film school" standpoint, this movie is a complete bust. From a "have a few beers and let her rip" point of view, LEGEND is a film that can easily go toe to toe with such other anti-classics such as "Manos", "Monster A-Go Go" and "The Giant Spider Invasion". Not bad company to be in if you are a bad film...

Regional schlock(in color, amazingly) about a humble reporter named Bestoink(!), who is trying to solve an ages-old cowtown mystery. It seems that a certain mountain has been known to "bleed" human blood, marking the start of a killing spree by an ancient beast which lives within the mountain's hollow.Said monster does, indeed, turn up...and it's one sad looking critter, let me tell you...sort of a mangled conehead with furry riding britches and tails hanging from both hips, covered with what appears to be cottonballs. The creature growls like a lion, kills a couple of the resident good ol' boys, and chases Bestoink around for several minutes of unsuccessful intended comedy.This is a really weak flick, pure amateur-night dross with rampant sub-adequacies evident in every possible facet of its composition. In short, its gold-star entertainment for the enthusiast of artless American filmtrash. Leading lady Erin Fleming was once a pigeon for tabloid fodder concerning her strange and often turbulent relationship with Groucho Marx during his later years. Country singer Kenny Rogers' ex-wife, Marianne Gordon(who had a bit part in ROSEMARY'S BABY), is also featured.2.5/10

I remember seeing this film in 1965, I was a young girl. I had nightmares for months from this film. I think this was the first horror film I ever saw. I grew up in GA near stone mountain. I have told my children of this movie for years. I would love to see it again. Funny thing I have turned into quite a horror movie watcher. Stephen King is my favorite author. Maybe this movie had a bigger impact than I thought.

This is a rarely seen movie and that is a shame. It's very regional, having been made in the SouthEast for primarily an audience in the area, but it does deserve to have wider recognition for the mid 1960s B Movie classic it is. Atlanta area TV Horror Host Bestoink Dooley plays a copyboy out on the biggest story of his life. The mountain is bleeding and people are being killed up there. What follows is one of the wildest movies since Ed Wood. The "Monster" looks like a guy in a brown leotard with a hornet's nest stuck on his head, cottonballs glued everywhere on his body and two tails on either side of his hips. We are talking garage-made monster here. Bestoink is shown as a bumbler who eventually does good despite himself. Words really can't do this movie justice, had Michael Medved seen this movie, it would be 1000 times more famous than it is and would be on the top five of any list of worst movies ever made. Highly recommended, if you can find it.