Fiend of Dope Island (1961)

Director:

Nate Watt

Writers:

Bruce Bennett (writer)
Mark Carabel (writer)

Genre:

Crime

Plot Keywords:

Island | Beautiful Woman | Independent Film

Cast

Bruce Bennett	...	Charlie Davis
Robert Bray	...	David
Tania Velia	...	Glory La Verne
Ralph A. Rodriguez	...	Naru
Miguel Ángel Álvarez	...	Capt. Fred
Edmundo Rivera Álvarez	...	Paco
Ruth Fernández	...	Tula
Molly Odell	...	Mahla
Milton Steifel
Yvonne Peck

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Essanjay Films

Movie Connections:

Edited into Extra Weird (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Forever Hold Me

Bruce Bennett Is Mad as Hell - and They Are Not Going to Take It Any More!

Wow! What a bad and yet at the same time awesome film experience. The acting is so-over-the-top, the storyline so twisted, and the mood, tone, and pace so depraved, that I honestly can say that I have never seen anything quite like this. For many, that will be good news if they can say the same! Don't get me wrong, Fiend of Dope Island is an atrocious film. It has awful acting, no special effects, and has a story with little merit or any redeeming qualities. It is; however; a fun bad film to watch and has perhaps one of the most outrageous performances I have seen in some time. Dope island dictator Bruce Bennett runs his island whipping natives and friends alike any time they don't move fast enough for him or displease him in some way - which it seems is all the time as he is always drunk. Bennett lies to a beautiful blonde entertainer(we'll get to her in a minute) to come to the island for $500 and then has plans on seducing/raping her and making her his own. In the meantime, he is also running a drug operation and plans governmental overthrows in the Caribbean(?). I remember Bruce Bennett from Treasure of the Sierra Madre as a pretty restrained actor and an actor of some ability, but watching him in this film as given me a whole different perspective on him. This guy is one crazy, funny, weird and depraved guy to make a film like this. As bad and hammy as he is, he makes this film immensely entertaining barking out commands and cracking a whip or just laughing maniacally. The rest of the cast or story is nothing special except for the Yugoslavian bombshell Tania Velia as the entertainer. She is an okay actress, but what she does to a black swimsuit is just amazing. This movie has a beautiful blonde, a man-eating shark, an island dictator, and so many other bizarre things - what else could you want in a bad film?