Mothman and a 1967 movie

What's the connection between Mothman and a certain 1967 British horror-movie? That's the question I raise in a new Mysterious Universe article titled "Blood Beast Terror Versus Mothman!. You can find it here, and here's how it begins:


No, thankfully, that’s not the title of some new, awful movie of the cheaply-made and badly-acted kind. And where the special-effects are anything but special. You know the ones I mean. And you know where you can find them, too. I’m focusing my attention on something else: a 1967 movie that has more than a few similarities to the saga of one of the world’s most famous and strange creatures. We’re talking about the legendary Mothman, immortalized in John Keel’s book, The Mothman Prophecies. As for the movie, it’s called The Blood Beast Terror.

If you fail to take notice of the opening credits to The Blood Beast Terror you could easily be forgiven for thinking you were watching one of those old, classic Hammer Film Productions. Why? Simple: it stars Peter Cushing, who – alongside Christopher Lee – was Hammer’s most famous face. But, Cushing wasn’t exclusive to Hammer. The Blood Beast Terror was a production of Tigon British Film Productions. Tigon’s other credits included The Blood on Satan’s Claw and Witchfinder General. The Blood Beast Terror was made in late 1967 and was first shown in British cinemas in early 1968.