Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

Three middle-aged distinguished gentlemen are searching for some excitement in their boring bourgeois lives and get in contact with one of Count Dracula's servants, Lord Courtley. In a ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

Anthony Hinds (screenplay) (as John Elder), Bram Stoker (based on the character created by)

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Gwen Watford

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lee	...	Dracula
Geoffrey Keen	...	William Hargood
Gwen Watford	...	Martha Hargood
Linda Hayden	...	Alice Hargood
Peter Sallis	...	Samuel Paxton
Anthony Higgins	...	Paul Paxton (as Anthony Corlan)
Isla Blair	...	Lucy Paxton
John Carson	...	Jonathon Secker
Martin Jarvis	...	Jeremy Secker
Ralph Bates	...	Lord Courtley
Roy Kinnear	...	Weller
Michael Ripper	...	Cobb
Russell Hunter	...	Felix
Shirley Jaffe	...	Hargood's Maid
Keith Marsh	...	Father

Storyline

Three middle-aged distinguished gentlemen are searching for some excitement in their boring bourgeois lives and get in contact with one of Count Dracula's servants, Lord Courtley. In a nightly ceremony, they restore the count to life. However, the three men killed Courtley and, in revenge, the count ensures that the gentlemen are killed one by one by their own children.

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Plot Keywords:

dracula | church | brothel | blood | servant | 

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Taglines:

They taste his blood and the horror begins!

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content/nudity and brief violence

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

7 June 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wie schmeckt das Blut von Dracula?

Filming Locations:

Aldenham Country Park, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min (uncut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Ralph Bates's first of five Hammer films. The others were The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), Lust for a Vampire (1971), Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971) and Fear in the Night (1972).

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Goofs

Secker tears a piece of wood from a church pew to make a crude wooden stake. The end of the stake is ragged and splintered. As the camera cuts to a close-up of the stake over the heart of the vampire, the end of the stake has suddenly become clean and sharply-pointed.

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Quotes

Paul Paxton: Run Alice run as fast as you can away from here!
Alice Hargood: Not without you Paul he will kill you he will kill both of us!

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Connections

Follows Horror of Dracula (1958)

User Reviews

Lee's last good Dracula performance

When I was a kid by the late 70s I had the chance to see on TV some of Hammer's horror flick from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. But I had developed a special king of passion for the Dracula series. I remember the foggy atmosphere, the old castles and the Gothic Victorian era. Hammer movies were really well done and very elegant. "Taste the Blood of Dracula" starts where "Dracula has raised from the Grave" ended, when traveling salesman by the name of Weller (played by Roy Kinnear) is pushed from the wagon he was traveling in. After a brief moment he gets his self together and hears a loud scream from deep in the forest. He goes and investigates and finds the Count impaled in a golden cross and while he sees in horror Dracula is disintegrated in a red powder like substance. Weller, quickly decides to take the powder with him and all of Dracula's belonging. Later we see a group of three English businessmen with their families in church but that's only a cover when the three Englishmen leave their families every Sunday night, apparently to help the poor and feed the hungry instead they seek pleasure to satisfied their personal desire by visiting a night club. While the three businessmen are having their usual fun they are interrupted by Lord Courtley (played by Ralph Bates) how is a black magic practitioner and invites the three businessmen to participate in a satanic ritual promising them that he will expand their pleasures. But first they must buy from Weller, Dracula's blood and artifacts for him to perform the ritual. First the businessmen hesitate but they are easily deceived by Lord Courtley and later they perform the ritual in an abandoned church. After Courtley drinks the blood he falls to the ground in pain and the businessmen in fear start to beat him up to death. After leaving the body of Courtley lifeless on the ground the body of Courtley transforms in the Count Dracula. After this Dracula promise the revenge of his servant (Courtley) by hypnotizing the daughters of the businessmen and making them murder their own fathers. Dracula is like a puppet master in this movie and his participation is more in the shadows but still has a good feel to it. The acting by the entire cast was superb, especially for Ralph Bates. The costumes, art direction, photography, and directing was one of the best in the Dracula series. I had the chance to buy this classic in 2004 on DVD and later the rest of the Hammer's Dracula series. But "Taste the Blood of Dracula" still my overall favorite. Atmosphere and the great performances makes this a must see. Unfortunately Taste the Blood of Dracula was (in my opinion) the last good Dracula of the series. After that they started to do Dracula more too present day and kind of lost its touch. If you are a Hammer fan and want to make your own Dracula movie marathon this movie should be in your collection.