Incense for the Damned (1970)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Robert Hartford-Davis

Writers:

Julian More (screenplay)
Simon Raven (novel)

Release Date:

1971 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A group of friends search for a young English Oxford student who has disappeared whilst researching in Greece...

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Patrick Macnee	...	Derek Longbow
Johnny Sekka	...	Bob Kirby
Alexander Davion	...	Tony Seymore (as Alex Davion)
Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Walter Goodrich
Edward Woodward	...	Dr. Holstrom
Madeleine Hinde	...	Penelope (as Madeline Hinde)
Patrick Mower	...	Richard Fountain
Imogen Hassall	...	Chriseis
William Mervyn	...	Marc Honeydew
David Lodge	...	Colonel
John Barron	...	Diplomat
Valerie Van Ost	...	Don's wife
Theo Moreos	...	Mayor
Nick Pandelides	...	Monk Superior
Andreas Potamitis	...	Police Chief

Also Known As:

Blood Suckers (USA) (trailer title)
Bloodsuckers (USA)
Doctors Wear Scarlet (UK)
Freedom Seekers (UK)
Incense of the Damned (UK)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | UK:15 (re-rating) | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cyprus

Company:

Lucinda Films

Trivia:

Although filmed in 1970, Incense For The Damned did not get a general cinema release until 1976, although it was given a few trade screen showings in 1972.

Quotes:

Tony Seymore: Are you trying to tell me that a girl sucking blood from a man's neck can induce an orgasm?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 5 (1998) (V)

"An oddity in the British horror genre."

Whilst in Greece researching a book on Greek mythology, a young Oxford Don (Mower), falls under the spell of Chriseis (Hassal), a beautiful but sexually perverted vampire who murders her victims for their blood.

An oddity in the history of the British horror genre. Director Robert Hartford Davies disowned the picture due to never fully explained production problems, although it has been suggested that the low budget ran out and that scheduled re-shoots never happened. As a result the film was pasted together quickly and it's disgruntled director was credited under the pseudonym Michael Burrowes. The film got a trade show in 1972 but it wasn't given a London showing until 1976.

The picture does show a few scars of it's troubled production like when a studio rock is quite clearly seen bouncing off an actor's head without doing him any injury, but it's interpretation of vampirism as a sexual perversion is interesting although there quite clearly wasn't enough time to develop it properly. The location shooting in Greece of Desmond Dickenson is first class and the best performances come from Patrick Macnee (who had just finished The Avengers) as Major Longbarrow, Patrick Mower as the ill-fated scholar and Peter Cushing as Dr Goodrich who put the pressure on Mower academically to such a degree that it made him tempted to join the perverted vampire for excitement.

The film has been reissued on DVD under it's alternative title, "Bloodsuckers", featuring a deleted scene which attempted to add drug addiction to the mixture of sex and vampirism.