A Taste of Blood (1967)

A businessman turns into a vampire after drinking brandy laced with vampire blood and sets out on an odyssey of killing the descendent's of Dracula's executioners.

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writer:

Donald Stanford (original screenplay)

Stars:

Bill Rogers, Elizabeth Lee, William Kerwin

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Rogers	...	John Stone
Elizabeth Lee	...	Helene Stone (as Elizabeth Wilkinson)
William Kerwin	...	Dr. Hank Tyson (as Thomas Wood)
Lawrence Tobin	...	Det. Crane
Ted Schell	...	Lord Gold
Otto Schlessinger	...	Dr. Howard Helsing
Eleanor Vaill	...	Hester Avery
Gail Janis	...	Vivian
Herschell Gordon Lewis	...	The Limey Seaman / Voice of Baron Khron (as Seymour Sheldon)
Judy Waterberry	...	Ida - the maid
Dolores Carlos	...	Sherri Morris
Roy Collodi	...	Delivery Man
Karl Stoeber	...	Man walking dog
Thomas Rowland	...	Detective
Sidney J. Reich	...	Arthur Morris (as Sidney Jaye)

Storyline

Mild-mannered Miami businessman, John Stone, receives a parcel from England containing two old bottles of Slivovitz brandy and upon drinking them both, becomes a vampire. Stone uses his new-found vampire powers to keep his wife, Helena, in a trance as he travels to England to kill the descendants of Van Helsing whom murdered Count Dracula while Hesling's distant relative, Howard Helsing, pursues Stone with the intent to put the re-born vampire to rest for good.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | brandy | blood | stabbed in the heart | stripper | 

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Taglines:

Will Dracula's avenger turn loose his wrath into the 1970's?

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 August 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Secret of Dr. Alucard

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Creative Film Enterprises Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Herschell Gordon Lewis: The British-accented, mustachioed sailor (in two scenes) aboard a freighter.

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Goofs

In the night-time scene on the ship docked in London's East End, lights from Miami Beach's high-rise hotels and apartment buildings can be glimpsed in the background.

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Quotes

The Limey Seaman: Hi ya Governor! Aint t'night fit for t'devil!
John Stone: I wouldn't know.

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Connections

Edited into Twisted Sex Vol. 12 (1996)

User Reviews

Could Be Lewis' Best

A Miami businessman, John Stone (Bill Rogers, "Santo Versus the Vampire Women"), receives a parcel from England containing two old bottles of Slivovitz brandy from his recently deceased ancestor, and after drinking both bottles, becomes a vampire.

The story started from a screenplay by Donald Stanford (his only credit), who claimed to Lewis that he intended this film to be a vehicle for Frank Sinatra. Originally, the film had a title referencing "Dr. Alucard", which is now fairly well-known to be "Dracula" backwards, and it was wise to change this.

Interestingly, the film was originally intended by H. G. Lewis to be about 90 minutes, which would already be long for him, but Lewis found it made more sense to pace the story more slowly to give it a serious nature than to be "frantic". This was also wise, and makes it a better film. Shooting took three weeks, the longest Lewis ever spend on any film. All of this shows.

Judging by IMDb, this film is not very appreciated and not as respected as Lewis' other work. Even "Gruesome Twosome" seems to fare better, which surprises me because the two are worlds apart. "Gruesome" is a mess, whereas "Taste" shows real talent and I can see why Lewis considered this his masterpiece. In what world is a film that shows real skill rated lower than one of Lewis' more slap-dash efforts?

Yes, "Taste" is still flawed, with some cheesy lighting and makeup effects. The blue spotlight is rather silly. And yes, I am pretty sure that at one point the actors forget the lead is supposed to be "John" and instead call him "Dan". But the plot, production value and acting are all better than the average Lewis film. Bill Rogers is great, and Thomas Wood is really quite incredible. He could have been a leading man in any Hollywood production.

The film is available from Arrow Video as part of their "Feast" collection, on the same disc as "Gruesome Twosome". The special features are covered in my review of the other title. The audio commentary on "Taste", among many other things, talks about Lewis' interactions with other low-budget icons, specifically Roger Corman and Bill Rebane; we also hear about how films such as these can go through various owners who you've never heard of (like how this one is or was owned by one Norm Seinfeld). If you have a love for the history of low budget (and no budget) film, the commentary alone is like a master class in the topic.