Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

Three distinguished English gentlemen accidentally resurrect Count Dracula, killing a disciple of his in process. The Count seeks to avenge his dead servant, by making the trio die in the hands of their own children.

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 | vampire | servant | father disapproves of daughter's boyfriend | horse riding | 

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Taglines:

They taste his blood and the horror begins!

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

7 June 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prueba la sangre de Drácula

Filming Locations:

Tykes Water Lake, 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 movie was released in a double bill with Crescendo (1970).

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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

Inspector Cobb: [Commenting on Jeremy Secker's arrest for murder] Son hates his father, he's hot-blooded, they quarrel and the son loses his temper. Anyway we've got him all locked up now, safe and sound.
Paul Paxton: But Jeremy did not hate his father. He was the most even-tempered...
Inspector Cobb: If you came here to obstruct justice...
Paul Paxton: I came here because you sent for me!

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Alternate Versions

The British Version has more footage of Felix played by Russell Hunter roughly about half of his role has been deleted from the US edition

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Connections

Featured in The Trail of Dracula (2017)

User Reviews

Camp Dracula returns!

Hammer studio's Dracula series comes second to it's far better Frankenstein series - that's obvious - and the reason for that is that the films tend to be very similar to one another. Of course, the same thing could be said about the Frankenstein series; but at least the latter obviously tries to make each instalment a unique entry in the series. Dracula tends to take the easy route and go for the simple; Dracula gets resurrected and kills some people shortly before getting defeated again, only to reappear in the next Dracula film. It has to be said that this entry in the series suffers from that affliction, but in fairness to it; Taste the Blood of Dracula definitely sports one of the better plots in the series, and is probably the second best film - after the original of course. The story this time round follows a circle of three bored gentlemen who get duped into resurrecting the count by a young upstart (Ralph Bates, in fine form) who offers them an experience beyond belief. Havoc ensues.

One of the principle reasons why this film works is that the campy Hammer style features in droves. You know you're watching a Hammer film when you see three straight-faced (even slightly worried!) men in an antiques shop negotiating the price of a vile of Count Dracula's blood! The campness continues throughout the movie, and it's always good to see. As usual, Christopher Lee appears for all of about five minutes and the acting is mostly left to a cast of unknowns, but they carry it well and every moment that Lee is on screen is delightful. The script is rather corny, naturally, with several unintentional comic delights that are sure to delight Hammer fans. Most of the Dracula clichés are present, and since we live in a world now where it's become a cliché to step away from clichés, it's nice to see a movie that has a lot of clichés in it. On the whole, this is a decent waste of time and I very much doubt that fans of Hammer horror, Christopher Lee, Dracula, Playboy magazine or even ham and pineapple pizza will be disappointed with it.