Grave of the Vampire (1972)

Kroft, a legendary vampire, returns from sleep. Kroft attacks a couple in a graveyard, raping the woman. The child born feeds only on blood from his mother's breast.

Director:

John Hayes

Writers:

David Chase (screenplay), John Hayes (screen treatment)

Stars:

William Smith, Michael Pataki, Lyn Peters

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Smith	...	James Eastman
Michael Pataki	...	Caleb Croft
Lyn Peters	...	Anne Arthur
Diane Holden	...	Anita Jacoby
Lieux Dressler	...	Olga
Ernesto Macias	...	Lt. Panzer (as Eric Mason)
Jay Adler	...	Old Zack
Jay Scott	...	Paul
William Guhl	...	Sgt. Duffy
Margaret Fairchild	...	Miss Fenwick
Carmen Argenziano	...	Sam
Frank Whiteman
Abbi Henderson	...	Carol Moskowitz
Inga Neilsen
Lindis Guinness	...	Sam's Ggirlfriend (as Lindus Guinness)

Storyline

Kroft, a legendary vampire, returns from sleep. Kroft attacks a couple in a graveyard, raping the woman. The child born feeds only on blood from his mother's breast.

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Plot Keywords:

child born of rape | dripping blood | psychotronic film | rape and revenge | vampire versus vampire | 

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Taglines:

Father and son--related by BLOOD! ANYONE'S BLOOD!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Pataki also narrated the film's theatrical trailer.

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Quotes

Carol Moskowitz: You make a groovy medium, Professor.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the film, "Fin--ou peut etre pas," appears on the screen. It's French for "The End -- Or Maybe Not."

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Alternate Versions

The UK Vipco DVD release is identical to the old cinema print which was cut by the BBFC to remove a shot of a woman cutting her breast with a knife to feed a child and shots of blood running down her arm during a syringe injection.

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Connections

Featured in Trailer Trauma (2016)

User Reviews

Somber and dead serious--but good

A couple are making out in a graveyard. For some reason a vampire awakens. He kills the man and rapes the woman (in an open grave no less). She gets pregnant, has the baby--but the baby will only drink blood! She provides her own and eventually dies. The boy grows up and vows to find his father and kill him for what he did to his mother. They do meet and things go out of control.

OK--you have to ignore logic with this one. At one point a policeman knows it's a vampire who raped the woman and who he is--but how? And a vampire is teaching night school (!!!). And WHY would a vampire rape a woman to begin with? Technically--he's already dead! Push those aside and you can actually enjoy this.

The film has a very downbeat, somber tone--as it should. No jokes or winking at the camera. Michael Pataki is very good (and scary) as the vampire father. William Smith has a few good moments as his son. The rest of the acting is just terrible. Still this movie works. It's well-directed, has an eerie music score by Jaime Mendoza-Nava and some really creepy sequences (the one near the beginning where a woman discovers a vampire in her basement made me jump). A pretty unknown little horror film that's worth seeking out. I give it a 7.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Seed of Terror

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millenium Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1