Blood for Dracula (1974)

An ailing vampire count travels to Italy with his servant to find a bride.

Director:

Paul Morrissey

Writer:

Paul Morrissey

Stars:

Joe Dallesandro, Udo Kier, Vittorio De Sica

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joe Dallesandro	...	Mario Balato - the Servant
Udo Kier	...	Count Dracula
Vittorio De Sica	...	Il Marchese Di Fiore
Maxime McKendry	...	La Marchesa Di Fiore
Arno Jürging	...	Anton - the Count's Servant
Milena Vukotic	...	Esmeralda
Dominique Darel	...	Saphiria
Stefania Casini	...	Rubinia
Silvia Dionisio	...	Perla
Inna Alexeievna	...	Old Woman in Tavern
Gil Cagne	...	Townsman (as Gil Cagnie)
Emi Califri
Eleonora Zani	...	Dracula's Sister

Storyline

Udo Kier is without a doubt the sickliest of vampires in any director's interpretation of the Bram Stoker tale. Count Dracula knows that if he fails to drink a required amount of pure virgin's [pronounced "wirgin's"] blood, it's time to move into a permanent coffin. His assistant (Renfield?) suggests that the Count and he pick up his coffin and take a road trip to Italy, where families are known to be particularly religious, and therefore should be an excellent place to search for a virgin bride. They do, only to encounter a family with not one, but FOUR virgins, ready for marriage. The Count discovers one-by-one that the girls are not as pure as they say they are, meanwhile a handsome servant/Communist begins to observe strange behaviour from the girls who do spend the night with the Count. It's a race for Dracula to discover who's the real virgin, before he either dies from malnourishment or from the wooden stake of the Communist!

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Plot Keywords:

virgin | servant | italy | vampire | blood | 

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Taglines:

He couldn't live without a virgin's blood..... ...So a virgin had to die! [UK]

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and sensuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot over the course of three weeks.

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Quotes

Count Dracula: It's very useful for a woman to practise home-making.

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Alternate Versions

After premiering at 106m, film was cut to 93m; some of the cut footage was edited to earn an "R" rating, replacing than the original "X".

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Connections

Referenced in Ladies of Italian Horror (2012)

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Soundtracks

Memories Of Romania
Composed by Claudio Gizzi
Conducted by Claudio Gizzi
Courtesy by RCA

User Reviews

Brilliant - but can you take it?

This film opens with a close up of Udo Keir, possessor one of the most beautiful male faces of the era, applying makeup in front of a mirror. The camera then reveals that being Count Dracula, like all vampires, he has no reflection! thus the humorous tone is set for the rest of the film. The dialogue is wild and delicious, helped along by hugely overstated accents of all kinds and exaggerated overacting and in many cases - no acting at all. The film is stunningly photographed and is often beautiful to look at when you can, but you may find it difficult to watch Dracula regurgitate gallons of impure (i.e. non-virgin) blood or watch him lick pure virgin blood from the floor. Much more easy on the eye is the sight of a naked Joe Dallesandro, the camera drinks it's fill of this guy and many close-ups of his amazing face fill the screen. There is also an excellent cameo from Roman Polanski who challenges Count Dracula to an amusing game in a bar. The climax is blood soaked and bizarre and like the whole movie, way over the top. A hugely entertaining film providing you have the stomach for it!

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 November 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Andy Warhol's Dracula

Filming Locations:

Villa Parisi, Frascati, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnia Cinematografica Champion, Yanne et Rassam, Andy Warhol Presentation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1