“They will be destroyed….”
Of all of the Hammer Horror films that I’ve watched so far, 1970’s Taste The Blood Of Dracula is possibly the most straightforward one of the bunch. The film has a rather simple plot that takes place immediately after the events of Dracula Has Risen From The Grave. It wastes little time in setting up the plot and all of the key players and it heads right into the horror. In the film, three thrill-seeking old men find themselves bored with the local brothel. Despite having plenty of beautiful ladies flirting and playing with them and one lady dancing with a snake, the three men want something more exciting. Luckily for them a rich nobleman who has been ostracized by his family arrives and he offers them the thrill of a lifetime: using the blood, cloak, and brooch of Count Dracula to perform an evil ceremony. The nobleman refuses to fully let the men know his intentions, but when he tells them to drink the blood of Dracula and they refuse, he drinks it himself, only to fall into a terrible fit of pain. The three men, in desperation and anger, beat and kick the man to death. They then run back to their respective homes hoping that the death of the man will somehow not be discovered. Instead, their evil deed resurrects Count Dracula and he seeks revenge on the men for the rest of the movie. He uses their own children to battle them, and only one young man rises to the occasion in order to defeat the count. Who wins? Who dies? Watch Taste the Blood of Dracula to find out!
The three “gentlemen” in the film, Hargood, Paxton, and Secker, are not what they seem. Hargood is presented as an upstanding Christian man who is overbearing and strict with his daughter. As the story unfolds we discover that he is far from a good Christian and that he’s done very harmful and sinister things to his daughter. Paxton and Secker, while not given as much development as Hargood, are just as unlikable, although I do believe that Paxton joined the trio just in order to belong. He gives in to a lot of peer pressure throughout the film and ultimately becomes a bit unhinged as a result. The children of these men, Alice Hargood, Paul and Lucy Paxton, and Jeremy Secker, are all generally good people, but Count Dracula manipulates most of them one by one in order to get his revenge for the loss of his would-be servant, Lord Courtley.
I really enjoyed watching Count Dracula systematically take out his adversaries. Many critics panned the film for its lack of vampire attacks despite there being a few of them, but Dracula’s manipulation of the children played out as a better story in my opinion. In the case of Alice, Dracula honestly didn’t need to convince her that much to attack her father. She already had plenty of reasons to do so, but hearing it from Dracula seemed to make it easier and right for her in my opinion.
The cast was very good. Lee pretty much did whatever the heck he wanted to do as Dracula, and he turned in a fine performance. Linda Hayden gave an excellent performance as the mentally, emotionally, physically, and sexually abused daughter of Mr. Hargood, Alice. Geoffrey Keen was extremely unlikable as Hargood which means he did a great job in the role. Paxton and Secker were portrayed by Peter Sallis and John Carson, respectively, and despite being bad guys, I had a little bit of sympathy for them. Isla Blair was great as Lucy Paxton and Anthony Corlan carried much of the film on his shoulders as her loving brother, Paul. Martin Jarvis had a small but crucial role as Jeremy Secker and he did a brilliant job with his limited screen time. Other notable performances included Gwen Watford as Hargood’s abused wife, Martha, Roy Kinnear as Waller, the man who finds the blood, cloak, and brooch of Dracula, Ralph Bates as Courtley, and the ever-reliable Michael Ripper as Inspector Cobb.
The gore in the film was exaggerated just as much as it is in most Hammer films. The blood was bright red and Lee often wore red contacts during scenes. One of the coolest effects in the film is when Courtley pours the dried, powdery blood of Dracula into goblets held by the three old men and then squeezes drops of his own blood on top of it causing a reaction that fills the cups with blood. The music was also very good.
Yes, Taste the Blood of Dracula can be described as a by-the-numbers thriller, but the combination of a great cast, decent plot, and excellent direction all make for a pretty good film. Thanks for reading my post. I hope that you’ve been enjoying Thirty-One Days O’Horror. Leave a comment about your favorite post so far, your favorite Hammer film, or any gripes that you might have.
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