As a huge fan of the vampire genre, and huge fan of Dracula, I find myself almost universally revolted most adaptations of the story. Beyond the glory of Max Schreck and Gary Oldman lies a sea of disappointment. Here are some thoughts that I suspect will be very unpopular. Bela Lugosi’s bored me to tears. Christopher Lee nailed a few performances, but the overall body of work clocks-in as sub-par. The list of failed Dracula adaptations scrolls off of the screen. This review takes a look at Udo Kier’s portrayal Dracula in 1974’s Blood for Dracula.
Udo Kier is no stranger to vampires movies. He played Dragonetti in Blade. Udo Kier also played Captain Varna in Dracula 3000. The man has the look. With his piercing eyes and chiseled face, he displays all of required attributes. Udo Kier also portrays the panache of Dracula as well as his menace? Andy Warhol? Blood for Dracula?
Paul Morrisey, directed Blood for Dracula. It seems odd that the producers released in the United States as Andy Warhol’s Dracula. I failed to find a good descriptions of Contributions from Andy Warhol. Certainly, in 1974 that name Andy Warhol brought some draw to the box office.
A Shaky Start
Film starts on a shaky premise. Dracula’s familiar, Anton, raises a serious situation with the Count. Transylvania is running low on available virgins. Dracula will die in weeks without virgins to feed upon. Consequently, they must go to Italy as an naive crop of virgins live in Italy.
Five minutes out of the gate serious questions arise. Can The Prince of Darkness feel his own tummy rumbling? Does he really not know when he is hungry? The Count exclaims “If you really were clever Anton, you would bring me a virgin from Italy, and I would not have to go”. I agree. Seriously, what good is Anton, anyway?
On the road trip The Count, dying of starvation, is foremost concerned about the availability of heat in the car. Similarly, he demands to bring his pet bird. Honestly, its a well measured does of black humor. Dracula is a petulant child.
Do Not Mess With the Count
Going against well established standards, The Count has only minor aversion to sunlight. Vampires’ modus operandi is largely a response to an deadly reaction to sunlight. It has been this way for hundreds of years. This fact offsets immense power offset with critical weaknesses. An aversion to sunlight makes vampire’s familiars a necessary prop. This weakness severely limits Dracula’s ability to strike during the day. Likewise, his victims must fear the dark. Why sleep in coffins when cat-nap in regular bed with the curtains closed? No need for a crypt when a good set of black-out shades will do the trick. Lame.
The sight of Prince of Darkness bouncing around in the back of a station wagon is already comical. Strap a coffin to the top of that bad-boy and it is a laugh-out-loud scene from The Munsters (2022).
National Lampoon’s Transylvanian Vacation
At Last, the Virgins
Anton escorts the Count to a small town in Italy and finds a wealthy business man with four ‘virgin’ daughters. Anton explains to the family that The Count intends to marry. Excited at the prospect of extending his family to foreign royalty, they accept Dracula into the home and the courting process begins. Little does the Count know the two of the daughters regularly take turns with Mario, the estate handyman.
Taking the Blood of “Virgins”
First, the Count takes Esmerelda as his victim. Her non-virgin blood poisons the count. Consequently, his body rejects the blood and violently purges it from his body. Esmeralda survives, but is now under the control of the count. The Count then goes 0-2 with Saphiria. Again, he has a violent reaction. Each non-virgin makes him weaker. Dracula laments, “I can’t take this treatment any more! The blood of these whores is killing me!”. Intentional or not, the line elicits a chuckle. Count Dracula now holds Saphiria under his spell.
I can’t take this treatment any more! The blood of these whores is killing me!
Hurting, the Count wants to leave. Instead, Anton convinces the Count to make one last move on Perla. The youngest of the girls, Perla, most likely retains her virginity. Meanwhile, Mario discovers the Count’s secret. Taking the role of hero, Mario decides to forcefully take Perla’s virginity? What a guy. I mean, who needs Van Helsing when you Mario at the ready.
To be fair, Mario does eventually do the needful. Mario hunts down the Count and dismembers him with an axe.
Udo Kier – Staked
But is Blood for Dracula any Good?
Within the first 5 minutes, a train-wreck seemed inevitable. Over the course, it managed to overcome initial jitters. Strangely I didn’t hate it. Blood for Dracula violated all of expectations. It ends up being moderately entertaining. At first it was annoying to see The Count so feeble, Dracula’s bloody rejection to non-virgin blood was compelling. Eventually, this weakness became a very satisfying plot device.
Blood for Dracula (1974)
Mario, played by Joe Dallasandro, presented a cardboard cutout anti-hero. His character was stiff, and brought awkwardness to any scene that he graced. However, Udo Kier flourished as the sickly Count Dracula despite going against normal expectations.
The final kill scene where The Count is dismembered evokes visions of Monty Pythons Black Knight. While good for a chuckle, an ample supply of gore keeps it real. The scene provides a bloody exclamation point to a decent film. I do recommend it as an entertaining curiosity to horror fans. However, I am still wondering what Andy Warhol actually contributed to the film.
As as final note, take a look at the movie poster on your free time and compare it to the Dark Throne album Transylvanian Hunger.
Blood for Dracula (1974) - A Different Look for the Count - Malevolentdark
Dave was raised on horror movies. The first film to blow his mind was House on Haunted Hill (1959). From that film, Dave caught the fever that keeps him in the horror game today. He has written over 250 posts on malevolentdark.com and continues to manage and grow the site. His favorite horror film of all time is the Tobe Hooper classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Dave’s focus skews towards classic horror from the previous 5 decades. He holds a special love for Italian horror, especially the giallo sub-genre.
i think is the only dracula hunted and destroyed at night like a fearly running rat without his powers of darkness,…anyway the movie is entertaining,..have some good things but as you said the car with coffin at the top is comical remembers me the wacky races,
I wrote that review a while ago, so I need to review my review, but apart from the comical parts I did really like the depiction of Dracula. I love my monsters with a real emotional/physical weakness.
2 Responses
i think is the only dracula hunted and destroyed at night like a fearly running rat without his powers of darkness,…anyway the movie is entertaining,..have some good things but as you said the car with coffin at the top is comical remembers me the wacky races,
I wrote that review a while ago, so I need to review my review, but apart from the comical parts I did really like the depiction of Dracula. I love my monsters with a real emotional/physical weakness.