Blood for Dracula

Plot synopsis:
In the first years of the 1920s, a sickly and dying Count Dracula, who, as a vampire, must drink virgin blood to survive, travels from Transylvania to Italy just before the rise of Mussolini into power, following his servant Anton's plan and thinking he will be more likely to find a virgin in a Catholic country. At the same time, all of Dracula's family has vanished because of two reasons, the lack of virgins in their hometown and how the family's reputation prevents any normal family from choosing to bring women to the renowned castle. Shortly after arriving in Italy, Dracula befriends Marchese di Fiore (De Sica), an impecunious Italian landowner who, with a lavish estate falling into decline, is willing to marry off one of his four daughters to the wealthy aristocrat.
Of di Fiore's four daughters, two regularly enjoy the sexual services of Mario, the estate handyman, a proud peasant and staunch Marxist who believes that the socialist revolution will happen soon in his country. The youngest and eldest daughters are virgins, the eldest is thought too plain to be offered for marriage and is past her prime, and the youngest is only 14 years old (portrayed by 23-year-old Dionisio). Dracula obtains assurances that all the daughters are virgins and drinks the blood of the two who are considered marriageable. However, their tainted blood reveals to him the truth and makes him even weaker. Nevertheless, he is able to turn the two girls into his telepathic slaves.
Soon after the Marchese Di Fiore travels out of Italy to pay his great debts, Mario discovers that Dracula is a vampire and what he has done to the Di Fiore sisters. When he realizes the danger Dracula poses to the youngest daughter, he rapes her to achieve her protection. Mario warns Di Fiore's wife, La Marchesa Di Fiore, about Dracula's plan. Meanwhile, Dracula has drunk the blood of the eldest daughter, turning her into a vampire and regaining strength. La Marchesa confronts, and is stabbed by, Anton, whom she shoots and kills before dying. Mario dismembers Dracula with an axe and kills him and the eldest Di Fiore daughter with a stake, becoming the de facto master and manager of the estate.

Tags: cult, avant garde, gothic, violence

Review:
'Blood for Dracula' began shooting the day principal photography for 'Flesh for Frankenstein' finished, and utilised the same three lead players: Udo Kier (as Dracula), Arno Jeurging (as his manservant) and Joe Dallesandro (as a socially conscious and randy farmhand).
In comparison to the earlier film, 'Blood for Dracula' may appear somewhat more restrained, with less of the delirium and dementia which made it's sister movie so memorable, but in place of the outrageous black humour and OTT excesses it possesses a more subtle sense of satire and a frequently beautiful and poetic visual style.Just a quick recap of the story: Dracula, who is here only able to feed from the blood of virgin girls, is forced to leave his ancestral home in Transylvania (apparantly he's exhausted the supply there) and travel to Italy with his manservant, under the pretence of seeking a 'suitable wife'.
Morrissey is always quick to savage the supposedly sacred community of the family; in 'Flesh for Frankenstein' it was blighted by incest and depravity, and here the briefly seen relationship between Dracula and his sister (also a vampire) is more touching and heartfelt than the caustic behaviour of the Di Fiore's toward one another.
Violence is abhorrent to him, yet ironically it is concomitant with his survival, whereas Dallesandro's character is brutish, self righteous and far more morally dubious (he more or less rapes the youngest daughter so that Dracula cannot now feed from her impure blood).The key performances here are perfectly realised and genuinely involving.
The protracted scenes of Dracula throwing up unsuitable blood into the bath are pretty gross, as is his lying on the floor to sup at the remains of the youngest daughter's hymen after Dallesandro takes matters into his own hands.
However, the elegance of the cinematography, despite the low budget, renders these scenes almost as beautiful in their own perverse way as the long establishing shots of the Italian countryside.This film, like it's predecessor, remains a genuine cult classic, and in my opinion they are both valuable documents of the prevalent artistic attitudes of their day and two of the most important, literate, well composed and intelligent horror films of the last thirty years.
Udo Kier is terrific as the needy count while pretty boy and Morrissey regular Joe Dallesandro has the time of his life portraying the manly skirt-chaser.
The musical score in particular is beautiful and contains a few gripping piano compositions.In conclusion, Blood for Dracula is outrageous fun and a must-see for everyone whose tired of the same old unsatisfying horror films.
Of course there is the groundskeeper Joe Dallesandro, the hot stud who deflowers the "virgins", well, all except one daughter who seems to be holding out.Udo Kier plays the perverted ill Dracula who needs virgin blood to gain strength.
Udo Kier (Mark Of The Devil) plays Count Dracula, and Joe Dallesandro (Andy Warhol's Trash) plays a guy who gets laid all the time.
In this version of the legend, Dracula can only consume the blood of virgins, which is unfortunate for Udo because Romania has been sucked dry, so, now , the Count is headed to Italy in search of a nice, rich family, with nice, wholesome daughters.
Count Dracula (Udo Kier) can only drink the blood of virgins or he becomes violently ill.
In this retelling of the story of Dracula, the world's most famous vampire (Udo Kier, in a breathtaking and charismatic role as the count) lives in rapid deterioration in Romania with his watcher, Anton.
The plan makes sense, but problems arise when Dracula and Anton take shelter in the home of a religious family consisting of a greedy and thoughtless wife, a bitter husband, their four daughters, and their communist worker (played by the consistently memorable Joe Dallesandro).
The plan is to pretend to be an aristocrat looking for a virgin bride, but issues arise when Dracula discovers that the daughters are not as innocent and as virginal as they are reputed to be, thanks to their worker, in this bizarre and extremely bloody vampire fable.Excuse me for seeming rather melodramatic for saying this, but this has got to be one of the most depressing horror films I think I have ever seen.
Not nearly as disgusting as its closely made forerunner Flesh for Frankenstein, Blood for Dracula has some nice, stylistic moments, excellent period piece settings and costumes, wild overacting from Udo Keir as Dracula(subdued though when compared with his performance as Dr. Frankenstein) and a non-performance by Joe Dallesandro, a sluggish pace at times and, of course, lots of gratuitous sex scenes.
Morrissey once again teams the legendary Udo Kier ('The Story Of O', 'Suspiria') with Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro, and the creepy Arno Juerging (Otto from '...Frankenstein'), and adds to the strong supporting cast Italian veteran Vittorio De Sica, and even a cameo from director Roman Polanski.
In Transilvania, Count Dracula (Udo Kier) is weak and ill since he needs the blood of virgin girls to recover.
In addition, most of the actors and actresses are pretty hammy (for example it has a "Italian" family where the dad has what sounds like an Italian accent, the mother sounds British, two of the daughters sound German, and the gardener is obviously from Jersey).Udo Kier continues to yuck it up as the title character after playing Baron Frankenstein in "Flesh for Frankenstein" this film's sister picture.
In the end I think that it's good points and bad points strike even, so I recommend watching when you're feeling in that "I want to watch something so bad, it could actually be kind of good" mood.Film fans should also look for the Roman Polanski cameo.
Of course we have Joe Dallesandro who plays a character who works for a mansion and molests some of the women there but ends up being a hero in the end and his acting is starting to improve as he was so awful in his past work (Probably he was getting off of drugs at this time) and he moved on to acting in non-Warhol films afterwards and doing well for himself.
Scream king Udo Kier is great as Dracula and got alot of fans from this film.
Then I watched an interview with director Gus Van Sant, where he was talking about first seeing Udo in 'Flesh for Frankenstein,' and 'Blood for Dracula.' Naturally, I had to see them.
Blood for Dracula (1974) ** (out of 4)Count Dracula (Udo Kier) and his servant (Joe Dallesandro) head toward Italy where the Count needs a bride.
No sir, he actually needs a virgin but finding one won't be too easy.Paul Morrissey's BLOOD FOR DRACULA and FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN were two films that I first saw as a rather young kid.
The only problem is that we've seen this vampire film way too many times before and the added sleaze just doesn't really do much.Whereas FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN went over-the-top in its use of gore and sleaze, that's not the case here.
Filmed after "Flesh of Frankenstein" (1973), by the same director, Paul Morrissey, and much of same cast and crew, as well as, again, being advertised as produced by pop-art celebrity Andy Warhol, "Blood for Dracula" is only slightly amusing as a vampire burlesque, but is of more interest for its sexual and political allegory.As comedy, I prefer the Dracula-related parodies "The Dance of the Vampires," a.k.a.
(What neorealist filmmaker Vittorio De Sica is doing among the cast in this assuredly non-realist film, I don't know.) The blood vomiting and the Grand Guignol finale are grotesquely over the top, and the nudity and sex scenes place the production firmly within the exploitation genre.
The only thing more repulsive then those scenes are when the count laps up virgin blood off the floor left behind by the youngest daughter after the male servant sexually violates her.
If you look at it from the usual perspective of acting skill, dialogue, plot etc., Blood for Dracula is probably one of the worst films you will ever watch.
Udo Kier stars as the title character, but he's not the Dracula that have horror fans have come to expect...not at all.
The story picks up when Dracula is invited to stay at the home of a family with four daughters.Blood for Dracula is an extremely sleazy movie, and despite being primarily about vampirism; there's far more nudity than gore in the film.
German actor Udo Kier (who's command of the English language was not that great at the time of the production) brought a sense of frailty and a complex individuality to the role.Dracula has moved from his castle and heads towards the most Catholic country around, Italy.
"Blood for Dracula" is one of the genre's best and sleaziest efforts.**SPOILERS**Nearly dying in Romania, sickly Count Dracula, (Udo Kier) ans his servant Anton, (Arno Juerging) decide to leave it behind and head off to the country.
Discovering that the local handyman Mario Balato, (Joe Dallesandro) is the one responsible for that, he tries to take him out, only instead revealing that he is a vampire out fr virgin blood, and forces him to protect the family from his bloodthirsty manners.The Good News: This here is one of the best vampire films around.
This also extends to the male nudity as well, since, unless most movies, this one takes the time to show that both participants are nude during the sex scenes and reveling in it the way that very few are comfortable with showing, means that this one is an equal opportunity when it comes to showing it off, and that's never a bad thing.
It was written, produced and directed by Warhol crony Paul Morrissey (although some claim Antonio Margheriti was responsible) and starred Joe Dallesandro (another member of Warhol's gang, who is probably most famous for being referenced as "little Joe" in the Velvet Underground song "Walk on the Wild Side").The story opens with Count Dracula (Udo Kier) feeling very ill, because he is running out of virgins (or "wer-gins") whose blood he needs to survive.
The sexual nature of the film also brings this aspect of the Dracula myth out into the open, none of that tedious repressed sexuality that was still held over from the '30's and was utterly dated by the '70's.There is also gore aplenty on display; especially in the climax, but mostly just blood, no chunks of eviscera like in Warhol's Frankenstein.
In this darkly humorous vampire offering directed by Paul Morrissey and Antonio Margheriti and produced by Andy Warhol, Count Dracula (Udo Kier), desperately requiring the life-force sustaining sustenance of virgin's blood travels to Italy on the advice of his servant, Anton (Arno Juerging), in order to take advantage of strong religious beliefs and pray upon innocent young women.Bearing stylistic similarities with the cycle of Hammer vampire films of the time, Blood for Dracula differentiates itself from the former with sharp mood changes, graphic violence and a slight but notable change in traditional vampire lore.
Udo Kier is the less menacing Dracula ever, a pale and sick figure in a wheel chair looking for virgins' blood with the help of his assistant.
Distraught, the eldest of Dracula's victims throws herself onto the stake, pinning herself to the dead vampire.If only there had been some of this OTT craziness throughout the preceding 100 or so minutes; instead, we get a rather restrained, slow moving story, the only exploitative content some soft-core sex, randy Mario seeing to several of the sisters (which allows for some full frontal female nudity), and the sight of Kier vomiting as he reacts to impure blood.A spot of subtle black humour and the constant mangling of the English language by the largely European cast provides a few giggles, but on the whole, this is a less satisfying effort than its companion piece, the outrageous Flesh for Frankenstein..
Blood for Dracula is the companion piece to the other Andy Warhol produced horror film, Flesh for Frankenstein (1973).
Udo Kier is on form again as Dracula in another commendably committed performance, his assistant is played by Arno Juerging in an eye-poppingly bizarre way and Joe Dallesandro under-acts spectacularly again as the somewhat questionable 'hero' Marxist handyman who at one point rapes a young teenage girl in order to make her unsuitable prey for the dastardly count!
Look out too for a humorous cameo performance from Roman Polanski and a rare chance to see future Suspiria actress Stefania Cassini speak her dialogue in her real voice, usually she is dubbed but here her very heavy and quite beautifully exotic Italian accent is on full display (as well as pretty much every other part of her it has to be said).This is probably as much a sexploitation film as it is a horror movie.
The count Dracula (Udo Kier who I love in these roles) desperately needs blood, from that of a virgin, so he travels to this castle in France, masquerading as someone else, with his chauffeur as you will, the same guy who co starred with Kier in FFF.
Count Dracula (Udo Kier) has encountered a problem of the modern world -- it is dreadfully short on virgins, and his desire to drink pure blood is becoming more difficult.
E Morì Di Sete!!!") of 1974 is, after "Flesh For Frankenstein" (1973) the second bizarre take on a classic Horror tale by the team Paul Morrisey (director), Udo Kier and Joe Dallessandro (stars) and famed artist Andy Warhol (co-producer and prominent name).
While this film is, in my opinion, not quite as great as the insanely brilliant "Flesh for Frankenstein" it is yet another beautifully bizarre, atmospheric, amusing and highly unusual vision of a Horror classic."Blood for Dracula" introduces the most pathetic version of fiction's most famous vampire.
The great Udo Kier plays a sickly, sniveling Count Dracula, who thirsts only for the blood of virgins, as any other blood makes him fatally ill.
Aided by his servant (Arno Juerging, who also played Frankenstein's demented assistant in "Flesh for Frankenstein"), Dracula goes to Italy, where people are supposed to be religious and unmarried women are supposed to be virgins.
Blood for Dracula (1974)Directed by Paul MorrisseyWith Udo Kier and Joe DallessandroWarhol's famous Dracula (Who else than Kier!) need blood from virgins and goes to an Arystocrat house in search of it, at the same time communist servant Dallesandro suspect of the thing for an ending of bloody consequences.
Joe Dallesandro on the other hand doesn't do much, but he is a great and more vital contrast to the more reduced Count with his "I'd do you"-attitude.If you like old cult-classics, Udo Kier, or just some trashy class I really recommend this film.
"Blood for Dracula" is Paul Morrissey's follow-up to his equally outrageous horror-outing "Flesh for Frankenstein".
Again starring square-jawed Joe Dallesandro as the hero, Udo Kier as the title character and Arno Juerging as his loyal helper, the movie is more-of-the-same combination of laughs, horror and erotica.More over-the-top than its Hammer rivals, Morrissey's film remains eye-opening even now, more than thirty years after its release.
In this companion piece to "Flesh for Frankenstein", Udo Kier is Count Dracula.
This review is for the R-rated cut called Andy Warhol's Dracula that runs 93 minutes.Ultra campy take on Bram Stoker's Dracula finds the Count (Udo Kier) in search of virgin blood.
Odd, almost insanely funny film about the great Count, played here by Kier who's about as menacing a Dracula as Fozzie the Bear.
Count Dracula leaves for Italy in order to find the pure blood he needs for surviving, because, as Arno Juerging role put `you and your sister are too well known in rumania'.
Paul Morrissey's "Blood for Dracula" is definitely a cult classic.Udo Kier is excellent as a Dracula.He can't suck the blood of anyone but a virgin or he vomits.In one outrageous scene he licks the blood of a virgin off the floor.The film is about as sleazy and politically incorrect as you can get.There is plenty of soft-core sex in this one plus incredibly gory climax when Dracula is dismembered.There is also a lovely cameo by Roman Polanski("Rosemary's Baby","The Tenant").Check it out in pair with its companion piece "Flesh for Frankenstein"(1974)..
But, it is his roles in Andy Warhol's Frankenstein and this film that really show him at his campy best.Here, he plays Count Dracula, a man we really feel sorry for, as he only has two weeks to live unless he can find a virgin's blood to drink.
Dracula (Udo Kier) has become weak and sick from a lack of pure blood and travels to Italy with his servant (Arno Jeurning) to find virgins, who's blood may revitalize him.
Blood For Dracula is a gorgeous looking piece of cinema that succeeds even though it has some real weaknessesThe story tells of Count Dracula coming to Italy to look for a virgin bride in an aristocratic family with four daughters.
There is usually a sexual element in vampire movies, but in this one, Count Dracula must have the blood of a virgin.
Unfortunately thanks to Dallesandro's character who works on the estate, the middle 2 daughters no longer qualify as virginal.However the Count has to find that out the hard way, leading to much vomiting and blood regurgitation.
Udo Kier is more low key than in Frankenstein as the ill and melancholy vampire, though he certainly gives it his all in the blood vomiting scenes!
Morrissey reveals that there was all of an hour between the end of Frankenstein and the beginning of Dracula, enough time for Kier and Dallesandro to change hairstyles.
A political and social satire as well as a "horror" film the movie has the Count leaving his home for Italy because the supply of virgins has dried up and its believed that an endless supply of pure blood will be found in the Catholic country (Dracula will get violently ill if the person isn't a virgin).
Funny thing is that Arno Juerging once again plays Udo Kier's servant, the same sort of role he played in "Flesh for Frankenstein".