Taste the Blood of Dracula

Plot synopsis:
NOTE: Sequel to "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" (1968).A peddler named Weller (Roy Kinnear) is riding in a coach with two other passengers and attempts to sell some goods, but is unceremoniously thrown from the moving vehicle. Recovering from his tumble down an embankment, he witnesses a vampire succumbing to impalement on a cross (as recapped from the previous film). When the vampire turns to dust, Weller examines the remains and finds the ring, cape and clasp engraved with the name "Dracula."William Hargood [Geoffrey Keen], Sam Paxton [Peter Saccis], and Jonathan Secker [John Carson] are leaving church with their families, and the teenage children talk with each other. Later at home, Hargood berates his daughter for acting like a harlot in talking to a young man, and grumbles to his wife for having the staff prepare a sumptuous meal when she should know that it is the Sunday he and his friends do charity work. Later he meets the other two men and they go to the local soup kitchen. . .and pass through to the back room holding a secret brothel where they engage in sordid behaviors.While there they meet Lord Courtley [Ralph Bates], said to be possessed of the devil. Courtley offers them an experience to end all experiences--a chance to take place in a ritual to sell their souls to the devil. He doesn't tell them that he plots to also bring back Count Dracula from the dead. He takes them to Weller's store, where the greedy merchant sells them the hoard he collected from the remains of Dracula, including a vial of the powdered blood from the ashes. They agree to try out the new thrill with the needed accessories, and they meet him at an old church, but they cop out when Courtley orders them to drink the blood of Dracula, which he has reanimated by mixing in his own. Courtley drinks and suffers sudden seizures. When he begs for help from the others, they kick and beat him, and he dies. The three men leave, scared, while in the church dust covers Courtley. When the caked dust cracks, he has become Dracula [Christopher Lee].The vampire wants revenge for the death of his servant, and he intends to get it through the children of the three men, starting with Hargood. His daughter Alice [Linda Hayden] is seeing Paul Paxton [Anthony Corlan], but Hargood wants to end this relationship. One night, after being forbidden by her father to go out with Paul, Alice sneaks out to attend a party with him. She confesses readily when she is caught later, but Hargood has been blotting out the horror of watching Courtley die by drinking heavily and he raises a cane to beat her for disobedience. Alice escapes to the garden and meets Dracula, who influences her with hypnosis into bludgeoning her father. "The first," Dracula intones.Alice then lures Lucy Paxton [Isla Blair] to Dracula, who promptly drinks her blood and sets her to work for him against her father. Worried about the death of Hargood and the disappearances of both Alice and Lucy, Paxton and Secker go to the old church to see if Courtley's body is still there. It isn't, but they find Lucy lying in a coffin. Secker attempts to stake her, but Paxton is in denial that she is a minion of the undead and shoots him. Secker stumbles home, but Paxton passes out and regains consciousness as the sun goes down. Lucy pins Paxton in a pew and stakes him with Alice standing by and as Dracula watches. "The second," Dracula says. Lucy comes to Jeremy Secker [Martin Jarvis] and drinks his blood. Later he finds Secker in his office, passed out from his gunshot wound. When Secker comes to, he asks Jeremy to take a letter to Paul, but he realizes, too late, that Jeremy has turned into a vampire, and Jeremy stabs his father. "The third," says Dracula.Lucy is awed by her master's authoritarian air and power, and tries to distract him from leaving her, but he is through with her and drains her, leaving her dead in the waterway. He intends to do the same to Alice, but the rising sun forces him to retreat to his coffin.Secker had written a note to Paul before he died, telling him what he must do to save Alice. Armed with candles and crucifixes, Paul heads to the abandoned church and finds Lucy's body on the way. After pulling her onto the bank, he continues to the de-sanctified church and sets up an altar. When confronted by Alice and Dracula, Paul tells Alice to choose between good and evil. Alice chooses evil and wrests the crucifix from Paul's hand. Dracula attacks him, knocking him senseless. When Alice begs to go with the lord of the undead, he spurns her, saying he has no more need of her. Dracula attempts to escape, but the crucifix Paul placed on the door keeps him from leaving. Dracula breaks a stained-glass window, and the room is suddenly filled with church music, prayers and candles. As the reunited lovers watch, Dracula tumbles to the altar and turns to dust.

Tags: gothic, murder, cult, violence, good versus evil, revenge

Review:
The compellingly clever plot is well thought out to begin with (great intro) and there are some unpredictable moments, but then it does seem to follow the usual pattern of the earlier Hammer Dracula's and ends rather unconvincingly after it looked like there was going to be an exciting finale.
Most of the performances were good (some deadpan) from the likes of Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis and John Carson as the three gentlemen and Ralph Bates as Lord Courtley is incredibly over-the-top, but seemed well suited for it.
However, their limited imaginations mean that they soon become bored, and so they decide to take their lead from disgraced aristocrat and practising Satanist Lord Courtley (a marvellously slimy Ralph Bates), who suggests that they attempt a ritual to bring the infamous Count Dracula back to life.When the three men panic during the ceremony, and beat Courtley to death, they flee the scene, not realising that Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) has indeed returned from the dead, and now seeks retribution for the killing of his loyal acolyte.Although Hammer's Dracula movies rarely strayed far from their well-worn formulaDracula lives; Dracula kills; Dracula diestheir lush Gothic atmosphere, fine ensemble casts, and sumptuous cinematography usually meant that, even when the script was somewhat lacking, there was still plenty to enjoy.
Such is the case with Taste The Blood Of Dracula, which features a so-so story and a surprisingly unremarkable turn from Lee (who is forced to deliver some particularly dodgy dialogue), but manages to keep fans entertained with some gloriously camp performances from the rest of the cast, some fine direction from Peter Sasdy, and loads of Hammer's trademark Gothic trappings.Plus, this entry in the series also stars the gorgeous Linda Haydenone of my favourite actresses from the late 60s/70swhose presence makes it a must-see as far as I am concerned.
What will happen to Alice?"Taste the Blood of Dracula" is another great vampire movie from Hammer.
You get what you generally can expect from Hammer:  good character acting, lush cinematography, dutiful direction(ably done by Peter Sasdy), Christopher Lee(alas no Peter Cushing), beautiful young girls showing lots of cleavage, wonderful period costumes, and the film's shining grace is the score by James Hermann which is simply poetry put to music.
I say fortunately, as I think that `Taste The Blood Of Dracula' is Lee's second-best outing in the role (just behind the classic 1958 `Dracula').Peter Sasdy is a highly imaginative, but sadly unappreciated director and he makes the most of a strong script.
It has to be said that this entry in the series suffers from that affliction, but in fairness to it; Taste the Blood of Dracula definitely sports one of the better plots in the series, and is probably the second best film - after the original of course.
You know you're watching a Hammer film when you see three straight-faced (even slightly worried!) men in an antiques shop negotiating the price of a vile of Count Dracula's blood!
They reunite Lee as Dracula with Cushing as nemesis Van Helsing for the first time in the series since its début and thus give the feel of the cycle having come full circle.Based on the aforementioned, this would make my personal favourite, "Taste the Blood of Dracula", the fourth of the seven and thus the middle film of the cycle.
Although Dracula isn't mentioned in the title, in "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires", released by Hammer after their last "official" Dracula movie "The Satanic Rites of Dracula", the character is included although this time not played by Christopher Lee. Therefore, it could be argued there are eight films in the cycle, nine if one still wishes to include "Brides of Dracula", and therein lies the problem.
Always been a big fan of Hammer Horror and this is one of the best of the Dracula series.A travelling salesman(Roy Kinnear) comes across the Count(Christopher Lee as always) impaled on a giant gold crucifix(as the previous film ended) - he collects the cloak,ring and the dried blood and returns to England.
There we meet three late Victorian gentlemen - Hargood(Geoffrey Keen),Carson(Jonathen Secker) and Paxton(Peter Sallis) - by day they are respectable Church-goers but at night go to the East End for "Charity" work - of course this means they go whoring in brothels but have found their experiences becoming jaded - they seek new excitements.
What they haven'r realised is that Dracula has returned and blames them for Courtley's death - he seeks them out to destroy them...Direrected by Hammer regular Peter Sadsy the film mines a deep vein of Victorian hypocrisy - Hargood rules his family with an iron fist preaching Christian values and one the films most effective threads is how Dracula uses the the children of the 3 to achieve his ends - corrupting them so the Fathers can see the direct consequence of their actions.
Lee is excellent as always(but not given enough screen time) and there is fine support from Linda Haydon(who was in the notorious Baby Love and so effective in Blood on Satan's Claw) as Hargood's daughter Alice who Dracula uses to trap and then destroy the 3 Fathers.There is almost a Greek tragic element to it as the thing they hold most dear is the thing that kills them - it can also be read as the bourgious dabbling in forces beyond their control and unleashing a power that will destroy them.
Hammer did nine Dracula or vampire films from 1958 to 1974:Horror of Dracula (1958); The Brides of Dracula (1960); Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966); Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968); Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969); Scars of Dracula (1970); Dracula AD 1972 (1972); The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973); and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974).Of these nine entries "Taste the Blood of Dracula" is, believe it or not, one of the best, if not the best.One of the most intriguing aspects of the story is "the circle" of three Affluent British thrill-seekers.
This, of course, leads to the resurrection of the ol' Count."Taste the Blood of Dracula" is completely lush in Gothic atmosphere, plus the set-up of the story is engrossing and refreshingly innovative.The only problem I had is that it's kinda hard to buy Dracula's vengeful attitude toward the murder of his supposed servant (Courtley).
There is absolutely no sub-par acting, and great performances are given by familiar faces like Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, and Hammer regular Michael Ripper who will have appeared in 4 Dracula films by the series' end.
Being a horror fan, I have enjoyed all of the Hammer series, Chris Lee rules as the 'vampire count' Favorite one, the First one "Horror of Dracula" 1958 all of the Hammer films are beautifully produced and have atmosphere, and I like most of their 'stock' players, Micheal Ripper, George Woodbridge, Clifford Evans, Yvonne Romaine, and of course Peter Cushing, who is always a delight to watch,the studio, now, of course, defunct introduced American movie goers to the new genre of 'blood, guts and sex back in l958 with "The Curse of Frankenstein" shocking for its time, but a great flick, nonetheless.
Christopher Lee's first appearance as the Count, Horror of Dracula, set the stage for his 'international career' He and Peter Cushing made some 27 films together, some for Hammer and later for Amicus Studios, a very talented and well matched acting team, regards,JMagiclady.
Dracula also possesses a couple of young women, turning them into vampires.Although not as good as the other Dracula movies, this one isn't too bad and is quite atmospheric throughout.Joining Lee in the cast are several familiar faces: Geoffrey Keen who played Sir Frederick Gray in some of the Bond movies, Peter Sallis (Last Of the Summer Wine, Wallace and Gromit), funny-man Roy Kinnear, Ralph Bates (The Horror of Frankenstein), Michael Ripper (The Curse of the Werewolf, X the Unknown), Martin Jarvis, Isla Blair and Linda Hayden.Taste the Blood of Dracula is worth checking out, especially if you are a Hammer fan.
Chris Lee's screen time is again brief, and he's not given much to do except be the orchestrator for revenge as he makes the children of the businessmen kill their parents for him.The film, as stated earlier, is beautiful to behold and still fun to watch despite the Dracula flaws described above.
Taste The Eeriness Of Christopher Lee. Although certainly not the best sequel to the Hammer Studios' ingenious Dracula series starring Christopher Lee, Peter Sadsdy's "Taste The Blood Of Dracula" of 1970 is still a good entry to this wonderful cycle.
The original Hammer Dracula of 1958 (aka "Horror Of Dracula") is, of course, unmatched, and some of the sequels, such as "Prince of Darkness" (1966) and "Scars Of Dracula" (1970) are, in my opinion, also a lot better than this movie, but "Taste The Blood Of Dracula" certainly has its very own allure and some great,creepy elements that Hammer fans should love to see, such as devil worshiping, black masses and possession.A man kicked out of a stagecoach wakes up in the middle of the forest, hearing some terrible, eerie screams, he starts running in fear, just to witness Count Dracula die another death, this time impaled on a cross.
Normally, it would be far-fetched for Dracula to even bother with Bates, but one has to understand that the vampire was supposedly inhabiting his body – that is to say, here we have virtually the same situation as in FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1967).Bates is a compelling presence (incidentally, his role was intended to be bigger but Hammer thought best to stick with Draculaand Lee, begrudgingly, accepted!) though he eventually overstays his welcome – particularly with his weird inflection of the satanic verses spoken during the hysterical titular ceremony, where his scheme to impress a trio of hypocritical ageing thrill-seekers rebounds on himself.
Incidentally, while the kids seem to be inseparable, their parents act like strangers to one another so as to cover their clandestine immoral association; John Elder has inserted a pointed critique of Victorian society into his script, but it comes off as half-hearted amid the traditionally naive Hammer formula.The version I watched was the recently restored one released to DVD by Warners, which includes previously snipped footage of gore but also has an extended incongruous brothel scene – complete with effeminate host, a bit of nudity and a completely gratuitous snake dance straight out of a Ken Russell film!!
The film is, however, blessed with an above-average cast which also includes Geoffrey Keen (as Hayden's father and the stuffiest of the elderly English 'gents'), Hammer regular John Carson (as one of his two companions, who loses a daughter to Dracula), Roy Kinnear (as the businessman who finds a way of profiteering even from the remnants of the vampire Count); Michael Ripper has a more interesting role than usual as the police inspector, but he's still underused.
It's still fun in the typical Hammer way ,but definately feels somewhat tired, while it's patently obvious that Hammer were running out of things for it's most popular monster to do.The film is very promising for the first third, with interesting elements such as the strict family men who secretly indulge in brothels and the like, and director Peter Sasdy gives us one stunning scene inwhich the three hypocrits partake in a ceremony involving the drinking of Dracula's blood, it all going horribly wrong.
Dracula'a death is unmemorable, and it all seems like a mechanical going through of the motions.Of course the film still manages to have that lush look that Hammer almost never failed to achieve while being on tiny budgets, and James Bernard contributes another fine score.
Not all of the story works, but there are some cool death scenes, some chilling violence, gore that doesn't get too gratuitous and once the film does pick up there is a good deal of suspense and a real sense of horror and dread, something that Hammer excels in better than most horror films(before, during and now).Taste the Blood of Dracula boasts some fine direction from Peter Sasdy, and as long as one doesn't expect any development the characters at least serve a point to the story and engage.
Christopher Lee does not have very much screen time and has to work with lines that are too few and pretty bad, meaning that he doesn't have a lot to do, but the suave and incredibly intimidating presence that he brings to Dracula really captivates so he is still memorable.All in all, an enjoyable entry in the Hammer Dracula series, without being one of the series' best or worst.
Peter Sasdy took a turn directing this fifth "Dracula" film in the Hammer series that sees Christopher Lee once again playing Count Dracula, who is revived by an evil disciple(played by Ralph Bates) who had lured three bored(and hypocritical) "proper" English Gentlemen, who bring disaster on themselves and their families as Dracula targets them for destruction by killing his servant, though a climatic confrontation in a church may bring him his final destruction...
When the satanic ceremony they perform at Dracula's castle goes horribly wrong, letting loose Dracula (Christopher Lee) and his world renowned blood lust.I applaud Hammer for making the series more adult (more skin and blood) but at this point the stories were getting tired and in dire need of a blood transfusion.
In TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, a trio of bored, society types (Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, and John Carson), who lead secret, lascivious lives, are intrigued by a man (Ralph Bates) who promises them an experience they will never forget.
Out of Hammer Film it stars Christopher Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, Linda Hayden, Gwen Watford and Ralph Bates.
The Fourth Entry in the Hammer Dracula Series has the Requisite "Touches", Featuring Dense Color, Beautiful Costumes, Atmospheric Sets, Plenty of Beautiful Young Women in Low-Cut Gowns, Striking Musical Score, and of course Blood Red Blood.Christopher Lee Returns as the Count, but only because Hammer Bowed to American Pressure and Paid the Actor His Fee.Originally the Film was Sculpted to Feature Peter Yates as a Satanic Disciple, Tasting the Blood of Dracula (actually drinking a goblet full), and becoming a Vampire from the Lineage.
Linda Hayden shows good Range as the Daughter of an Abusing Father and the rest of the Cast all Contribute.The Weak and Disjointed Ending joins the Forced Narrative that proceeded in keeping the Movie from being Better, but Overall, the many Excellent Set Pieces make this a more Mature Hammer Entry, or perhaps more Accurately stated, an Evolutionary Piece in the Saga.Unfortunately most Aficionados Agree that this was really the Last Upward Mobile Movie in the Series..
Some Nice Characters...Except for One. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Direct sequel to Dracula HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE finds three elderly, rich Englishmen (Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, John Carson) hiring a Satan worshiper (Ralph Bates) to treat them to some dangerous "fun" and he asks them to buy the cape and blood of Dracula (Christopher Lee).
Then Dracula being the total baddie that he is doesn't want to get his hands dirty, he gets the men's kids to do his revenge for him, I couldn't think of a more evil way to handle things and that makes not only for a darker sequel but one of the stronger in my opinion.Three English gentlemen - Hargood, Paxton and Secker - have formed a circle ostensibly devoted to charitable work but in reality they indulge themselves in brothels.
While the three return to their respective homes and get on with their lives, Courtley's body, left in the abandoned church, transforms into Dracula, who vows that those who have destroyed his servant will be destroyed.There are flaws with the film, like why the daughter Alice is never made into a vampire.
Not the most dignified way for the greatest vampire in the world to go.The film was directed by Peter Sasdy, a minor Hammer director who also handled "Countess Dracula" and "Hands of the Ripper." (In addition to Brit-horror cult classic "The Stone Tape," which I keep meaning to check out.) Sasdy is not as good at building tension as Terence Fisher nor as flashy as Freddie Francis.
A lot of the on-screen action is beautifully shot,and set in really cool pieces of Goth-antics.The story centers around 3 aging men, hypocrites for sure, that while denying the pleasure of the flesh for others still seeks it for themselves.Bored with what they are getting they agree on a ceremonial which they the next day probably wished they would have turned down...Without knowing it they resurrect Dracula (Christopher Lee of course) from the dead, and he starts pulling the strings to off them one by one, using their own children.What I would like to stress is the feminist angle of this Hammer-feature, viewed today.
In the opening scene of "Taste the Blood of Dracula," we see several high-society families leaving church after a Sunday service; when pretty young Alice (Linda Hayden) is seen speaking with boyfriend Paul (Anthony Corlan), her father (Geoffrey Keen) calls her a 'harlot' and demands she go to her room once they arrive home.
When Courtley (who's actually Dracula's servant) dies in the ritual, the count avenges him by seducing and abusing the townsmen daughters * * * end spoilers * * * Settings and scenery are terrific, as usual in Hammer films, and I thought the story was well presented and a neat new addition to the cycle.
Plus, Christopher Lee's Count is a supporting monster in every one of Hammer's Dracula movies.
Lee himself is not in the film all that much, an apparent concession to his unwillingness to reprise the role once more, but absolutely demanded by Hammer fans.Anyway, the whole business with the dried blood of Dracula used to reanimate the Count was a novel enough idea; there's only so many ways one can go back to the well and keep things interesting.