Incense for the Damned (1970)

Director:

Robert Hartford-Davis

Writers:

Julian More (screenplay)
Simon Raven (novel)

Release Date:

1971 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A group of friends search for a young English Oxford student who has disappeared whilst researching in Greece...

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Patrick Macnee	...	Derek Longbow
Johnny Sekka	...	Bob Kirby
Alexander Davion	...	Tony Seymore (as Alex Davion)
Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Walter Goodrich
Edward Woodward	...	Dr. Holstrom
Madeleine Hinde	...	Penelope (as Madeline Hinde)
Patrick Mower	...	Richard Fountain
Imogen Hassall	...	Chriseis
William Mervyn	...	Marc Honeydew
David Lodge	...	Colonel
John Barron	...	Diplomat
Valerie Van Ost	...	Don's wife
Theo Moreos	...	Mayor
Nick Pandelides	...	Monk Superior
Andreas Potamitis	...	Police Chief

Also Known As:

Blood Suckers (USA) (trailer title)
Bloodsuckers (USA)
Doctors Wear Scarlet (UK) (alternative title)
Freedom Seekers (UK) (alternative title)
Incense of the Damned (UK) (alternative title)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | UK:15 (re-rating) | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cyprus

Company:

Lucinda Films

Trivia:

Some long additional scenes of orgies played by a completely different group of actors were added in the French version of the film.

Quotes:

Tony Seymore: Are you trying to tell me that a girl sucking blood from a man's neck can induce an orgasm?

Movie Connections:

Edited into Extra Weird (2003) (V)

Vampyres in Greece, the British way

Some commentator did call this movie an oddity in British horror-movies. I am not exactly sure why he did call it that. To me the movie don't seem more odd (or even much less) than other British horror movies from about that same period (Horror Hospital, for example)... Clearly the budget was small and it shows. Good actors were waisted with the material they had to work on to give there characters any meaning of existence. There is hardly any suspense and there are close-to-none special effects (even for those days). The colors were almost bleached out but that can be due to a bad VHS-copy I saw it on...One can hardly call all that on oddity in British horror-movies... Mostly ALL British horror-movies in those days were made on a minuscule budget, with a few famous actors in the cast to give it some credibility... So what is it what makes this movie keeps lingering in the mind ? Maybe something of a memory of Lindsay Anderson's "If..." (1968)... Maybe the presence of Patrick Macnee (John Steed from the famous British TV-series The Avengers)... Maybe some good performances by the younger actors (which are lacking from later American or whatever horror movies in which younger actors, usually university students at some campus)... Maybe the unusual settings and the unusual environment to present vampires: Greece and some historical facts (due to folklore or not) about vampirism in Greece... Anyway, its worth a look, if only for Peter Cushing or Patrick Macnee; die hard fans, or even for devotees of vampire-movies in general will surely like it ...

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