Dracula cerca sangue di vergine... e morì di sete!!! (1974)

Director:

Paul Morrissey

Writer:

Paul Morrissey (writer)

Release Date:

27 November 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

He couldn't live without a virgin's blood..... ...So a virgin had to die! [UK]

Plot:

Udo Kier is without a doubt the sickliest of vampires in any director's interpretation of the Bram Stoker tale...

Plot Keywords:

Virgin | Coffin | Dracula | Blood | Italy

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Joe Dallesandro	...	Mario Balato, the Servant
Udo Kier	...	Count Dracula
Vittorio De Sica	...	Il Marchese Di Fiore
Maxime McKendry	...	La Marchesa Di Fiore
Arno Juerging	...	Anton, the Count's Servant
Milena Vukotic	...	Esmeralda
Dominique Darel	...	Saphiria
Stefania Casini	...	Rubinia
Silvia Dionisio	...	Perla
Inna Alexeievna
Gil Cagne	...	Townsman (as Gil Cagnie)
Emi Califri
Eleonora Zani

Also Known As:

Andy Warhol's Dracula (USA)
Andy Warhol's Young Dracula
Blood for Dracula (UK)
Dracula
Dracula cerca sangue di vergine (Italy) (video title)
Dracula vuole vivere: cerca sangue di vergine! (Italy)
Du sang pour Dracula (France)
Young Dracula

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and sensuality.(1992 cut version)

Runtime:

103 min | Argentina:108 min | USA:106 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | New Zealand:R16 | Italy:VM18 | USA:X | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Germany:16 (cut) | Germany:18 | Norway:18 (heavily cut) | UK:18 | USA:R (cut version) (1975, 1992) | USA:X (original rating) | West Germany:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Vojvodina, Serbia

Company:

Compagnia Cinematografica Champion

Trivia:

Because Roman Polanski was shooting Che? (1972) in Italy on a set nearby, he was asked to do a cameo in this film. One can notice he wears the same mustache in both films.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the beginning of the film, Count Dracula is shown sitting at a dressing table, looking in the mirror as he applies make-up to his face. A fire is burning in the fireplace behind him. But as the camera angles around toward the mirror to reveal that the Count casts no reflection, the fire in the fireplace freezes completely still for more than a second.

Quotes:

Mario Balato, the Servant: I don't see why someone like me couldn't marry you, or one of your sisters.
Rubinia: Are you crazy?
Mario Balato, the Servant: Yeah... your mother'd never hear of such a thing. Had a good look at him in that wheelchair, almost about to die. That's the way it is with all that rich trash. They're all sick and rotten. The only future's in socialism.
Rubinia: Don't start talking about that again! You know how it bores me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Phantasie (2009)

Great, beautiful and artistic ...TRASH!

This very free and rather deranged interpretation of Bram Stoker's legendary Dracula tale by Paul Morrissey is one of the best independent vampire stories I've seen so far. The sheer brilliance of this film completely lies in the characterization of the bloodsucking count. Dracula no longer is a vile and overruling monster here, but a sickly and almost pathetic weakling. He and his assistant (Renfield with brains!) flee from the Romanian castle to settle in rural Italy where families are believed to be particularly religious. This is essential to the count because he can only feed on virgins' blood. The count and his assistant are homed by a family with 4 four marriageable daughters, pretending to be wealthy. However, the girls aren't as 'pure' as they're supposed to be (these cuties like to screw around with the revolutionary servant boy) and the impure blood of the girls only causes to the count to get weaker. Despite of its filthy reputation, this film isn't that gory or nauseating. The finale is pretty blood-soaked but the film is overall more absurd and eccentric than it is gore. Blood for Dracula is an outstanding trash-film! The humor is black as the night itself and the substance is essential viewing for every cult cinema admirer. 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 budget of Blood for Dracula was low (almost non-existing), yet the set pieces and atmosphere-creating elements are great! 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. It might not fit for all audiences but I'm sure the more developed genre lovers will love seeing Udo Kier licking a virgin's blood of the floor. Equally recommended is the Morrissey variant on that other classic tale, Frankenstein. That film is even more extravagant and a whole lot nastier. You can either take that as a recommendation or a warning.