Film Review: BLOOD for DRACULA (1974)

I'm probably celebrated artist Andy Warhol's biggest detractor so I wasn't really looking forward to viewing Blood for Dracula (1974). It was this plus the fact that I'm not a fan of vampire films and even more so the story of Dracula which has been done to death (I remember seeing this as a child (I mostly remember the score for the film more than anything else). This film is no classic by any means but it is an interesting film for actor Udo Kier.

The film concern Dracula (Kier) who must flee his home of Romania for Italy to find a virgin bride in order to continue his existence. He searches throughout the countryside of Italy searching for a virgin until he comes to a poor family in which the household has four unmarried daughters which Dracula sets his sights on. The only problem lies in the fact that the women of the household are very promiscuous are not in fact virgins like they claim.

The film deviates from the well known Bram Stoker novel but this one of the films good points. It manages to be refreshing and new and not repetitive like most other adaptations. The film elaborates on the character of Dracula in a very unique way such as only being able to drink from virgins, he's able to walk in the daylight (despite his dislike of the sun), and he has a peculiar diet of mostly "pure" foods and vegetables, to name a few. These changes actually make the film more watchable. What may interest most audiences is the explicit nudity and sexuality of the film which for a film about Dracula should be mandatory (but this is an aspect that is always overlooked by other filmmakers). I'm no fan with Dracula but there is no denying that this is a very interesting film to watch,

Although Kier is just barely watchable (he's become a much better character actor now than in the '70s), there is no one else in the film that even comes close to him. The rest of the cast is pretty bad (although not as awful as you might find in today's straight-to-DVD films) and there is little else to recommend other than the fact that the film has one of my favorite death scenes for a vampire in which Dracula is cut apart limb from limb. I do have to admit that I loved the ending to this film despite the rest of the film's misgivings.