Dr. Marco, the leader of a band of vampires, plagues the family of his dead lover as he preys on her siblings in an attempt to bring her back to life in The Blood Drinkers (1964).
This stylish movie had me at its opening scene. if you distilled every cheap late-night, drive-in, knockoff of classic and not so classic vampire films into one movie, you might get this one. Marco's band includes an imbecilic hunchback with bad teeth and violent tendencies, a dwarf, a sensual gothic vampire chick, the human mother of his deceased lover, and his own bald villainous self. They are like a monster super-villain team. The film contains full color footage intercut with blue tinted scenes for night, and red tinted scenes indicating the presence of the vampires -- which turns out to be, not simply a style choice, but what happens to the light within the movie.
More importantly, the story, which is pretty fast paced, is populated with characters you care about, and with some surprisingly sympathetic motivations from the vampires. Religion also plays a key role, including a really wonky explanation for why you need a wooden stake to kill a vampire.
This movie was a blast, pleasantly surprised me, and so far has turned out to be my favorite film this Countdown.
Never, ever heard of this one - how is this possible? Going to add it to my Watch List! Thanks!
ReplyDelete