Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Dracula's back and out for revenge after a trio of rich old perverts kills his disciple. This one requires some patience for Dracula fans as it takes a good forty-five minutes or so before Dracs is actually resurrected, but it's worth the build-up. It helps that he's taking out some dirtbags in this one. Granted he's willing to go after their innocent family members to get to them, so I wouldn't call him the hero of the story, but he's far from the worst villain in the movie either. A significant amount of time is also spent on the lame romantic subplot. But, for the most part, this is a fun entry in Hammer's series and one that most fans will enjoy.

A very good follow up to "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)"... "Taste the Blood" picks up exactly where "Risen" left off.The merchant Weller has found the dried blood of Dracula and his friend Lord Courtley wants to bring back his master. They meet 3 gentlemen in a brothel that is bored with their lives and talks them into buying a few of Dracula's belongings. The men go to an abandoned church and turn it into the devil's sanctuary, preform a ritual that the 3 bored men refuses to finish... a refusal that leaves Dracula's servant Lord Courtley dead. When Dracula is resurrected he vows revenge on the 3 men that took the life of Courtley.There is plenty of blood and gore in this film... it's not nearly as bloody and gory as today's films because the movie also has a very interesting story to tell and not a gore-fest! 9/10

Taste the Blood of Dracula is neither the best(Horror of Dracula) or worst(Satanic Rites of Dracula from what I recall, the film needs a re-watch though) of the Hammer Dracula series, for me it's somewhere in the middle as a flawed but very enjoyable film.One of Taste the Blood of Dracula's biggest flaws is the ending, which is one of the series' most unimaginative and is far too protracted and drawn out, Dracula's demise is also too easy and the silliest of his demises in the series. The script is flat and far too talky, some of the talk not adding much, while Dracula's few lines of dialogue are rather ludicrous. While not as bad as in the films following it, the pacing in the first half is on the pedestrian side too.However, the photography is incredibly stylish with lots of vibrant and creepy colour and use of camera that adds to the atmosphere. The sets and period detail are very evocative and splendidly Gothic, while the effects are decent(thankfully no laughably fake bats like there were in Scars of Dracula). The music thunders thrillingly, has a lot of personality, is orchestrated beautifully and cleverly and is deliciously spooky. It is a great score on its own and adds a lot to the film. 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. The acting is good, with Ralph Bates making the most of his deliciously hammy and sinister character, Geoffrey Keen being appropriately stiff and shady and Linda Hayden is alluring and spunky. Anthony Higgins is very likable too, not the most well-developed of characters but one of the better-acted hero characters in the Hammer Dracula series. 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. 7/10 Bethany Cox

William Hargood (Geoffrey Keen), Samuel Paxton (Peter Sallis) and Jonathon Secker (John Carson) are respectable gentlemen in the community and they are devoted to charitable work. But they are actually a trio of hypocrites that go to brothels instead of charity. One night, they meet the arrogant Lord Courtley (Ralph Bates) in the brothel and they decide to invite him for a drink. They tell that they have boring lives and are looking for excitement. Courtley promises him pleasure if they make a pact with the devil and asks them to buy some Dracula's belongings from the merchant Weller (Roy Kinnear), including dried blood. They go to a derelict church where Courtley asks them to drink the blood of Dracula. They refuse to drink but Courtley drinks and falls on the ground, and Hargood, Paxton and Secker beat him to death. They leave the church and Courtley's body transforms in Dracula (Christopher Lee) that promises to kill them. Meanwhile Hargood has a friction with his daughter Alice (Linda Hayden) because she is in love with Paxton's son Paul (Anthony Corlan). When she leaves home, Dracula meets her and controls her mind. What will happen to Alice?"Taste the Blood of Dracula" is another great vampire movie from Hammer. The story is very conventional as usual, with Christopher Lee in the role of Dracula and the vampire afraid of crosses and holy water. The explanation for Dracula's appearance is confused but his revenge using the sons and daughters of the men that killed his servant is dark. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): Not available on DVD or Blu-RayNote: On 03 September 2017 I saw this film again.