utgard14 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.

Leofwine_draca Another sequel in Hammer's long-running Dracula series, this addition is the last that has the old-fashioned feel to it. With the advent of the exploitational '70s things would never be the same again, for better or for worse. This film is a great period piece that boasts exemplary period detail and colourful, vivid photography. The only aspect I'm not sure about is the use of Yale locks in Victorian Britain – surely this must be a mistake? The storyline is familiar and straightforward with a neat twist to it, namely the destruction of the nuclear family brought about by the misadventures of the father, leading his child into sin and depravity.TASTE THE BLOOD OF Dracula has one of the greatest casts of all the Hammer films, with excellent performances from a number of supporting players. Kudos to newcomer Ralph Bates in his cinematic debut, played the depraved Lord Courtley who amusingly transforms into Christopher Lee (the result of a rewrite after the Americans refused to release a Dracula film without Christopher Lee). Lee himself is relegated to hanging around in the shadows for much of the film, solemnly chanting "the first", "the second" etc. as his victims are offed one by one. Nonetheless he's very imposing in the role as well as hypnotically mesmerising, complete with a neat trick whereby lights are shone into his eyes to make them glow. The idea originated with Bela Lugosi in WHITE ZOMBIE, I believe.The plot line sees three distinguished businessmen going to London "to do charity work in the East End". Of course this secretly means visiting a brothel inhabited by a snake dancer, where Hammer get to titillate their audience by hinting at sex and nudity. While there they meet Bates, who takes them to an antique supplier (Roy Kinnear, in a good comedy turn) who sells them Dracula's cloak and a vial of his dried blood! A black mass follows at a desecrated church (as they do), aided by some fun special effects work. The rest of the film sees Dracula bumping off each of the three men in turn by using their children against them. The film moves at a fair speed with lots of atmosphere and suspense, heightened by another great orchestral score. My only complaint is that some scenes are a little dark, but this may have been a fault of the print rather than the film itself.Geoffrey Keen, John Carson, and Peter Sallis play the three men caught up in the horror. All are very good in different roles. Keen is a drunk, Sallis a coward, and Carson the only guy who seems to have a clue as to what's going on. The children are played by the familiar likes of Martin Jarvis and even a baby-faced Linda Hayden lending some sex appeal to the proceedings. Good old Michael Ripper also turns up in a comic supporting turn as a disbelieving policeman. The film is very well-paced and particularly spooky, with bloodshed that makes an impact and is used sparingly rather than just being excessive. The finale, set in a church, makes little sense, but is still fairly dramatic and has some good acting from Lee to recommend it. Although not as good as the original Dracula, this is still a fine addition to the series and a good Hammer film in general.

classicsoncall I didn't think Dracula needed a revenge motive to do his dirty work but it's the basis on which this story rests, with Christopher Lee's vampire utilizing a pair of buxom maidens to ultimately destroy his enemies. Actually, it seemed like the character Lord Courtley (Ralph Bates) reincarnated as Lee's Dracula when the whole soul selling deal went South, so that created a bit of a disconnect for me. Come to think of it, there were a lot of disconnects here. Like how is it that the shady businessman Weller (Roy Kinnear) managed to accumulate Dracula's effects after having the bejeezus scared out of him when thrown out of the coach? And what's to account for Dracula spinning around on a wooden stake when Weller finds him in the first place? How did all that happen? Oh well, by this time it probably wasn't supposed to make much sense. As usual though, Hammer Films kept pace with their ornate and colorful Victorian sets, absolutely chock full of furniture, photos, cabinets and glassware of all kinds that one has a difficult time absorbing before the next scene occurs. Lee himself is not in the film all that much, an apparent concession to his unwillingness to reprise the role once more, but absolutely demanded by Hammer fans.Anyway, the whole business with the dried blood of Dracula used to reanimate the Count was a novel enough idea; there's only so many ways one can go back to the well and keep things interesting. I didn't feel too bad for Hargood, Paxton and Secker since they were utterly contemptible in their hedonism, especially Hargood the way he treated his daughter Alice (Linda Hayden). Surprising though the way Secker was up on his vampire lore the way he was, after seeing the bites on Lucy Paxton's (Isla Blair) neck, and knowing how a wooden stake through the heart would put Dracula's victims to rest. You would think his brothel buddies would have been more surprised about his knowledge of the vampire game.

TheLittleSongbird 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