Session: It's Not Just One of Those -- Very Unusual Vampires, Week 1
Movie: Blood of the Vampire (1958)
Directed by Henry Cass
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.
Plot:
Unjustly imprisoned, Dr. John Pierre is forced to work in the prison laboratory for the evil Dr. Callistartus*. Hilarity ensues.
Class News:
Reaction:
In this session, we welcome Bob as the newest member of the class.
Reaction:
I'm generally not into this kind of movie -- these gothic-feeling things from the late 1950. But this one was great. It held my attention for its entirety. And there wasn't a wasted moment. For me to enjoy so thoroughly a film from this subgenre, it's got to be good. This felt like a Hammer film -- a really really good Hammer film. I almost expected to see Peter Cushing show up.
Donald Wolfit, playing Callistratus, seemed to be channeling Bela Lugosi. The mannerisms, the voice -- even the fake bushy eyebrows -- seemed to be purposefully copying Lugosi. When he spoke, it reminded me of Lugosi in White Zombie. And the makeup on Victor Maddern, who played Carl the hunchback, was particularly well-done.
If I have to pick on something to not like, it's the heroic nature of John Pierre. As I have said before, I like my heroes to be a bit conflicted, and this guy just wasn't. But even that lapse didn't ruin very entertaining film.
Ratings:
Me: 9.5
Bob: 7
Christina: 9.2
Ethan: 9
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* Seriously, you know that anyone named "Dr. Callistratus" is going to be a bad guy.
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