I Drink Your Blood

Admittedly, I’m late to the grindhouse/exploitation genre. I was older when I discovered the great grindhouse/exploitation type movies. I Drink Your Blood was one of the first I watched (Cannibal Holocaust being the first). I was quickly hooked. Though, it’s not easy finding the movies. Oh, and try explaining to your family why you like them. Now that’s an interesting conversation.

<img src="idrinkyourblood.jpg" alt="I Drink Your Blood.">

Photo Credit: Jerry Gross Productions

Released: Dec 1970

Runtime: 83 mins

Director: David E. Durston

Writer: David E. Durston

Actors: Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, Jadin Wong, Rhonda Fultz

PLOT

A group of Satanic hippies wreak havoc on a small town where a young boy, whose sister and grandfather were victimized by them, tries to get even - with deadly results.

MY THOUGHTS

There are way too many deaths to count. What I can say is that four people survive. But then I kind of question that because I could swear Mildred (Elizabeth Marner-Brooks) was bitten by a rabid guy before she got into the car at the end. It’s not shown, so I could be wrong.

We get a couple of suicides: Molly (Rhonda Fultz), the pregnant cultist, impales herself with a stake when she realizes she’s been infected with rabies. And Sue-Lin (Jadin Wong) sets herself on fire when she realizes Horace (Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury) is going to kill her. We also can add in a beheading.

The gore is definitely old school. Not like the CGI style we get nowadays. More of a red paint kind of deal. There are a few animal deaths in the film, but David Durston has said that all the animals were fake except the chicken in the beginning. The chicken was killed and the cast and crew ate it later. 

The acting is, well, okay I guess. It’s not annoying or bad, just either unknown actors or amateur acting. This was Lynn Lowry’s first role and first nude scene. I will add that the Satanic Cult actors are a very diverse group of people. 

A group of Satanic Cultists, led by Horace descend upon a town that was basically dead. Very few people there. Just a few people that work on a nearby dam. One night during one of the cults' ceremonies a local girl, Sylvia (who is dating one of the cultists) sees what’s going on and is caught by one of the members. She is beaten up and raped.

The next morning Sylvia makes her way back to town and her brother and grandfather comfort her. The grandfather decides to go and confront the cultists and things do go well. He is beaten and forced to take LSD, and finally allowed to leave.

Pete, the grandson, wants revenge. He takes his gun and heads outside but gets sidetracked by a rabid dog. He kills the dog and takes its blood. The next morning he injects several meat pies with the blood that will be given to the cultists.

Eventually the rabid blood affects all of them but Andy (Sylvia’s boyfriend). When Rollo goes crazy he kills another member, causing Andy to run away in fear. The rest of the members take off in fear of being killed next.

We learn that the rabies virus can be spread through blood and sex. So most of the construction crew gets infected by one of the cultists who has sex with them. The violence is amped up once people start getting infected.

Now, I like this movie. I think it’s a fun ride, but there are some issues. Like, If Sylvia was raped, why did she act like everything was normal and fine later on? Especially after seeing Andy? Why is she okay with Andy later in the day after everything she went through? 

And my other issue is Pete. I can understand wanting revenge, but he didn’t think through his actions. Yes, it would take out the cultists. But he didn’t realize that it could spread and that other, innocent people would get infected and killed. Also, when he sees his grandfather dead, no guilt. No emotion. Nothing. WTF?

Other than those two issues, I had fun with this movie. (Wait, does that make me look bad? Oh well). The whole look and feel of it makes this a good movie to watch if you are into Grindhouse movies and exploitation films. 

And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:

  • Despite the name of the movie, there is no drinking of blood in I Drink Your Blood.

  • This was the first film ever to be rated X by the MPAA based on violence alone.

  • The difference between the Theatrical and the Director’s cut is a prolonged and much more pessimistic ending, and two other extended scenes can be found in the Director's Cut. Altogether the Director’s Cut runs nearly five minutes longer than the well-known cut. Both versions can be found on the US-DVD by MPI/Fangoria.

  • Before the passing of the Video Recordings Act, a cut version was briefly released by Media Video in the UK in the early 1980s. Although it was never listed as an official "nasty video", it was one of the films featured on a tape compiled by outspoken critic of sex and violence Mary Whitehouse and shown at the Conservative Party conference in 1984. This film has since been released uncut and has received a UK "18" certificate.

  • David Durston originally entitled the film "Phobia," however the distributors felt the film needed to be a double-feature. An ad executive came up with the promotion of a double feature of films called "I Drink Your Blood" and "I Eat Your Skin." This is how Durston's film came to be named "I Drink Your Blood" despite the fact that no one ever drinks blood in the film.

  • The film was inspired by David Durston by an article he saw on a foreign village where children had fallen victim to rabies. This, combined with the recent crimes of Charles Manson, so disturbed Durston that he felt it would make an effective horror movie.

  • I Drink Your Blood originally ends with a final scene where Mildred Nash is revealed to be rabid and kills Roger Davis when he comes to visit her in bed. This ending was either cut or lost when the film was originally released, however, the footage was found and restored to a recent blu-ray release of the film.

  • The satanic practices of the cult were based upon actual satanic rituals told to David E. Durston by a friend that was a former member of a cult.

  • "Pig" being written on Shelly's torso during the bleeding ritual was a homage to the real-life crimes of Charles Manson and his cult.

  • The trained rats used in the hotel sequences were later featured in the movie Willard (1971). The dead rats used for the "barbecue" scene were from a lab and were dead prior to the film. They had to be painted brown to match the appearance of the live trained rats.

  • Shot in the upstate New York village of Sharon Springs after it was deserted. Many of the locations for the film, including the old hotel, were set to be demolished but were kept standing long enough for the film production.

  • Director David Durston stepped in to play the role of the town doctor at the last minute to replace an actor who dropped out of the film suddenly.

Check out my other reviews here: Forever Final Girl

Let’s get into the rankings:

Kills/Blood/Gore: 4/5

Sex/Nudity: 2.5/5

Scare factor: 2.5/5

Enjoyment factor: 5/5

My Rank: 3.75/5

IMDB: 5.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes: critics:  -/10  audience:  6/10

Letterboxd: 3.3/5