The Strangest And Sexiest Dracula Movie Is Streaming For Free
Blood for Dracula starring Udo Kier is streaming on Vudu.
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Vampires have been part of horror cinema for practically longer than any other kind of monster. Though it was not the first horror film, the 1922 German film Nosferatu established many of the traditions of the genre, but more importantly, created the idea of the cinematic vampire that would spawn dozens (if not hundreds) of variations in later years. One of the strangest and sexiest vampire movies of all time is currently streaming for free (with ads) on Vudu: the 1974 film Blood for Dracula, starring Udo Kier.
Though Udo Kier may not be a household name, if you have ever seen a vampire movie or anything with “Dracula” in the title (or even an Eve video starring Gwen Stefani), you have seen him. The German actor’s intense stare, delicate features, and indefinable sense of European superiority have made him a popular character actor for decades, but no film has ever used him so well as Blood for Dracula. In this particular film, Count Dracula is not so much a blood-sucking monster as a symbol of decaying aristocracy and sensitivity, who also just happens to need to feed on very specifically the blood of a virgin woman.
Blood for Dracula was directed by Paul Morrissey, a longtime collaborator of the popular and controversial artist Andy Warhol, who officially produced the film but did little but lend his name recognition. It stars Udo Kier as Dracula, who in this incarnation is a sickly and bookish Romanian nobleman who can only consume the blood of a virgin. Unfortunately, for both Dracula and his sister, the family’s reputation is too notorious to find any appropriate woman to feed on and Udo Kier and his overbearing valet Anton (Arno Juerging) travel to Italy on the assumption that the Catholic Church’s teachings mean the country is full of virgins.
Once Dracula and Anton arrive in Italy, they swiftly ingratiate themselves with the di Fiores, a family of Italian aristocrats fallen on hard times due to the gambling addiction of their father (legendary Italian neo-realist director Vittorio de Sica). However, there are four unmarried di Fiore daughters on the crumbling estate, which interests Dracula; for their part, the vast fortune of a foreigner who looks ready to die five minutes after the wedding night interests the di Fiores.
For the majority of the movie, both parties are trying to conceal the important bit: Dracula hides that he is a vampire, the di Fiore sisters hide the fact they have been having sex with the incredibly handsome, misogynistic, and fervently socialist handyman Mario (Joe Dallesandro). It becomes clear why Dracula needs virgin blood when he attempts to feed on the middle two sisters (with the oldest being coded as a spinster and the youngest as 14 years old), and he projectile vomits blood for incredibly long, painful-looking scenes.
As you might expect, Blood for Dracula is as interested in being transgressive as it is in telling a horror story. The amount of nudity on screen is as copious as the sex scenes between Mario and the di Fiore are graphic. However, the film is as interested in showing off the sweaty, muscular body of Mario and Dracula’s frail beauty as it is the bodies of its female stars, which should be noted.
It is also remarkable how Blood for Dracula inverts the hero/villain roles as it goes on. While it cannot be denied that the Count is a bloodsucking vampire, he is legitimately interested in finding a bride (preferably one that shares his scholastic interests) and returning quietly to his ancestral home. On the other hand, Mario the handsome handyman is constantly spouting violent revolutionary rhetoric and vile sexual threats and seems to be interested in little but his own gratification.
Blood for Dracula ends with an appropriately over-the-top bloodbath involving severed limbs, unhinged screeching, and indiscriminate murder. While the film is as much a very acidic, very dark comedy and a commentary on class as a horror movie, really, what horror movie isn’t? While it may not have a lot of the jump scares and torture scenes one might expect from the genre, the final nihilistic scenes are as oddly chilling as many more traditional horror movies.
Udo Kier would go on to star in many other vampire-related films in the future, like Blade, Bloodrayne, and Shadow of the Vampire, but Blood for Dracula is undoubtedly his finest contribution to the subgenre. Find out for yourself… if you dare.
