The film opens with a prologue in which shady salesman Weller witnesses the destruction of Dracula (as shown in “Dracula has Risen from the Grave”) and collects the vampire’s blood. The action then moves to seemingly respectable Victorian England, where pillars of society William Hargood, Samuel Paxton and Jonathan Secker travel to London, a journey they make every month ostensibly to do charity work with the poor. However, the real reason for the trip is to indulge in sex orgies at a brothel run by the seedy Felix, who introduces them to the debauched Lord Courtley. Challenging them to plumb even lower depths of depravity, Courtley takes them to Weller’s shop and persuades them to buy Dracula’s blood for use in a sickening Satanic Black Mass ritual…..
Production Details
A Hammer Film production released through Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited (UK) and Warner-Seven Arts (USA)
Copyright MCMLXIX Hammer Film Productions Limited – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate No. 22364
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional
Based on the Character created by Bram Stoker
RCA Sound Recording
Technicolor 95 mins
Filming Began: 27th October 1969
UK Release: 7th May 1970
Studio:
Elstree Studios of Associated British Productions Ltd., Hertfordshire, England
Locations:
Black Park, Tykes Water Lake, Buckinghamshire, England
Highgate Cemetery, London
St Andrew’s Church, Totteridge Lane, Totteridge, London
Aldenham Country Park, Hertfordshire, England
Scratchwood, Hertfordshire, England
Stills from film
Click an image for enlarged slideshow
Cast & Crew
Cast – Verified complete
Crew – Believed complete
Red = Uncredited
Crew | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | Uncredited | Total Hammer | |
Art Director | Scott MacGregor | 55 | 22 Oct 1914 | 1971 | 56 | 15 | 1 | 16 | |
Assistant Director | Derek Whitehurst | 41 | 2 Oct 1928 | 6 Dec 2005 | 77 | 16 | 16 | ||
Boom Operator | Keith Batten | 29 | 1941 | 01.01.1941 | 83 | 7 | 7 | ||
Camera Operator | Neil Binney | 38 | Jun 1931 | 01.06.1931 | 93 | 17 | 10 | 27 | |
Clapper Loader | Peter Carmody | 26 | 1944 | 01.01.1944 | 80 | 6 | 6 | ||
Construction Manager | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/arthur-banks/# | 19 | 29 | 48 | |||||
Continuity | Geraldine Lawton | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Director | Peter Sasdy | 34 | 27 May 1935 | 27.05.1935 | 89 | 12 | 12 | ||
Director of Photography | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/arthur-grant/# | 55 | 1915 | 1972 | 57 | 34 | 34 | ||
Draughtsman | Alan Cassie | 29 | 5 Jul 1940 | 5.07.1940 | 84 | 2 | 2 | ||
Dubbing Mixer | Dennis Whitlock | 42 | 1928 | 2008 | 80 | 13 | 1 | 14 | |
Editor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/chris-barnes/# | 32 | 1938 | 5 Jun 2009 | 71 | 21 | 13 | 34 | |
Focus Puller | Bob Jordan | 29 | 29 | ||||||
Hairdressing Supervisor | Mary Bredin | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Make-up Supervisor | Gerry Fletcher | 63 | 26 Feb 1907 | 2 | 2 | ||||
Matte Painter | Peter Melrose | 40 | 1930 | 01.01.1930 | 94 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
Matte Painter | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/les-bowie/# | 56 | 10 Nov 1913 | 27 Jan 1979 | 65 | 30 | 13 | 43 | |
Music Composer | James Bernard | 44 | 20 Sep 1925 | 12 Jul 2001 | 75 | 25 | 1 | 26 | |
Musical Supervisor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/philip-martell/# | 62 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 104 | 1 | 105 | |
Painter | Michael Finlay | 22 | 23 Apr 1948 | 23.04.1948 | 76 | 1 | 20 | 21 | |
Producer | Aida Young | 49 | 11 Aug 1920 | 12 Aug 2007 | 87 | 8 | 6 | 14 | |
Production Manager | Christopher Sutton | 38 | Sep 1931 | 01.09.1931 | 93 | 7 | 7 | ||
Recording Supervisor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/aw-lumkin/# | 57 | 1 Feb 1913 | 25 Oct 1985 | 72 | 30 | 30 | ||
Screenplay as John Elder | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/anthony-hinds/# | 47 | 18 Sep 1922 | 30 Sep 2013 | 91 | 87 | 3 | 90 | |
Second Assistant Director | Nicholas Granby | 24 | 19 Nov 1945 | 19.11.1945 | 79 | 6 | 6 | ||
Second Assistant Director | Joe Marks | 41 | 6 Feb 1929 | 20 Oct 2019 | 90 | 6 | 6 | ||
Sound Editor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/roy-hyde/# | 50 | 15 Feb 1920 | 28 Jun 1985 | 65 | 30 | 1 | 31 | |
Sound Recordist | Ron Barron | 46 | 9 Dec 1923 | 15 Dec 1973 | 50 | 4 | 4 | ||
Special Effects | Brian Johnson | 30 | 29 Jun 1939 | 29.06.1939 | 85 | 3 | 7 | 10 | |
Special Effects Assistant | Terry Schubert | 32 | 1938 | 01.01.1938 | 86 | 6 | 6 | ||
Special Effects Assistant | Bob Archer | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Special Effects Team | Mike Tilley | 2 | 2 | ||||||
Stunts | Peter Brace | 45 | 30 Aug 1924 | 29 Oct 2018 | 94 | 5 | 5 | ||
Stunts | Peter Diamond | 40 | 10 Aug 1929 | 27 Mar 2004 | 74 | 4 | 25 | 29 | |
Stunts | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/eddie-powell/# | 43 | 9 Mar 1927 | 11 Aug 2000 | 73 | 2 | 14 | 16 | |
Third Assistant Director | Lindsey C. Vickers | 30 | 1940 | 01.01.1940 | 84 | 7 | 7 | ||
Wardrobe Master | Brian Owen-Smith | 4 | 4 | ||||||
Cast | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | Uncredited | Total Hammer | |
Alice Hargood | Linda Hayden | 17 | 19 Jan 1953 | 19.01.1953 | 71 | 2 | 2 | ||
Bordello Girl | Amber Blare | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Bordello Girl | Josie Grant | 3 | 3 | ||||||
Bordello Girl | Vicky Gillespie | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Cafe Royal Patron | Juba Kennerley | 72 | 4 May 1898 | Jan 1991 | 92 | 3 | 3 | ||
Cafe Royal Patron | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/john-tatham/# | 58 | 29 Jul 1911 | Dec 1996 | 85 | 1 | 9 | 10 | |
Chinese Girl | Lai Ling | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Churchgoer | Sandy Stein | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Cobb | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/michael-ripper/# | 57 | 27 Jan 1913 | 28 Jun 2000 | 87 | 34 | 2 | 36 | |
Count Dracula | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/sir-christopher-lee/# | 47 | 27 May 1922 | 7 Jun 2015 | 93 | 22 | 22 | ||
Dolly | Madeline Smith | 20 | 2 Aug 1949 | 02.08.1949 | 75 | 3 | 3 | ||
Father | Keith Marsh | 44 | 1926 | 28 Jan 2013 | 87 | 3 | 3 | ||
Felix | Russell Hunter | 45 | 18 Feb 1925 | 26 Feb 2004 | 79 | 1 | 1 | ||
Jeremy Secker | Martin Jarvis | 28 | 4 Aug 1941 | 4.08.1941 | 83 | 1 | 1 | ||
Jonathan Secker | John Carson | 43 | 28 Feb 1927 | 5 Nov 2016 | 89 | 4 | 4 | ||
Lady at Funeral Service | Pauline Chamberlain | 37 | 2 Oct 1932 | 14 Jan 2021 | 88 | 5 | 5 | ||
Lord Courtley | Ralph Bates | 30 | 12 Feb 1940 | 27 Mar 1991 | 51 | 5 | 5 | ||
Lucy Paxton | Isla Blair | 25 | 29 Sep 1944 | 29.09.1944 | 80 | 2 | 2 | ||
Maid | Shirley Jaffe | 36 | 1934 | Oct 2022 | 88 | 1 | 1 | ||
Man in street | Peter Avela | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Martha | Gwen Watford | 42 | 10 Sep 1927 | 6 Feb 1994 | 66 | 2 | 2 | ||
Mission Hall Diner | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/dido-plumb/# | 64 | 23 Jun 1905 | 4 Mar 1991 | 85 | 10 | 10 | ||
Mission Hall Diner | Jim O’Brady | 62 | 13 May 1907 | 1 Jan 1991 | 83 | 18 | 18 | ||
Mission Hall Guide | Daniel Brown | 6 | 6 | ||||||
Mission Hall Vagrant | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/jimmy-charters/# | 7 | 7 | ||||||
Mourner at funeral | Salo Gardner | 34 | 1936 | 2 Dec 2018 | 82 | 3 | 3 | ||
Mourner at funeral | Fay Bura | 60 | 15 Jul 1909 | 1981 | 71 | 1 | 1 | ||
Mourner at funeral | Bill Rooney | 4 | 4 | ||||||
Paul Paxton | Anthony Corlan | 22 | 9 May 1947 | 9.05.1947 | 77 | 3 | 3 | ||
Redhead Prostitute | June Palmer | 29 | 1 Aug 1940 | 6 Jan 2004 | 63 | 1 | 1 | ||
Samuel Paxton | Peter Sallis | 49 | 1 Feb 1921 | 2 Jun 2017 | 96 | 2 | 2 | ||
Snake Girl | Malaika Martin | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Son | Peter May | 2 | 2 | ||||||
Vicar | Reginald Barratt | 50 | 25 Jan 1920 | 10 Jun 1977 | 57 | 1 | 1 | ||
Weller | Roy Kinnear | 36 | 8 Jan 1934 | 20 Sep 1988 | 54 | 2 | 2 | ||
William Hargood | Geoffrey Keen | 53 | 21 Aug 1916 | 3 Nov 2005 | 89 | 4 | 4 |
Original Poster
Click to enlarge
Footnotes
The film had the tagline “Drink a Pinta Blood a Day”
The American distributor would not accept Hammer’s original idea to have a Dracula film without Dracula and it took quite a lot of persuasion to convince Christopher Lee to resurrect a character with which he was becoming increasingly disenchanted.
This was the first of three films directed for Hammer by Hungarian Peter Sasdy, the others being Countess Dracula (1970) and Hands of the Ripper (1971). For Christopher Lee’s Charlemagne company, he also directed Nothing but the Night (1972, starring Lee and Peter Cushing).
This was also the first Hammer film for actor Ralph Bates, who later appeared for them again in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), Lust for a Vampire (1970), Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) and Fear in the Night (1972). He later starred in BBC TV’s sitcom Dear John, before his premature death in 1991. He was married to actress Virginia Wetherell, who appears in Hammer’s Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde and Demons of the Mind (both 1971).
Linda Hayden enjoyed a short career in horror films and also appeared in Tigon’s Blood on Satan’s Claw (1970) and the American International/Amicus co-production Madhouse (1974, starring Peter Cushing and Vincent Price).