I Drink Your Blood

I Drink Your Blood

Poster advertising a double feature of I Drink Your Blood and I Eat Your Skin.
Directed by David E. Durston
Produced by Jerry Gross
Written by David E. Durston
Starring Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury
Lynn Lowry (uncredited)
Jack Damon
Tyde Kierney
Music by Clay Pitts
Cinematography Jacques Demarecaux
Joseph Mangine (uncredited)
Edited by Lyman Hallowell
Distributed by Cinemation Industries
Release dates
 United States December 1970
Japan July 1, 1978
United States DVD released 2000 (Grindhouse Releasing)
Running time
 90 minutes
Country United States
Language English

I Drink Your Blood (also known as Hydro-Phobia) is a cult horror film originally released in 1970. The film was written and directed by David E. Durston, produced by Jerry Gross, and starred Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury and Lynn Lowry.[1]

Like many B-movies of its time, I Drink Your Blood was a Times Square exploitation film and drive-in theater staple.

Plot

A Manson Family style cult conducts a bizarre Satanic ritual in the woods at night. A member notices a local girl, Sylvia, furtively watching the event. She had befriended a member, Andy, who invited her to watch. The angered group leader Horace Bones leads an assault on the girl.

The next morning, Sylvia emerges from the woods beaten and apparently raped. She is found by Mildred, the woman who runs the local bakery, and Pete, Sylvia's younger brother. They return Sylvia home to her grandfather, Doc Banner. Mildred seeks help from her boyfriend, leader of the construction crew working on the nearby dam which has bought up most of the town leaving it deserted.

The cult members' van breaks down so they elect to remain in the town. They buy pies from Mildred who explains that as most of the town is deserted and awaiting demolition they can stay in any vacant building they wish.

Learning of the assault on Sylvia, Doc confronts the cult but they assault him and force him to take LSD. Pete intervenes and Doc is released.

Pete takes a shotgun to get revenge but encounters a rabid dog which he shoots. He takes blood from the dog and the next morning injects it into meat pies at the bakery, and sells them to the cult members. All but member Andy eat the pies and become rabid. They start attacking one another. A crazed female cult member absconds but is picked up and seduced by the construction workers. She is sent to investigate the cult. She passes rabies to them and they become homicidal maniacs attacking the cult members and the town's surviving residents.[2]

Cast

Uncredited cast members included Arlene Farber, David Durston, and Lynn Lowry.

Production

Location

Much of the movie was filmed in Sharon Springs, NY. By the time of the production Sharon Springs had largely become a ghost town, and the producers were allowed to use the abandoned hotels as locations. The town is now a center for tourism in upstate New York.[3]

Censorship

I Drink Your Blood was one of the first movies to receive an X-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America based on violence rather than nudity.[4][5]

Several scenes needed to be altered to qualify the film for an "R" so the producer distributed the original film asking that each projectionist censor the film as seen fit for their market. There were 280 prints made and countless differently censored versions were in circulation. The prints for the Los Angeles and New York City runs were censored by the film's director.

A 2002 DVD release presented the original uncensored version along with numerous extras.

Release

Bob Murawski of Grindhouse Releasing sought out film director David E. Durston and the two collaborated on the official release of I Drink Your Blood for DVD in North America through Murawski's Box Office Spectaculars distribution company, which continues to hold the worldwide rights to the film.

Reception

The Encyclopedia of Horror said that "as the film now stands what looks like it might have been a raw, ferocious thriller has become a frustrating exercise in splicing, incessantly building up to scenes of bone-crushing horror and violence which never actually happen."[5]

Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a mixed review, awarding it 2 out of a possible 4 stars.[6] Donald Guarisco from AllMovie gave the film a mixed review, criticizing the film's thin characterizations, inconsistent acting, and dialogue. However Guarisco also stated that the film manages to overcome its flaws through its delivery of it's premise, summarizing, "In the end, I Drink Your Blood is too demented and rough-edged for the casual viewer, but it will delight horror fans with a sweet tooth for schlock".[7] Cavett Binion from The New York Times gave the film a positive review, calling the film "an intense and well made Exploitation item".[4] The film has gained a cult following over the years and now considered a classic in exploitation film.[8]

Legacy

On 17 September 2009, it was announced David E. Durston planned a remake of the film that would have starred Sybil Danning.[9] Durston passed away in 2010 at the age of 88 before the project could begin production.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 10 Strange Things You'd Better Not Eat or Drink!
  2. ↑ Motion Picture Purgatory: I drink your Blood
  3. ↑ New York Times article about Sharon Springs
  4. 1 2 Binion, Cavett. "I-Drink-Your-Blood - Trailer -Cast- Showtimes - NYTimes.com". The New York Times.com. Cavett Binion. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 Milne, Tom. Willemin, Paul. Hardy, Phil. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Horror, Octopus Books, 1986. ISBN 0-7064-2771-8 p 235
  6. ↑ Leonard Maltin (2 September 2014). Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-698-18361-2.
  7. ↑ Guarisco, Donald. "I Drink Your Blood (1971) - David E. Durston". AllMovie.com. Donald Guarisco. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 Fox, Margalit. "David E. Durston, Director of ‘I Drink Your Blood,’ Dies at 88 - The New York Times". The New York Times.com. Margalit Fox. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Original director talks I DRINK YOUR BLOOD remake

Sources

External links

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