Woodyanders Dr. John Pierre (a solid and sympathetic portrayal by Vincent Ball) gets sent to serve a life sentence at a hellish prison hospital for the criminally insane. The cruel warden Dr. Callistratus (adroitly played with plummy aplomb by Donald Wolfit) forces Pierre to assist him on trying to find a cure for a rare bloody deficiency disorder that he suffers from.Director Henry Cass, working from a compelling script by Jimmy Sangster, relates the inspired and absorbing story at a steady pace, offers a flavorsome evocation of the 19th century period setting, and vividly depicts the grim'n'grimy atmosphere of the penitentiary, with an ill-fated escape attempt rating as a definite bleak highlight. The sound acting by the able cast keeps this movie humming: Barbara Shelley as Pierre's loyal fiancé Madeleine Duval, Victor Maddern as horribly disfigured hunchback Carl, William Devlin as kindly and helpful inmate Kurt Urach, Andrew Faulds as sadistic head guard Wetzler, and Bernard Bresslaw as an antagonistic hoodlum. Stanley Black's robust score hits the rousing spot. Worth a watch.

Ben Larson There were two outstanding aspects to this formulaic film about a "mad scientist," No, there are no vampires in the film. It is about a doctor who performs experiments in a prison to cure his illness. The Nazis who experimented on prisoners in the camps would applaud his efforts.One thing that impressed me was the quality of the film. Monty Berman's cinematography was so outstanding that you were distracted from the story at times.The other outstanding feature was the characters and the actors who portrayed them. Donald Wolfit was perfect as Doctor Callistratus, the doctor performing the experiments. He was assisted by Carl (Victor Maddern), a deformed hunchback that has to be seen to be believed; and Andrew Faulds as the chief guard, who always had a sinister look on his face.Jimmy Sangster, who was a major force behind Hammer Films, wrote a script that managed to keep you interested. Minor improvements would have made this an outstanding film.

dbborroughs The one enduring image from this film that has haunted me across the years is the weird hunchback assistant to the villain. Its an image that was splashed across horror magazines of my childhood. There was something about the twisted fellow with an eye that drooped to his cheek that made you want to see the movie. I never saw the film as a kid and it wasn't until tonight, well into my adulthood, that I managed to see the film. I can't say I was disappointed.The plot concerns Dr John Pierre who is wrongly thrown in jail. He is redirected to the asylum/prison run by Dr Callistratus so that John Pierre can help Callistratus with his experiments concerning blood. As those outside the prison attempt to free him through legal means Pierre is forced to deal with the strange goings on in the prison, including fending off the sadistic Carl, the hunchbacked assistant of Callistratus.Gothic, and grandly over the top in the way that most of the Hammer films weren't this is a cheesy but fun attempt at copying the Hammer Studios formula. It looks and feels very much like Hammer in it styling and plotting (Then again Jimmy Sangster of Hammer wrote the script) .Shot in color, the print I saw was well worn and a bit faded. I wonder how this would have looked at the time of its original release. It must have looked great. I loved the sets which were done in such a way as to give the illusion of space, unfortunately it turned every location into spaces the size of football stadiums (though in several sequences things were much too cramped).The whole thing reminded me of the sort of thing you used to run across at 2am on late night TV with too many commercials. Actually as much as I liked the film I do think it is a bit plodding and probably could have used either trimming or a commercial break or two.Strangely this film is very difficult to see. I'm at a loss as to why this film has fallen through the cracks over the last 40 odd years. Its not a bad movie, though it is a tad creaky and of a style they haven't done since Hammer stopped making movies. Perhaps its simply a matter of falling between the cracks in finding a distributor (it was not done by a "major producer"), or more likely the fact that there is no vampire with wings and fangs as promised in the title. What ever the real reason its a shame because this film is worth a look.If you like Hammer style horror or good but rarely seen films, search this one out and give it a try. Its certainly worth a bag of popcorn on a Saturday night watch movies.

KillerCadugen I'm not sure HOW this was accomplished, but Blood of the Vampire is both ghastly AND dull. I had taped this off AMC during the 2002 Halloween marathon and finally had a chance to watch it and while it had the look and feel of a Hammer movie it was amazingly, painfully dull. The fact that Dr Callistratus is resurrected from the dead is the only supernatural element in the movie and somehow it never becomes an issue or is talked about again. (SPOILER AHEAD) Although the visual elements of the Doctor's secret laboratory is stark, there is no attempt to generate any fear in this movie. Dull dull dull.