Blood Of Dracula One Sheet

Press book pages for BLOOD OF DRACULA

The Cast: Sandra Harrison, Louise Lewis, Gail Ganley, Jerry Blaine, Heather Ames, Malcolm Atterbury and Mary Adams. Produced by Herman Cohen and Directed by Herbert L. Strock. Screenplay by Ralph Thornton (Aben Kandel and possibly Herman Cohen). Make-up by Philip Scheer. Running time 71 minutes. Released in England as BLOOD IS MY HERITAGE and in Canada as BLOOD OF THE DEMON; in Mexico it was called LA SANGRE DEL VAMPIRO (BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE). The plot is similar to that of I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. Production began September 5 - September 20, 1957; Release date: November 28, 1957 (on a double bill with I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN).

Mask based on BLOOD OF DRACULA's female vampire

Amok Time BLOOD OF DRACULA Doll

The Plot: Nancy Perkins, (Sandra Harrison), a teenager wth a well established hate compulsion against her father and stepmother, is being enrolled in a school for girls against her wishes. Once enrolled in the school, Nancy builds another hatred, this time towards her enforced surroundings. Myra (Gail Ganley), one of the students, impresses Nancy with the fact that without her sponsorship, she will not be accepted by the other girls. Myra also impresses the fact that she is assistant to the chemistry teacher, Miss Branding (Louise Lewis), and can use this position to make life miserable for her, and too, affect her grades. Myra immediately recognizes in Nancy the type of person that Miss Branding needs for an experiment, and reveals her findings to Miss Branding. The two of them plan an accident whereby Miss Branding will gain Nancy's confidence. The plan works successfully, and Nancy agrees to be used in the experiment. Miss Branding promises the unhappy girl that if she will trust and obey her implicitly, that through her own, and the strange powers of the amulet that she wears, she will release in her a force which will give her control over her own emotional distresses, and prove her great experiment --- one that can save mankind from its own follies. Not completely under Miss Branding's dominance, Nancy holds herself aloof from the Rock'n'Roll party, given by the girls. With the hilarity at its height, Nancy leaves the social hall under the control of Miss Branding's amulet, tired and not understanding her feelings. Now, completely under the spell of Miss Branding, Nancy attacks Nola (Heather Ames) and fiendishly kills her, leaving only two small incisions in her jugular vein as evidence of the bestial killing. Police investigate, and the girls are questioned. Nancy has no feeling or knowledge of guilt of the crime which could be aroused. For lack of evidence, the murder for the time being loses interest and the school resumes almost normal activities.
On Halloween night, a Treasure Hunt is held in the cemetary grounds, where Nancy once again is transformed into the repulsive form of a teenage Dracula.
In the tradition of the Vampire, she bestially kills Terry (Shirley DeLancey) and Tab. The only evidence is the two punctures in the jugular veins, which also appeared in the former murder victim. The police again investigate, but are at a dead end. Nancy is now possessed by a terrible urge to kill --- by an unnatural superhuman strength. Half realizing her plight, she pleads with Miss Branding to release her from the spell, but it is in vain as Miss Branding refuses and says that the great experiment will soon be over and great happiness will reward Nancy. The school is threatened to be closed due to the weary horrors within its environment. Glenn (Michael Hall), Nancy's boy-friend, comes to the school to plead with Nancy to leave. While the two are alone, Nancy has the urge to kill again, but is able to control herself and tears away. Nancy now realizes more and more of what is happening to her, begs Miss Branding to release her, but again Miss Branding refuses, and Nancy takes on the revolting form of the Vampire and with the chain of the sacred amulet, chokes the life out of her persecutor. When the police break into Miss Branding's room, they find both the teacher and Nancy dead.

Sandra Harrison changes
into a female vampire!

BLOOD OF DRACULA has not received very good reviews. David J. Skal, in his book "V Is For Vampire" states that BLOOD OF DRACULA is simultaneously awful and entertaining, and that chemistry set can't be beat for low-budget shamelessness". So what went wrong with Blood Of Dracula? You could blame the low budget and quick shooting schedule; the script is basically a reworking of "Teenage Werewolf" from a teenage girl's point of view.
Herman Cohen was originally going to have the main character in BLOOD OF DRACULA be a male vampire but changed his mind when James Carreras of Hammer Films of England expressed his concerns over having two Dracula films out at the same time, so Cohen changed the character to a girl and put her in a girl's school. Blood Of Dracula seems rushed and it's too bad the movie doesn't live up to the poster art. All in all, it was a mildly entertaining film that made money for American International Films as the co-feature of I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN.

Disclaimer: BLOOD OF DRACULA was copyright 1957 by Carmel Productions and released by American International Pictures and renewed in 1985 by Selma Enterprises. All rights reserved. No rights given or implied. Do not use any material on this website without permission.

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