This is a nasty film, and I am astonished that in the TV version I saw on Talking Pictures Channel in the UK it had just a PG certificate, which means a nod from a parent is quite enough for a child to see this. On its release it had an X certificate with cuts. No children admitted. It still deserves at least a 12 certificate because of changing tastes in horror. There are many old horror films that are now perfectly acceptable for children, but this is not. A Pleading, screaming woman is chained to a wall in a dungeon, and in several scenes both men and women are strapped down so that blood can be extracted from them. One is a terrified old man who then is confronted by a hanging skeleton ! The climax of the film would haunt a young mind, and my only spoiler is it repeats previous horror involving dogs. Use your imagination on these scenes. One reviewer rightly says that this is comparable to acts in the German Concentration Camps, and this is totally sickening when used as tacky horror fare which this film is. And there is no Vampire as such just a sick man who needs endless transfusions. Previously he was staked through the heart so I am assuming he was considered a Vampire. He is given a new one, The film is set in a place for the criminally insane ( sick ) and there is a pathetic ' monster ' with one eye halfway down his face. Why Donald Wolfit should have wanted to be the lead in this sadistic trash is beyond me. So why the high number of 3 ? It deserves this because despite opinions of it being badly made it is extremely well made. The acting is above standard and the full horror of it is sickeningly realistic in gory detail and the concentration camp atmosphere. And Barbara Shelley, always good in any role battles with a useless role. As Daffy Duck would have said, this is despicable!! And if this dross has to be shown raise the certificate.
Review of Blood of the Vampire
