Why so much hype?

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Transylvania 1874: A doctor (Donald Wolfit) is pilloried for his research into rare blood conditions leading the authorities to regard him as a vampire and he is executed as such by having a stake driven through his heart. But, his mute and horribly deformed dwarf assistant Karl (Victor Maddern) murders the gravedigger and takes his corpse back to an abandoned windmill where a drunken doctor resurrects him with a heart transplant. Six years later, the doctor has assumed the name Callistratus and is the governor of an asylum for the criminally insane where he survives off the blood of his inmates. A young doctor called John Pierre (Vincent Ball) arrives at the asylum sentenced to life for "malpractice leading to murder" in which he performed a blood transfusion, which has never been done successfully resulting in the death of a patient. Callistratus puts him to work on research into blood transfusions. But, it isn't long before Pierre discovers his secret and that he really wants him to find a cure for a rare blood condition he suffers from. Meanwhile, Pierre's young wife-to-be, Madeleine (Barbara Shelley) is not satisfied when the court tells her that her lover was killed when attempting to escape captivity and secures a job at the asylum as Callistratus' housekeeper. She finds Pierre alive, but both are taken prisoner by the mad doctor who intends to make them the latest victims of his experiments.An interesting, sometimes fun if not entirely successful low budget imitation Hammer horror from producers Monty Berman and Robert S Baker. The former, doubling as cinematographer, and art director John Elphick succeed in recreating the visual look of the Hammer gothics; although, it has to be said, it looks very tacky by comparison. The sets are cardboard and wobbly and Berman, while a competent DP, is no Jack Asher. Director Henry Cass gives the film a power that lifts what is essentially a cheap and cheerful affair by placing emphasis on the brutality of the Victorian society and the corruption of the establishment that is featured in Jimmy Sangster's story. The Governor of Prisons, Auron, played by Brian Coleman who accepts money from Callistratus to arrange for "special prisoners" to be sent to the asylum and Pierre falls into this category since he is a medical man. Auron intercepted a letter from a key witness whose evidence would have acquitted Pierre and sent one he himself had written in which he claimed that the witness had never heard of Pierre and forged his signature. Later, Auron tips off Callistratus that Pierre's case has been reviewed and that a release order is imminent so the mad doctor cruelly informs Pierre that the review decided that his sentence must be served as it stands before informing the authorities that he was killed whilst trying to escape from the asylum.Donald Wolfit dominates the film as Callistratus and is delightfully over the top delivering wonderful lines with gusto in the Bela Lugosi mould: "The practical side of my work distresses you? Come let me explain" he says as he drags Madeleine off to his secret laboratory taunting her with gruesome sights such as a corpse being kept in deep freeze, a man being kept alive with an artificial heart and, finally, "Here's someone you knew, someone you knew very well" as he pulls back the curtain to reveal the grotesquely strung up body of Auron. Victor Maddern offers an effective portrayal as the dwarf, Karl, who provides the story with an emotional element in that he falls in love with Madeleine. However, he is largely defeated by an appalling make up job. Vincent Ball makes a rather dreary hero as the young doctor while, Barbara Shelley, who was to become a regular leading lady at Hammer gets very little to do and it is hard to imagine her character falling in love with Vincent Ball's.Overall, Blood Of The Vampire emerges as an interesting, sometimes fun if not an entirely successful attempt to imitate the Hammer house of horror.

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.

Decent Hammer imitation with a script by that studio's chief scribe, Jimmy Sangster. Producers Monty Berman and Robert S. Baker competed with Hammer in the horror stakes during the late 1950s/early 1960s (with Berman usually doubling also as cinematographer) via such efforts – besides the one under review which was actually their first – as THE TROLLENBERG TERROR aka THE CRAWLING EYE (1958), JACK THE RIPPER (1959), THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS (1960) and THE HELLFIRE CLUB (1961). Director Cass is best-known (if at all) for the Alec Guinness comedy LAST HOLIDAY (1950), itself recently retooled for the dubious talents of Queen Latifah! The film (which I had been looking forward to for ages after viewing stills from it in critiques of the genre penned by film historian Alan Frank) is a lurid melodrama in vivid color and with, pardon the pun, full-blooded performances – but the contrived end result somehow misses the mark. For starters, the script seems uncertain whether it wants to be a Dracula (given its title and 'bloodthirsty' villain) or a Frankenstein (in view of the villain's guinea-pig experimentations with moribund or dead subjects) clone; the fact that it is almost entirely set in a mental institution-cum-prison (that includes future "Carry On" member Bernard Bresslaw as a rowdy jailbird) brings forth comparisons with the superior final Hammer Frankenstein entry FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974)!Distinguished thespian Donald Wolfit is surprisingly but effectively cast in the lead, while Victor Maddern has a memorable look as his knife-wielding henchman (although, again, bearing hideous features that are never explained); future Hammer startlet Barbara Shelley and Vincent Ball (playing a character saddled with the amusing name of John Pierre!), then, are reasonably appealing as the romantic leads. The rousing score is equally notable – as is a nasty climax featuring a pack of wild dogs prefiguring the one in Georges Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959)! Incidentally, there is a very noticeable jump-cut during one of the lab scenes (suggesting that the film had censorship issues back in the day); incidentally, the Dark Sky DVD – which cleverly pairs it with the aforementioned THE HELLFIRE CLUB – amusingly allowed one to watch the show just as if it were playing in an old-fashioned Drive-In (complete with a host of schlocky trailers, ads and announcements)

What should make this film a classic is the opening vampire staking scene. The greatest staking scene in movie history, with Kiss Of the Vampire second. I have this film on a 1978 VHS release with excellent color, and I also saw it in the theatre at the time. It's strong effective stuff. As some say, it can also be draggy in the middle. The laboratory scenes of working on blood samples may be dreary. But it has vicious dogs released on escaping prisoners, sneaking and climbing up into the maiden's room, a deformed hunchback, a good climactic scene, and great colorful sets. Good Gothic. The same producers also made The Hellfire Club, Jack the Ripper, and The Flesh and the Fiends (about Burke and Hare). I'd like to know which video releases have faded color and which have good.