Blood of the Vampire

"Nothing Like It This Side of Hell!"

1958 1h 27m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 42

HorrorScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A man and wife are terrorized by Mad Scientist Dr. Callistratus who was executed but has returned to life with a heart transplant. Along with his crippled assistant Carl, the 'anemic' Mad Scientist, believed to be a vampire, conducts blood deficiency research on the inmates of a prison hospital for the criminally insane to sustain his return to life.

“Nothing Like It This Side of Hell!”

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Cast

Donald Wolfit
Doctor Callistratus
Vincent Ball
Dr. John Pierre
Barbara Shelley
Madeleine Duval
Victor Maddern
Carl
William Devlin
Kurt Urach
Andrew Faulds
Chief Guard Wetzler
John Le Mesurier
Chief Justice
Bryan Coleman
Monsieur Auron

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Henry Cass
Writers: Jimmy Sangster
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

87 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

68 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Henry Cass, shot by Monty Berman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Stanley Black. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Douglas Myers shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Donald Wolfit and Vincent Ball and Barbara Shelley carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Nothing Like It This Side of Hell!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0051422 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry Cass directs. Monty Berman behind the camera. Stanley Black scores. Douglas Myers cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
268 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Henry Cass, shot by Monty Berman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Stanley Black. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Douglas Myers shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Donald Wolfit and Vincent Ball and Barbara Shelley carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Nothing Like It This Side of Hell!".
8IMDB entry: tt0051422 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 42 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "prison", "vampire", "mad scientist", "laboratory".
11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Monty Berman
Original score: Stanley Black
Editing: Douglas Myers
Production design: John Elphick
Makeup / hair: Jimmy Evans
Runtime: 87 min · 1h 27m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Blood of the Vampire (1958)

Also by

Henry Cass

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2024-05-06
★ 6/10
“Vampires? We don’t need no stinkin’ vampires” In 1880 Carlstadt, Düsseldorf, a doctor (Vincent Ball) is sentenced to life-in-prison for malpractice in performing an emergency blood transfusion, which had never been done successfully. Instead of being sent to the prescribed penal island, he’s curiously transferred to a prison for the criminally insane where the director (Donald Wolfit) wants him to perform blood-typing research for some unknown reason. "Blood of the Vampire" (1958) was obviously inspired by the success of Hammer's “The Curse of Frankenstein” because the producers hired the same scriptwriter, Jimmy Sangster, and it includes elements of both that flick and “The Horror of Dracula,” which started filming shortly after this one. While it lacks Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, it’s on par production-wise and certainly different enough to stand on its own. It's worth seeing just for the beautiful Barbara Shelley, who plays the doctor’s fiancée and was only 25 during shooting. She went on to appear in Hammer Films’ “The Gorgon,” “Dracula, Prince of Darkness,” “Rasputin: The Mad Monk” and “Five Million Years to Earth,” aka “Quatermass and the Pit.” Victor Maddern is effective as the Quasimodo-like assistant, Carl. The extensive make-up he had to wear gave him a headache. The milieu of the grim, grimy and hellish prison hospital no doubt inspired “Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell” sixteen years later. The movie runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot at Alliance Film Studios Twickenham, southwest of London. GRADE: B-

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