As the blood pours like cheap wine, Paul Morrissey parades an impaired and physically weak Udo Kier through an anti-communist, bizarrely conservative, and surreally moralistic caricature of the famous bloodsucker.
The sleaze of this politically charged satire of vampire folklore is palpable; only the blood of a virgin can keep the flailing Count Dracula alive. Anton (Arno Juerging), the manservant of Dracula (Udo Kier), finds hope in a religious pre-fascist Italy for the desolate Count. The latter can only be restored to strength by the blood of a virgin, having seen his family slowly disappear from Romania, searching for the same pure blood (of a virgin). In a weakened state, Dracula tasks Anton with arranging travel immediately to Italy; there, the Count befriends a family of declining wealth, despite owning a lavish estate, of which the patriarch hopes to marry one of four daughters to a wealthy aristocrat. The film comprises a range of softcore eroticism, political satire, lavishly over-the-top gore, and a tacky aesthetic that pulses vividly throughout.
Directed and written by Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol’s name was attached to the film in a loose pseudo-auteur gimmick to promote the film despite no consistent evidence of the latter’s contribution aside from attending “the parties”. Despite the lack of claim on Warhol’s part, there is a clear link between this film and some other x-rated Warhol productions of the same era in their presentation of ‘political’ sex. Warhol and Morrissey collaborated in some capacity on numerous occasions before Blood for Dracula, exploring politics, exploitation, substance abuse, and sex work in Heat, Flesh, Trash, and Women in Revolt. Though other authorship issues existed, the European release of the film was credited to Antonio Margheriti (Dir; Castle of Blood, Cannibal Apocalypse). This credit as the director ensured the film would obtain Italian nationality for the producers due to Italian laws. Blood for Dracula‘s production began only one day after Morrissey’s Flesh for Frankenstein finished, both produced by the prolific Italian producer Carlo Ponti.
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