Blood for Dracula Blu-ray - Joe Dallesandro

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Andy Warhol's Dracula' or 'Andy Warhol's Young Dracula' or 'Dracula' or 'Dracula cerca sangue di vergine... e morì di sete'

or 'Dracula vuole vivere: cerca sangue di vergine!' or 'Du sang pour Dracula' or 'Young Dracula')

directed by Paul Morrissey
U.S. 1974

At the premiere of "Blood for Dracula", Paul Morrissey thanked the jury for inviting his "...silly little film." to the Atlantic International Film Festival. And to some degree, it is a silly film, as it both takes liberties with horror conventions and the Dracula myth.

Where the nemesis of Dracula traditionally is Van Helsing, it is now a common working man, a gardener, who takes the virginity from Draculas daughters. In "Blood for Dracula", Dracula can only drink the blood of virgins, and as he desperate bites one of his own daughters, he is send into a vomiting fit, as she isn't one anymore. The story thus becomes a symbolic fall of the aristocracy by the working class, where the gardener in the end kills Dracula, as well as an attack on the moral values of the catholic church via lust of the flesh.

"Blood for Dracula" remains one of the most amusing spoofs on the Dracula myth and a demonstration of the genius of Paul Morrissey.

Henrik Sylow

Poster

Theatrical Release: November 27th, 1974 - USA

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Tartan - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Marketing Film - Region 0 - PAL vs. Shock (Australia) - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Ol e of DVDBasen for the R2 - PAL Screen Caps! Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the DVD Review!

Box Covers				Coming to Blu-ray in the UK in December 2023 by Screenbound:
Distribution	Tartan Region 2 - PAL	Criterion Collection Spine # 28 Region 0 - NTSC	Marketing Films Region 0 - PAL	Shock (Australia) Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:43:18	1:43:32	1:34:50	1:43:12.886
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.90 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.90:1 Over matted Average Bitrate: 4.90 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.93 PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.85:1 Disc Size: 30,662,449,455 bytes Feature Size: 26,077,003,776 bytes Total Bitrate: 29.92 Mbps Dual-layered 1080i Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Tartan
Bitrate: Criterion
Bitrate: Marketing Film
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	2.0 Dolby Digital English	English (Dolby Digital 1.0)	German (Dolby Digital 5.1), German (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio Undetermined 1575 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1575 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio Undetermined 448 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps
Subtitles	No Subtitles	None	None	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by Paul Morrissey, Udo Kier and film historian Maurice Yacovar • Production Stills (24:53) • Screen Tests (4:11) • Booklet by Ben Cobb DVD Release Date: May 22, 2006 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterbox - 1.90:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by writer/director Paul Morrissey, actor 'Udo Kier (qv), and film historian Maurice Yacovar • Commentary by Still gallery of publicity and produciton photographs featuring excerpts from Claudio Gizzi's musical score in stereo • Widescreen letterbox format DVD Release Date: December 8, 1998 Keep Case Chapters 26	Release Information: Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by director Paul Morrissey, star Udo Kier and film historian Maurice Yacowar (In English). • German trailer (WS Anamorphic) (3:18). • Still slideshow (18:54). • Artwork-Galleries (DVD/VHS Covers, Posters, Lobbycards ect.). • About the 3D version (1 page of text in German). • Filmographies of cast and director. DVD Release Date: May 15th, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 10	Release Information: Studio: Shock (Australia) 1.85:1 Disc Size: 30,662,449,455 bytes Feature Size: 26,077,003,776 bytes Total Bitrate: 29.92 Mbps Dual-layered 1080i Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by writer/director Paul Morrissey • Screen Tests with Paul Morrissey Commentary (4:09) • Production Stills with Paul Morrissey Commentary (24:50) Blu-ray Release Date: April 2016 Transparent Blu-ray Case inside cardboard keepcase Chapter:

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

NOTE: It has been conformed that this is a bootleg!

ADDITION: Shock (Australia) - Region FREE - Blu-ray (May 2016): The Shock appears to be 50i (1080i) I could see it is not as stable as a progressive transfer but it doesn't look fatally poor in-motion although there is minor trailing. The dual-layered Blu-ray supports the cooler colors of the Tartan DVD. I won't dispute that this may be a 720 bump but it does look tighter on my system although it is not an ideal rendering. There are speckles and a few marks - more noticeable at the beginning. Bottom line is that this can be improved upon - but when?

For those that might be interested Flesh for Frankenstein is also available on Blu-ray by the same company HERE - and we can surmise that it is the same transfer (1080i).

Audio is lossless (DTS-HD Master - 24-bit) and sounds decent with the effects and screams reverberating with depth and intensity. This seems a properly transferred track - it's clean and fairly crisp. The piano and classical leaning score by Claudio Gizzi (What?, Flesh for Frankenstein) sounds pleasing. There are no subtitles offered and despite is saying it is region 'B' on the back of the case I can assure you it is region FREE.

Extras include the the commentary by writer/director Paul Morrissey found on all of these digital editions as well as the 5-minutes of screen tests with and 25-minutes of production stills - from 2005 and both with the Morrissey commentary.

We can't endorse this Blu-ray but serious fans may want to upgrade - it did provide me with a superior-to-SD presentation in my 60" system. Those projecting and with a discerning eye may wish to wait it out.

***

ADDITION: - Tartan - PAL - June 2006 - Newly restored and remastered in association with Paul Morrissey, the Tartan version looks stunning. No visible artefacts and a beautifully balanced colour palette. The only negative comment is, that it is a NTSC to PAL, and has ghosting issues.

The additional material is a port of the same audio commentary present on the Criterion DVD, and a series of production stills and screen tests with commentary by Paul Morrissey.

- Henrik Sylow

***

Another example of an anamorphic picture not equaling a non-anamorphic. The Criterion is certainly superior in the image department. The color on the two versions matches pretty evenly, but the Marketing Film PAL version is slightly more red/orange with a bit more saturation. The commentary is the same for both editions, but the Marketing Film version has a few more features to peruse. Neither edition has sub-titles and the good thing about the PAL disc is that it is very cheap in comparison to the Criterion. For true devotees, there is no question but to get the Criterion, but just to see the film without more than a passing interest then go for the Marketing Film version ( which also includes Flesh for Frankenstein! )