Blood of Dracula

Rating: **/*****, or 4/10

Beware! Misleading title here! This movie has nothing to do with the Dracula character in whatever incarnation, despite some semi-vampiric presence in the plot. A better title would have been 'I was a Teenage Dracula', considering this was produced by the same company behind I was a Teenage Werewolf, also released in 1957, to which it bears more than just a coincidental resemblance story wise as it tells of a troubled teenage girl (Sandra Harrison) dumped at a boarding school by her father, who finds herself subjected to hypnotic experiments by the evil headmistress (Louise Lewis), that turn her into a vampire at her behest. This results in a few suspenseless murders here and there and a dull subplot about police investigators trying to find out what's going on. This movie was released as a double bill for drive-ins with I was a Teenage Frankenstein. Production company American International Pictures (AIP) was responsible for many a lousy B-movie in the latter half of the fifties (many of them with overly grandiose, incorrect and thus irresponsible titles): though this flick is far from good, it's by no means the worst of this extensive bunch.

Starring: Sandra Harrison, Louise Lewis, Gail Ganley

Directed by Herbert L. Strock

USA: AIP, 1957