Probably the least successful of the Amicus product up to and possibly including 1973's The Vault of Horror.
A very languid production sees three segments unfold without any real sense of urgency, stars like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee not doing their best work in a film that's less than their worth. What really throws the film is the fourth segment, dovetailing into the framing story, with Jon Pertwee hamming it up as a comedy vampire.
Most of the Amicus anthologies struggle today with uneven tone and intent, but none more so than here. Although quite amusing (complete with in-joke references to Christopher Lee not being a very good Dracula) it flies at total odds with what's come before. Suddenly a very straight, sombre - dare I say slightly boring? - film climaxes with what amounts to little more than a send-up. The final segment probably works the best but undermines what really amounts to just a so-so movie.
Interestingly, these Amicus pictures were often getting mixed up in the minds of audiences with the far better known and established Hammer Pictures, particularly as stars from Hammer appeared, as here, in Amicus films. This was compounded in 1987 when the BBC made a documentary on Hammer, alluding to the title of this film by calling it "The Studio That Dripped Blood."
A very languid production sees three segments unfold without any real sense of urgency, stars like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee not doing their best work in a film that's less than their worth. What really throws the film is the fourth segment, dovetailing into the framing story, with Jon Pertwee hamming it up as a comedy vampire.
Most of the Amicus anthologies struggle today with uneven tone and intent, but none more so than here. Although quite amusing (complete with in-joke references to Christopher Lee not being a very good Dracula) it flies at total odds with what's come before. Suddenly a very straight, sombre - dare I say slightly boring? - film climaxes with what amounts to little more than a send-up. The final segment probably works the best but undermines what really amounts to just a so-so movie.
Interestingly, these Amicus pictures were often getting mixed up in the minds of audiences with the far better known and established Hammer Pictures, particularly as stars from Hammer appeared, as here, in Amicus films. This was compounded in 1987 when the BBC made a documentary on Hammer, alluding to the title of this film by calling it "The Studio That Dripped Blood."