Line #34 Film/BloodForDracula


1	[[quoteright:213:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumbnail_6175.jpg]]
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3	Also known as ''Creator/AndyWarhol's Dracula''.
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5	''Blood For Dracula'' is a 1974 horror movie that was filmed alongside its companion piece ''Film/FleshForFrankenstein'', which was released a year earlier. Both films were written and directed by Paul Morrissey, a frequent collaborator of Creator/AndyWarhol; Warhol allowed his name to be attached to their alternate titles but otherwise had nothing to do with them. The films also starred Joe Dallesandro, another Warhol collaborator, and Creator/UdoKier. Both films dealt with themes of sexuality, classism, and immortality in a tongue-in-cheek manner, using classic horror figures of the 19th century. In this case, {{Dracula}}.
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7	Dracula, played by Kier, is dying. He clings to life and needs blood in order to survive. The only problem is, in this version, vampires must feed on the blood of virgins in order to live. His assistant suggests that the Count move to Italy where, due to the strict religious culture, there should be plenty of virgins to choose from. They pack up their belongings and move in next door to a family with four daughters, three of them ready for marriage and claiming to be virgins. The Count befriends their parents and promises to marry one of the girls but soon finds out that not all the girls are as pure as they say they are. It seems that Mario the Socialist farmhand has been sleeping with two of them in secret. With the fourth daughter having been previously married and (presumably?) not a virgin, Dracula sets his sights on the youngest of the girls with Mario quickly unraveling the mystery.
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9	Famous film director Creator/VittorioDeSica stars as Il Marchese Di Fiore.
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12	!! This film contains examples of:
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14	* AlasPoorVillain: Dracula is actually one of the more sympathetic characters in this film. He is just a dying man trying to hang on to life while the human characters are abusive, selfish, and mostly pretty nasty to each other.
15	* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler: Dracula]]'s eventual fate involves getting his arms and legs chopped off.
16	* AntiHero: Mario is abusive to the daughters to the point where he forces himself on one of them before throwing her naked outside his cabin. Despite this, he shows sympathy for the dying Dracula (until he discovers he's a vampire), and tries to protect the remaining daughters. Of course [[spoiler: protecting the youngest daughter means raping her so that she will no longer be a virgin, thus "spoiling" her for Dracula.]]
17	* AntiVillain: Dracula bears no ill-will toward anyone and even shows a great deal of fondness toward the oldest daughter. Drinking blood is simply the only way he can survive.
18	* AuthorAvatar: Played with - Mario is a proud socialist who has the hammer-and-sickle in his bedroom. He often gives monologues rallying against the upper class. Morrissey had similar leanings, but also hated the sexual nihilism that often came with the territory, hence portraying Mario as a misogynistic brute.
19	* TheBadGuyWins: Arguably. Mario defeats and kills Dracula, but this version of Dracula is so sympathetic and Mario is so hateful that it's hard to really see it as a good thing.
20	* BarBrawl: Dracula's assistant Anton gets into one near the beginning, which includes a [[TheCameo cameo]] by Creator/RomanPolanski of all people.
21	* BigScrewedUpFamily: Incest, insanity, and apathetic materialism run rampant in the family, and that's ''before'' Dracula shows up.
22	* BlackAndGreyMorality: Dracula is the grey, weirdly enough.
23	* DepravedBisexual: Two of the sisters are very mean nymphomaniacs who look down on the lower class and have no problems with stripping in public or engaging in incest with each other and trying to get the older sister to join in. After they are [[spoiler:turned into vampires]], they try to rape her.
24	* DeusSexMachina: Mario saves the youngest daughter from Dracula by taking her virginity. She's fourteen.
25	* DirtyCommunist: Played with, in that Mario is the closest thing this movie has to a hero, but he's still an abusive thug [[spoiler: and rapist]] who is arguably less sympathetic than Dracula.
26	* DullSurprise: If Kier is over the top in his hamminess, then Dellesandro offsets this by being nearly catatonic, as evident when he discovers Dracula is a vampire or when he finds newly-created vampires in the house.
27	* FailedASpotCheck: The mother mentions walking past Dracula's room in the night and hearing him vomiting - and yet somehow ''missed'' the hideous screams of her daughter as her jugular was pierced, leading to the aforementioned vomiting on Dracula's part.
28	* FamilyThemeNaming: The sisters- Esmeralda, Saphiria, Rubinia, and Perla- are all named after precious gemstones.
29	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The typical way to deal with vampires.
30	* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Andy Warhol's name was slapped on the alternate titles of both films, but he actually had little to do with them.
31	* InnocentFanserviceGirl: The two middle daughters - although their 'innocence' is a semantic point. They think nothing of stripping outside in full view of the entire plantation, and while they do have sex with Mario, they believe it doesn't count since he is of a lower class. They seem to have similar opinions while having sex with each other. Therefore, when Dracula asks if they're virgins, they claim that they are, and firmly believe they're telling the truth.
32	* JerkassVictim: The two daughters Dracula initially goes after are selfish, materialistic, and have such contempt for the lower classes that they don't even count having sex with them as real sex, which leads to Dracula mistaking them for virgins. In fact, when [[spoiler: Dracula turns them into vampires, they try to rape their younger sister.]] It is unclear if they did this because they were BrainwashedAndCrazy at this point, or if they simply did it ForTheEvulz.
33	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The father, played by Vittorio [=DeSica=] of all people, completely misses this about Dracula's name. He thinks the '-ula' suffix is charming and intriguing. Being one of the few genuine Italians in the cast, he really ought to [[TheCaligula know better]].
34	* LargeHam: Kier as usual. His strong German accent makes it all the more whimsical.
35	--> "Ze blood of zees whores is keellink me!"
36	* LesbianVampire: Well, bisexual. And they were bi before they were vampires. But still.
37	* MarketBasedTitle: In some markets, the previous film was called ''Andy Warhol's Frankenstein'' in order to cash in on his fame while ''Blood For Dracula'' was given the similar title ''Andy Warhol's Dracula''. Morrissey would later regret this, since many people believed Warhol wrote and directed these films.
38	* NiceGirl: The oldest daughter is incredibly sweet and arguably the one purely good character in the film.
39	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: The movie takes place in Italy but it's in English, so it's expected that no one would have an accurate accent. And for the most part, they don't. Of particular note are Udo Kier who has a hilariously thick German accent and Joe Dellesandro who has a hilariously thick New York accent.
40	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Vampires need virgin blood in order to survive. Also, they can function in daylight and are not harmed by crucifixes, although Dracula seems uncomfortable with both.
41	* Really700YearsOld: Dracula is hundreds of years old and would normally look like a middle aged man. He dyes his hair and applies make-up to look even younger than that, however.
42	* TheRenfield: Anton, Dracula's servant, seems to be much more assertive than most versions. He seems to be making all of Dracula's decisions for him and even bosses him around at one point. Then again, Dracula is typically too weak to do much in retaliation since he is so ill.
43	* RichBitch: The two middle daughters, once again.
44	* SecretRelationship: The middle sisters' relationship with Mario is a secret to everyone else. By proxy, so is the relationship they have with each other.
45	* SexSignalsDeath: An inversion before the trope fully took affect in horror movies. Dracula only feeds on the blood of virgins, placing them in danger. Meanwhile, tasting the blood of women who have had sex is deadly for Dracula, meaning this trope is in effect for the villain. In yet another twist, the daughters would have been safe from the Count if they were more honest about their sexual history instead of claiming to be virgins.
46	* SympathyForTheDevil: The oldest sister falls in love with the Count. It's actually kind of sweet.
47	* ThematicSeries: Along with ''Flesh For Frankenstein'', this film creates a duology that share creators, themes, tone, and similar titles.
48	* TrappedInVillainy: We get perhaps the most sympathetic version of the count: a sickly, dying vampire that needs the blood of a virgin in order to avoid a very painful death. He considers this a curse and doesn't seem to enjoy killing.
49	* UnequalPairing: The wealthy sisters and their farmhand. Rather than being romantic, though, the difference of class means that the sisters don't believe the sex they have with Mario has any impact on their virginity. (This comes back to bite them later on.)
50	* VampireBitesSuck
51	* VampiresAreSexGods: Highly averted since Dracula is sickly and in no way attractive. The only reason why the girls want to marry him is due to [[GoldDigger his wealth]].
52	* VillainousIncest: The two middle daughters aren't the nicest girls around by a long shot, and they are okay with having sex with one another, even inviting their younger sister to join them. She's not into it, to her credit.
53	* VillainProtagonist
54	* VirginPower: Their blood is needed for vampires to survive.
55	* VirginSacrifice: Vampires simply need their blood to live; there is no ritual involved.
56	* VomitDiscretionShot: Averted. When Dracula tastes the blood of non-virgins, he goes into convulsions and starts vomiting for about a minute. The camera lingers on him the entire time.
57	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: The vamped-out daughters are still in the house by the time the credits roll. Since they had previously tried to rape their own sister, it's not a good idea to keep them around.]]
58	* WouldntHurtAChild: Dracula is appalled with the idea of killing children despite needing virgin blood. Fortunately for him, near the beginning of the movie, a child is hit by a car and he's able to get by on a little bit of blood.
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Context Film / BloodForDracula