The Artus DVD, Part 4

The doctor relents and goes with Carl. The hideaway is a windmill that reminds me of the windmill in MILL OF STONE WOMEN and BRIDES OF DRACULA, both made later and now considered classics. (BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE's Jimmy Sangster was involved with the screenplay of BRIDES.)

Once inside, Carl shows Callistratus' body, and then we see the heart in a glass jar that will replace the damaged heart. We assume it is the gravedigger's heart. The doctor performs the transplant. (It would be many decades before heart transplants would become a reality.) Once done, the doctor asks for more money in the future or else... The doctor would still be needed we think, but Carl has different intentions when he hears the threat. While Carl is making sure that the doctor will never threaten again, a bat comes out of the rafter and flies toward the camera. This "bat"is placed in the film later, and reminds me of the effect of Dracula's transformation in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.

The Artus DVD, Part 3

We now move to the tavern. It is filled with villagers, people drinking, carousing, dancing. Which brings us to a common feature of these Sadeian films: some women are shown wearing decolletage that hovers on showing more, but, in BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE, this is as far as it goes. The next film, JACK THE RIPPER, will show more in the Continental version.

Carl enters the tavern. When people notice it's him, the atmosphere changes immediately. The music and the revelry die.

One asks just what is Carl's affliction? Some parts of his body indicate stroke, but there is pronounced hair on his hand and the bridge between his eyebrows. One eye is completely bulging out, almost dropping. There's a large facial scar, and a jutting jaw and puffed-up face on that side. These suggest that Carl was born partially damaged at first, and that the people he met have increased his physical severity to made him a monster in human form. His rebellion was to hate people and almost a sexual desire to abuse a woman's beauty. He is the perfect assistant to someone unscrupulous and unfeeling toward humanity.

Carl goes to the back of the tavern, frightening people by his presence, and stops by the doctor that he wishes to go with him.

The Artus DVD, Part 2

Once the credits are finished, the film goes into the widescreen format:

Here you can see the difference with the earlier credits sequence, which is all in full-frame:

Carl, Dr. Callistratus' assistant, has been watching this. His back is turned to the camera, then he advances to the camera and turns around to withdraw a brutal knife. His face is still not seen. Carl backing into the camera is just for effect. It realistically does not make sense, considering what will happen next.

The digger is alone, the others at the grave having left. Carl turns again, and goes around a rock toward the digger. The digger hears him nearing, and shocked by what he sees, he puts up no fight, even as he holds a shovel in this hand.

More to come.

The Artus DVD, Part 1

I'm going to make a close study of the French Artus DVD, as what is seen is the most complete version of the film. The film was part of Artus' "British Horror" line. There is the original English language track, and also an option of watching the film in the French audio track. My screen captures are not precise in aspect ratio, but certainly as close to it as I can get. Also, I've boosted the contrast a bit, so that is easier to tell the edges of the frame.

The film starts off in full-screen mode:

What is important in the following two shots is that the left and right side give a demonstration of the ratio here.

The film, still in full-screen, goes into the title and credits. A couple of the credits are seen touching the bottom, a no-no in a theater if shown this way.

More analysis to come!

The Naughty Bits

The naughty bits of BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE were censored in Great Britain and in America. The version most people know was cut according to the censorship board or releasing company of whichever country showed the film. As the "ultimate Sadeian movie" (CULT SHOCKING HORRORS), this was bound to happen. I think that Baker and Berman were prepared for this, as they wanted to push the envelope whenever possible in this film and in the few that followed: JACK THE RIPPER, THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS, and THE HELLFIRE CLUB. Those films had "Continental versions" and showed a bit more than what could be shown in the home countries. Besides, the publicity would be great.

Nowadays we don't have to worry about this kind of censorship and expect to see everything, even the naughty bits. Hammer Films had similar "Continental versions" during this time, and Baker and Berman were very much aware of what Hammer was doing.

BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE did not have the Continental version of their future Sadeian films (nudity), but it did have scenes that were cut: disturbing shots of gore and chained females tormented by a gloating and very ugly assistant.

The Artus French DVD has these scenes, possibly taken from 16mm, so the quality is a bit less than 35mm, but still very welcome, as they represent the full film as it was shot. The Italian film picture story magazine, MALIA, also had these scenes.

The Best Version?

Shout Factory TV, a new streaming service, has what appears to be the best version of BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE. Apparently, it is in HD quality and the colors are a bit better than what we've seen. The film doesn't seem to be complete, however, but the slightly-edited American version. I will do an analysis of various versions in the future. Meanwhile, there is Shout.

The Quest Continues

A couple of years before BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE, Baker and Berman tried to interest viewers, and, more importantly, the money men in their latest venture. Possibly they were also interested in a TV series with....

But let me get to films first. There were only two of them: BARBADOS QUEST (MURDER ON APPROVAL) and BREAKWAY. Both were in black-and-white and featured "The Falcon" himself--Tom Conway. Conway was the bother of George Sanders, and, like Sanders, he had been born in St. Petersburg, Russia. Both weren't of Russian heritage, however. Conway was born in 1904, Sanders in 1906. During the Russian Revolution, the family moved to England.

Conway took over the Falcon role from his brother and starred in ten Falcon films. He also did three films with Val Lewton, which are now considered classics. By the time that Baker and Berman became involved with Conway, he was older, obviously, and looked more worse for wear than ever, but still retained a charm and casualness that comes across on the screen. He also appeared to do his own stunt work, that is, his fighting scenes seemed as if he took the punch and gave it. The tumbles seemed his own, too. He was also an alcoholic from reports, and his more successful brother finally could not put up with him and ignored him totally. Conway died penniless in Venice, California at age 67. His liver was shot.

While his life story is not happy toward the end, he appears well enough to handle his first film for Baker and Berman. BARBADOS QUEST is one of the better films for the duo (about a stamp, no less!) and has some nifty dialogue going for it. It was also shown theatrically in the States as MURDER ON APPROVAL. Conway was back in BREAKAWAY, a less fascinating and witty film than the preceding one. From my research, BREAKAWAY never had an American theatrical showing. What is interesting about this film (aside from its use of a young Honor Blackman) is that several persons behind the scenes did future work in the Sadean-like films of Baker and Berman. The film was directed by Henry Cass (as was BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE) and Stanley Black (a Baker and Berman mainstay) provided the music.

Both films tried to legendize Tom "Duke" Martin, played by Conway. In the American pressbook the detective was heralded as "The Ace of Private Eyes!". And, the pressbook goes on: "He combines, in fact, those fascinating traits of all the great, fabled screen detectives. The logical mind of  'Sherlock Holmes,' the romantic flair of 'The Saint,' the wry humor of 'Raffles' and the debonair charm of 'The Falcon,' all sparkle in the characterization of  'The Duke'--the new role created by Tom Conway."

It is regrettable that a third film was not done, or a TV series, but perhaps everyone involved had had enough, and it was time to move on.