Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Blood Suckers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 28, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin Films' Cushing Curiosities set.

Severin has celebrated arguably lesser known efforts featuring one of the more legendary horror actors often associated with Hammer Studios with both The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection and The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2. Now they're doing similar service for that other legendary horror actor often associated with Hammer Studios, and one who of course famously co-starred with Lee in any number of films. As the title of this collection may suggest, the offerings in Cushing Curiosities are a bit peculiar at times, but that perhaps only gives them added allure for a certain demographic. Severin has assembled an impressive array of supplements, including some excellent commentaries by Jonathan Rigby, who also contributes an incredibly thorough overview of Cushing's career in a perfect bound booklet included with this set. Adding to the allure here are some generally solid technical merits (with perhaps one notable exception).

The back cover of this release states that this is "perhaps the most maligned and misunderstood horror film of Peter Cushing's career", but the kind of humorously ironic thing about that assessment is my hunch that even diehard Peter Cushing fans will have even heard of this oddity, which is listed on both the IMDb and Wikipedia as Incense for the Damned. The provenance of the film is really rather intriguing, as is gotten into in some of the supplements, but the basic storyline (which admittedly may not have made it to the screen intact) is ostensibly based on a book called Doctors Wear Scarlet by Simon Raven, an author few probably remember very well these days, but who according to the commentary on this disc in particular sounds like he was something of a "character".

If the source novel evidently rather provocatively hinted a link between vampires and the British ruling elite, only vestiges of that plot remain in a film that was beset with any number of production hurdles, many of which are detailed in the really interesting and often kind of funny commentary by Jonathan Rigby and Kevin Lyons. Rigby and Lyons mention almost right off the bat how haphazard the film's opening in particular is, introducing a glut of characters without any context and then resorting to just the first use of voiceover to try to elide pretty large gaps in the narrative, all of which hint at financing struggles which made the shoot perilous and evidently interrupted.

What's kind of ironically effective, then, is that probably due to the film having to be cobbled together, it has a hallucinogenic quality that fits in more or less perfectly with its subtext. This release is touted as "the world premiere of the restored extended version", something that is further emphasized with another statement that this is "the longest version ever assembled". That "assembly" process may strike some as a bit analogous to a certain doctor's efforts long associated with Cushing, but this film at least offers some appealing locations that are considerably more scenic than your everyday Gothic laboratory. That said, Cushing is much less of a central presence in this film than his billing might suggest, and this is arguably really a "Patrick Macnee" film in terms of a focal character.

Blood Suckers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blood Suckers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. The back cover of this release states this was "scanned in 2K from the original negative with additional elements from a recently discovered 35 mm valut print, including the uncut psychedelic orgy sequence, for the first time ever". This is another surprisingly great looking transfer of a cult item my hunch is very few have even heard of. This does show a bit more of a heterogeneous appearance at times, which I suspect is due at least in part to it, like the film itself, having to be cobbled together from different elements, but that said, the differences tend to be more with regard to clarity and grain resolution than with regard to an often eye popping palette. A glut of outdoor material pops beautifully throughout the presentation, with nicely suffused blue skies and some great detail on more rustic elements like stone outcroppings that turn up at various locations. My score is 4.25.

Blood Suckers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blood Suckers features an effective DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that probably shows some of the weird quasi-editing that was necessary to get this film into some kind of reasonable shape, and so which may have a couple of inartful transitions. Bobby Richards' score sounds fine, and dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, though it looked to me like some lines at least were post looped (perhaps out of necessity to help cover gaps in the narrative), and, as mentioned above, there's also quasi-narration, which also sounds fine. Optional English subtitles are available.

Blood Suckers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Jonathan Rigby, Author of English Gothic, and Horror Historian Kevin Lyons


• Stranger in the City (1961) (HD; 22:24) is a short film by Robert Hartford-Davis which might suggest the plight of homeless people isn't exactly a new phenomenon.


• Daddy's Girl (HD; 17:21) is an interview with Director Robert Hartford-Davis' daughter, Jean Hartford-Davis.


• Bite Me! (HD; 20:20) features Tigon: Blood on a Budget author John Hamilton discussing Robert Hartford-Davis.


• The Trip (HD; 16:53) is an interview with (excellent description alert) "uncredited drug orgy actress" Francoise Pascal.


• Hydra Phonics (HD; 9:59) is an interview with sound recordist Tony Dawe.


• Freedom Seeker Title Sequence (HD; 1:35)


• Trailer (HD; 2:13)

Blood Suckers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another one of those slightly gonzo efforts where the backstage drama as recounted in the commentary track in particular may be of more interest than the actual film. Technical merits are surprisingly great, and the supplements very interesting, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.