Dracula Sucks, also released as Lust at First Bite, is a 1978 adult horror movie directed by Phillip Marshak from a screenplay by Daryl Marshak (Cataclysm) and David Kern, very loosely based on Bram Stoker‘s Dracula.
The film stars Jamie Gillis (Dracula Exotica), Reggie Nalder, Annette Haven, Seka, Serena, Kay Parker, John Leslie, Paul Thomas, Mike Ranger and John Holmes. Associate producer and editor Nettie Peña directed Home Sweet Home (1980). Second unit director Norman Thaddeus Vane later helmed Frightmare and The Black Room (both 1983).
Plot teaser:
At an exclusive sanitarium, strange things are happening: patients are acting differently and are being found with mysterious bite marks in their necks. Visiting professor, Van Helsing (Reggie Nalder) believes it to be the work of vampires. With the arrival of Count Dracula (Jamie Gillis), things get even stranger and more violent, as the diabolical count sets his sights on the beautiful Mina (Annette Haven)…
Reviews:
“There’s a strain of goony humor that is undercut by a genuinely eerie ambiance. It is an unwell universe where the dysfunctional out-rules the healthy and that includes a large part of the medical staff. From the incest between the Sewards, the character of Henry (Margold) who, when not assisting the doctors, has a fixation on apples and ends up raping Irene and the fact that Van Helsing (played by character actor heavy Reggie Nalder) manages to out-creep Dracula, there are no real character safety zones here.
On top of that, there is the striking image of the Count’s handmaidens, who look like glamorous ghouls who just escaped Hell’s war zone, creeping across the asylum grounds at night.” Dangerous Minds
“Common sense takes a backseat to cocaine-fuelled nonsense and the audience is expected to make sense of it all. But we can’t. Because it’s annoying. Eventually, the effort to pay attention makes us ambivalent.
Sex is piled on — there’s incest, necrophilia, blow jobs in every imaginable combination, and a shot of a female vampire biting John Holmes’ giant dick. Likewise with the comedy. Racism, comedic sound effects, and loudspeaker announcements about enemas are supposed to be funny, but they’re not. As the plot is forgotten, the film unravels into random, vignette-styled chaos.” Joseph A. Ziemba, Bleeding Skull!
” …uneven in tone but impresses on a number of levels. In terms of style and production value, the film is on par with some of the more ambitious low budget horror films from the period thanks hugely to the time-consuming camera set-ups by cinematographer Hanania Baer (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), the Castle Hill location, reasonably convincing if not always consistent period costumes and props, and decent to good performances (Haven even resembles Kate Nelligan from some angles).” Eric Cotenas, DVD Drive-In
The film has been released on DVD by Vinegar Syndrome. It includes the following features:
2-disc DVD Set | Region Free | 16:9 Anamorphic
Director’s cut of Dracula Sucks
Alternate Lust at First Bite edit (40+ minutes of alternate footage!)
Commentary w/ Actor and Co-Writer Bill Margold
Return to Castle Hill featurette w/ Producer Darryl Marshak & Bill Margold
Original theatrical trailer
German Art Gallery
Buy Dracula Sucks on DVD from Amazon.com
