In this special Friday the 13th edition of The Night Index, we're diving into I Drink Your Blood, the obscure 1971 grindhouse horror movie that earned a permanent spot in my heart.
In short, I Drink Your Blood is a low-budget grindhouse horror movie about a gang of satanic teenagers who abandon their hometown in search of a new place to move into. It is also bundled together as a feature film with I Eat Your Skin, which I haven’t gotten around to watching just yet (but I plan to soon)!
So, why am I talking about this film? What makes it special?
For starters, we have the title: I Drink Your Blood, which by itself stands out among other grindhouse classics. But judging a movie by its title is shallow. So, let’s dive deeper.
The unhinged premise
This beast throws together satanic cultists, rabid meat pies, rural paranoia, and a group of children trying to survive the chaos. The setting being a small and isolated town works wonders. This concept feels weird to get your head around, but trust me, it works.
Total chaos
The movie starts off as unsettling, creepy, and with a sense of evil conveyed by the cultists, but it quickly evolves more and more into a comedy. Some scenes don’t make sense at all, and to top it off, the acting is not that good (to say the least), but that’s expected in this type of movie.
There is also that low-budget charm to it. Low-quality props, sound, and image, but it all adds to that feeling that you’re watching something you were not supposed to see.THE REVENGE
The true turning point of the film comes with one of the most bizarre revenge plans in horror(?) history. You aren’t ready. After the cultists attack members of the town, a young boy decides to get even in the most creative way possible: by infecting meat pies with the blood of a rabid dog.
The pies are then sold to the hungry teenagers, and uh… things start spiraling out of control. We’ve got foaming mouths, a bit of attempted murder between the gang, and crazily running around.
The charm that won me over
If you hadn’t caught on until this point, I have a love-hate-love (wink for those who know) relationship with I Drink Your Blood. On one hand, it is a BAD, and horrorless movie, but on the other hand, it is SO charming, that you can’t help but love it. And it was that charm that won me over and managed to secure a spot in my heart.
The theme song repeats a lot throughout the movie, but I LOVE it. It's such a vibe and really fits the hippie satanic atmosphere it's trying to convey. Here’s the link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02pWH8bSMQU
Fun fact: The movie is featured in 2 songs! The first one, which is also how I found out about the movie, is the Mortician song, Rabid, where the trailer of the movie is featured at the beginning of the song. The second one is a bit better known, Rob Zombie’s Feel So Numb, which features the theme song sampled right at the beginning.
George Patterson is too funny in this movie, man. The faces he makes killed me. Actual comedic gold. The chase music that comes in his scenes cracks me up even more. I swear they should've made a comedy with this guy! Just watch the movie, trust me.
We’ve also got Horace, who looks like Rambo’s copycat!
I have to give credit where it’s due: the movie does a great job at setting the atmosphere and creating the conflict in the first half of the movie. Other than that, it’s hard to find things you can compliment this movie on.
The I Drink Your Blood Show
While I was researching this movie, I found out about The I Drink Your Blood Show. Apparently, there is a 2004 documentary involving the actors who played in the movie, who offer some behind-the-scenes information. I don’t know about you, but that is mind-blowing for me. Such an obscure film to have a documentary made? 33 YEARS LATER? Amazing. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it anywhere to watch, but I will surely continue my searches in the coming days. If you happen to have it, feel free to reply to this email and bless me with it!
Takeaways
Bad movie? Yes. Absolutely worth a watch? Also yes.
GO WATCH IT.