A vampire breaks up a graveyard engagement by murdering a young man and impregnating his fiancée. That woman ends up giving birth to a blood-sucking baby. That baby grows up and tries to hunt down his father to kill him; it sounds like a mix between Rosemary’s Baby (1969), Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 (2012), and Castlevania (2017). John Haye’s 1972 horror film Grave of The Vampire is a notable oddity with its mix of terror, weirdness, and even being quite hilarious at times. Fans of 1970s exploitation and vampire films will not want to miss this forgotten gem.
Grave of The Vampire was released in October 1972 with a mere budget of only $50,000. Having only a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes with one review calling it a “ridiculous low-budget gory horror thriller about vampires,” one might not think to give this film a chance. More likely, this film is so hidden deep in the crevices of forgotten cinema that it never got the recognition it deserves for being a unique and zany take on this horror subgenre.
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The film stars Michael Pataki (Graduation Day), William Smith (Red Dawn) and is written by The Sopranos creator David Chase. The film follows Caleb Croft (Pataki), an infamous vampire, who wakes up from his slumber in the graveyard just in time to catch a glimpse of a young couple’s makeout session in the car. Croft kills the man before impregnating Leslie for reasons that still don’t make sense (who is credited simply as “The Unwilling Mother”). The following day Leslie is in the hospital with terrible pain. Rejecting her doctor’s recommendations to get an abortion because this baby is “not human,” she gives birth to a baby who refuses milk and has rather grey skin.
In one specific scene that stands out, Leslie discovers that her baby won’t drink her milk because he has a thirst for something entirely different: blood. In the scene, Leslie cuts her own breast so that her baby can get a taste of her blood. The juxtaposition of her singing a peaceful lullaby while her baby literally drinks her blood is a chilling yet captivating moment. The scene cuts between a close-up of Leslie using a knife to cut her breast to a close-up of a baby’s licking lips as the blood falls upon them.
After a creepy montage of Leslie’s baby growing up, the film cuts to a dim-lit scene in a college classroom. The camera zooms in on James (Smith), the blood-sucking baby who is now all grown up. It is revealed that he has spent years trying to track down his dad, all while being a self-hating half-vampire himself. To no one’s surprise (as this film is highly predictable), Croft happens to be the night-time professor teaching Mythology, and James sees this as an opportunity to finally kill his dad. At the same time, they both fall in love with Anne (Lyn Peters), a girl in their class, who just so happens to be identical to Croft’s dead vampire wife,, Sarah.
Although being a vampire film, Grave of The Vampire also showcases how no one can escape their family history, ugly or not. James wants to be a normal man, but his bloodline (literally) keeps failing him. This is shown in multiple instances, particularly in his relationship with Anne. He falls in love with her throughout the film but is constantly haunted by his half-vampire roots. While he lusts for her body, sadly, he also lusts for her blood.
With the film’s sleazy and zany first half, the second half is even more eccentric. Croft invites James and Anne, along with some of their other friends, to perform a seance to transfer his dead wife Sarah’s body into Anne. The night then turns into a blood bath, with Croft killing and sucking the blood of every single person, besides James and Anne, who are too busy making love upstairs. As James comes downstairs, he does what he’s been wanting to do for years: murder his father. Unable to escape his family history yet again, the film ends with a close-up of James’ face with his vampire teeth growing in.
With the film being extremely low-budget, the cast and crew did a charming job. Makeup, subtle effects, and the sets seem as though untouched, making the film appear more like a home video at times. The 70s era interior designs, decade-specific clothes, and hair, along with the sepia/red coloring throughout, makes the film extremely enjoyable. The slow pace, along with the odd but hysterical one-liners, makes Grave of The Vampire more of a dark comedy than a horror film, but nonetheless, it is a classic in its own right.
Grave of The Vampire may be a peculiar film with its strange plot, off-the-wall characters, and tight budget, but director John Hayes makes the most of what he has with this cult classic. It is a perfect mix of comedy, blood, and gore, and any vampire fan will have to sink their teeth into this one.
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