Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Leofwine_draca I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this troubled production after hearing so many bad things about it. Sure, it's not a brilliant film by any means, but it's nowhere near as confused as it's made out to be and there are plenty of things going on to retain the interest. The film is one of those old-fashioned adventure yarns, set in a foreign country as a plot with our British heroes encountering mad cults on a Greek island. It may be nonsensical at times but to make up for these lapses there are also some fairly exciting moments to be had too. And above all this it's still worth watching to hear Edward Woodward's hilarious speech equating vampirism with sexual perversion - psychological mumbo-jumbo at its most unintentionally funny! A good cast also helps to compensate for the negative aspects of this film. It's nice to see that one of the heroic leads is black, something very rare for a film from this period. I can't actually think of another British horror film where the protagonist is. Patrick Macnee is on hand to lend a much-needed air of authenticity but sadly falls off a cliff after being struck by polystyrene boulders in one amusing moment. Patrick Mower is good as the tormented man who falls under the curse of the cult while Edward Woodward and Peter Cushing both put in good cameos, Cushing excelling in a scene in which he is called upon to cry, totally convincing us in doing so.Other things to look out for include the typical awful fashions; some out-of-place music playing over the action and a weird, psychedelic orgy which gives the film the opportunity to show lots and lots of gratuitous naked women. There are also a couple of smashing action bits in there too, the first in which Sekka is forced to take on four thugs single-handedly, the second being the fraught rooftop finale which ends in tragedy. Also catch the dramatic speech at the end, literally show-stopping. The vampirism angle is actually kept to a bare minimum in this film, the menace working best when it is unnamed and faceless. This film actually reminded me of RACE WITH THE DEVIL, with tourists being hunted down by rabid cult followers. It's flawed, yes, but interesting to watch for all the above reasons.

lurch99-198-323833 People under a certain age may find it puzzling that once upon a time being gay was considered a very big bad deal, very "infra dig," the utmost discretion had to be exercised. We see that in "Bloodsuckers" where the relationship between the doomed professor and the Senegalese guy (or at least the actor was Senegalese) is just hinted at in the mildest possible terms. Could have been fun to delve into that in connection with vampirism, but then, "Could have been..." could be this movie's epitaph. This was certainly a different "take" on the vampire genre, going the psychological route, even bringing in an "expert" late in the going to explain everything (like the Simon Oakland character in "Psycho") which unfortunately bogged things down a bit. I thought it took a while for "Bloodsuckers" to "settle down" and focus on the story; before that we had a seemingly endless "orgy" sequence (or whatever was supposed to be going on) which dated itself badly with it's "groovy" soundtrack and "kaleidoscopic" special effects—it seems whenever a movie tries to be "trendy," a few decades later it seems ancient. Don't know if it was intentional or not but the action had a kind of clipped, perfunctory feel to it---if you've ever seen the old Monty Python sketch with the military character barking "Right, get on with it"---felt like that a little. (Not surprising that the director disowned it, as per IMDb.) Seemed a shame that the two best actors, Patrick Macnee from "The Avengers" and Peter Cushing from those great old Hammer horror flicks, had so little to do. Imogen Hassall as the Greek vampiress didn't impress me much; since she had hardly any lines, couldn't they just get some hot-looking local Greek chick and let her "strut her stuff"? My favorite scene was probably Richard telling off all the red-robed "toffs" near the end. On the whole I'd say it was worth a look, especially since it didn't cost me any money (a friend gave me a copy to watch).... what I personally found interesting is that a few years before this movie was made, Greece had a military coup which lasted until the mid-1970's, so that sinister Colonel character had a nice built-in "back story." But of course I'm sure the filmmakers had to promise not to put the regime in a bad light to be allowed to film there….

Jonathon Dabell Incense For The Damned is a poor, hastily-made and incredibly muddled British horror film that has acquired a small cult following. I am certainly not among this group of foolhardy fans - indeed, if I had things my way, this awful little film would be quietly disposed of in some dusty vault, and brought out only for die-hard fans of the stars so that they may tick it off their list. Even the film's director - Robert Hartford-Davis - was so disappointed with the movie that he refused to put his name on the credits, using instead the pseudonym Michael Burrowes. When the man who MADE it can't bear to be associated with the film, you know that it must be pretty bad!Oxford student Richard Fountain (Patrick Mower) is on a working holiday in Greece when he mysteriously disappears. Richard's friends back in Oxford are concerned for him, so they set out to Greece to find him. Tony (Alexander Davion), Bob (Johnny Sekka) and Richard's girlfriend Penelope (Madeleine Hinde), soon discover that their lost pal seems to have headed off to the tiny, isolated island of Hydra in the Aegean Sea. Upon arriving at Hydra, they stumble across some kind of vampire sect led by the beautiful but deadly Chriseis (Imogen Hasall). It seems that Chriseis and her minions are murderers who drink the blood of their innocent victims, and that Richard may have been drugged or brainwashed into joining their pagan acts. The friends pursue Chriseis to her death and rescue the bewildered Richard, returning him to Oxford. But all is not well back in the UK, as Richard does not seem to have recovered from his ordeal - in fact, it is obvious to us (though not, it seems, the other characters) that Richard himself is now a vampire.What drew me to the film was the fact that it "stars" Peter Cushing, Patrick Macnee and Edward Woodward. I consider these three actors to be among the finest talents Britain has produced (they certainly have each made telling contributions within the horror genre, if nothing else). It is with huge disappointment, therefore, that I must report they all have absurdly brief cameo roles that could easily have been cut from the film without making a hoot of difference. to the overall story. Talk about false advertising!! But that's not all that is wrong with Incense For The Damned. It suffers even further as a result of silly psychedelic sex-and-drug-abuse sequences, a confused script, ultra-low production values, and choppy editing. At least the Greek scenes highlight some pleasant locations - competently shot by Desmond Dickinson - but on virtually every other level Incense For The Damned is a damned mess! The film was completed in 1970, shelved until 1976, and all but forgotten soon after its belated release. Things like that happen to movies for a reason - and if you watch Incense For The Damned it won't take you long to figure out why it has faded into obscurity.

Infofreak "Oh, this looks good" I thought scanning the DVD slick of 'Bloodsuckers'. Horror legend Peter Cushing, 'The Avengers' Patrick Macnee, Edward Woodward just before 'The Wicker Man', plus Patrick Mower, who was in 'The Devil Rides Out' and Alex Davion from 'The Plague Of The Zombies', two of the best and most underrated Hammer movies. Well nothing could prepare me for how poor it turned out to be! Even the worst Hammer movie I've seen is ten times better than this. It's confusing AND boring, with way too much narration and production values that make it look like an episode of 'The Champions' or some other half forgotten 60s/70s TV show. Cushing is hardly in it, Woodward even less (one scene), and the highlight is a donkey chase! I'm not kidding! The disc I watched included a 6 minutes deleted scene of a psychedelic drug orgy which wasn't used in the final cut. Too bad because it's better than anything that was used. Director Robert Hartford-Davies ('The Yellow Teddybears') apparently disowned this movie and I don't blame him one bit!