The demon with the bloody hands
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The demon with the bloody hands |
| Original title | Blood of the Vampire |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1958 |
| length | 87 minutes |
| Age rating |
FSK 18 (theatrical version) FSK 16 (shortened version) |
| Rod | |
| Director | Henry Cass |
| script | Jimmy Sangster |
| production |
Robert S. Baker Monty Berman |
| music | Stanley Black |
| camera | Monty Berman |
| cut | Douglas Myers |
| occupation | |
| |
The demon with the bloody hands (original title: Blood of the Vampire ) is a British horror film from 1958 . The screenplay was written by Jimmy Sangster , directed by Henry Cass and Donald Wolfit , and Barbara Shelley and Vincent Ball played the leading roles. It was produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman .
action
prolog
In 1874 a man was buried in Transylvania. As he is mistaken for a vampire, a wooden stake is driven into his heart with a large wooden hammer. A hunchbacked, hobbling, mute man, whose right eye sits a little deeper than his left, kills the undertaker and digs up the man's body again. He later visits an older man whom he pays to bring the body that has just been excavated back to life. When the older man demands more money from the hunchback than agreed, the latter stabs the man with a small knife.
Six years later
The doctor Dr. John Pierre is charged with negligent homicide because he was the first doctor to perform a blood transfusion on a person who died in the process. He is found guilty and is due to be taken to a prison island. In the dungeon of the court, John is visited by his wife Madeleine Duval, who promises him that she will arrange for his release and gives him a pendant with a picture of her as a goodbye. Strangely enough, John is picked up by guards and taken to a mental institution in a carriage. The driver is the hunchbacked, mute man.
Arriving at the institution, John makes the acquaintance of the sadistic guard Wetzler, who takes the trailer from him. Then John is put in a cell with Kurt Urach, who says he is also innocent. Kurt tells John that the conditions in the institution are inhuman and that one inmate mysteriously dies there every week. Later, John, Kurt and the rest of the prisoners have to dig graves in the prison yard, although no one has died yet. When John and Kurt are back in the cell, a screaming man is dragged down the aisle by two guards. Kurt tells John that the prisoner went to Dr. Callistratus, the head of the institution, and that this one decides about life and death. Kurt also says that he knows a way to escape from the asylum.
The next day, John also becomes Dr. Callistratus brought. It turns out that Dr. Callistratus is the man who was buried at the beginning of the film. The hunchbacked, mute man is called Carl and is Callistratus' servant. Dr. Callistratus tells John that he was taken to the asylum for trying to pump someone's blood into someone else's body, and Callistratus himself has been working on it for a long time. From now on, John is no longer a prisoner, but also works in the institution as an assistant to Dr. Callistratus. John and the doctor find out that only certain blood types match.
Without John knowing anything about it, Dr. One day Callistratus found a prisoner in the basement for a gruesome experiment. He and Carl cut the prisoner's carotid artery and let his blood flow through a tube into a container. Then Dr. Callistratus puts the tube on his own arm and has the prisoner's blood pumped into his body. Carl suddenly catches Dr. Callistratus' curious housekeeper as she sneaks into the basement. Dr. Callistratus then has Carl chained her to the wall in order to carry out experiments on her.
Madeleine could meanwhile determine that John's arrest warrant was forged. His case is therefore reopened with the result that John is acquitted. John, who has not yet heard about this, one day also becomes curious about what is going on in the basement. He tries to sneak into the cellar, but is stopped by Carl. John tries to get past him, which ends in a fight with Carl. Finally, Carl goes for John with a knife, but is stopped by Dr. Callistratus held up. Later, Dr. Callistratus was briefed on John's acquittal by a man named Monsieur Auron. Monsieur Auron is very upset because he signed John's arrest warrant. Dr. Callistratus wants to cover everything up. He tells John that his case has been reopened, but tells John that his release has not been approved. John, who was only motivated by the hope of being released soon, for Dr. Callistratus goes to work at night with Kurt. John tells Kurt that he is now working for Callistratus and that Kurt should tell him about the opportunity to escape. Kurt doesn't trust John at first, but John can finally convince him. Kurt tells him that he has a key to unlock the cell door and a rope to climb over the wall. However, since dogs are chained in the yard and they bark as soon as they see a person, they have to be very careful. They manage to get out of the cell and can overpower a security guard. Kurt arrives in the yard, but Wetzler and Dr. Callistratus held up. Callistratus knew of the outbreak and has so far done nothing to make John understand the futility of the escape. He operates a lever through which the dogs are released. Kurt tries to climb over the wall, but is pulled down by the dogs and torn to pieces.
Madeleine is told that not only Kurt but also John was killed in the outbreak. She becomes suspicious and applies to be the new housekeeper at Callistratus. He hires her immediately because he doesn't know that she is John's wife. Suddenly she sees John and he sees her. During the night, John manages to bend the bars of his cell. He sneaks in without the dogs and Dr. Callistratus noticing him, walks into the courtyard and climbs into Madeleine's room. The two hug. But John tells her to go away as she will be in danger if Dr. Callistratus finds out who she is. Carl suddenly knocks on the door and John hides. Carl asks Madeleine with gestures down to Dr. Callistratus to come. He spots John and the open window, but pretends he hasn't seen anything. As Madeleine at Dr. Callistratus has arrived, she also meets Monsieur Auron there, who recognizes her. He later comes into her room and tells Madeleine that he knows who she is. Suddenly he kisses her and tries to rape her. But Carl comes into the room and saves Madeleine. He wants to strangle Monsieur Auron, but Callistratus comes into the room. Then Monsieur Auron tells Dr. Callistratur that Madeleine is John's wife. Callistratus tells Karl to take Monsieur Auron outside. Later Callistratus leads Madeleine into the cellar, where he shows her his gruesome experiments. He frozen a man in a block of ice, removed the heart of another and replaced it with a kind of artificial heart. When he finally shows her the body of Monsieur Auron, whom he recently killed, Madeleine passes out.
John is still in the yard. He digs up Kurt's coffin, but finds that it is empty. Suddenly Wetzler appears, who is trying to impale John with a bayonet. After a fight with Wetzler, the bayonet gets stuck in the coffin lid. Wetzler falls exactly on the bayonet and impales himself. Then John also goes to the basement, where Madeleine is already chained. Dr. Callistratus orders Carl to chain John too. Carl hesitates at first, but then obeys the order. Then Callistratus orders him to tie Madeleine on a couch. Carl refuses and threatens him with his knife. However, Callistratus shoots him and ties Madeleine himself. He tells John and Madeleine that six years ago he was mistaken for a vampire and that a stake was driven into his heart. However, he invented a drug that kept his body alive and was resuscitated by a heart transplant . However, the drug gave him a blood disease, which is why he is experimenting with blood. Then he fetches a couch on which Kurt, who was badly beaten up and disfigured by the dogs, is lying. Callistratus also wants to take blood from him. John tells Kurt to hold Callistratus' arm, which Kurt does. Eventually, however, Kurt dies. John can free Madeleine and take Callistratus' firearm. They force him to let them both go, which Callistratus does. When John, Madeleine and Dr. Callistratus are in the yard, Carl suddenly gets up again. He runs upstairs to take revenge on Callistratus, but is shot by the guards, but with the last of his strength can pull the lever that releases the dogs. The dogs pounce on Dr. Callistratus and tear him apart. John and Madeleine watch in shock and finally flee.
criticism
"Boring, repulsive horror film, at best involuntarily funny."
“Horror film, which is based on the style of the films of the Hammer Studios, whose script is due to Hammer regular Jimmy Sangster. Largely without supernatural elements, there is neither a vampire nor a demon to marvel at, as the original or German title would have you believe. Instead, in addition to the obligatory shock elements, seasoned British (theater) actors such as Donald Wolfit in the role of the crazy researcher and Victor Maddern as the unforgettable, humpbacked assistant Carl delight. "
Publications
In the United Kingdom, the film opened in theaters on August 26, 1958. It was released in German theaters on December 9, 1958. However, the film was not released on VHS in Germany . He was also not shown on free TV. It only ran a few times on pay TV. For this reason it was largely unknown in Germany. It was only released on February 28, 2008 by the EMS label as part of the Der Fantastische Film series in a restored version on DVD.
Frames
German theatrical version
The German theatrical version of The Demon with the Bloody Hands was approved for ages 18+ and was cut by about 6 seconds. Part of the scene in which Dr. Callistratus draws blood from a prisoner. This version of the film also premiered on pay TV on 13th Street .
US theatrical version
The US version was censored in two places. One scene is missing in which bloody body parts can be seen and another in which a woman is being groped on the breast. A total of approx. 35 seconds are missing.
German DVD version
The German DVD by ems has been cut in three places. A camera panning over a table with body parts, a scene with chained women that could be seen on the German cinema poster and the penetration of a transfusion needle into the throat are missing. A total of approx. 1 minute and 36 seconds are missing.
Uncut version
The uncut version is approx. 87 minutes long and was released on DVD by Artus Films in France under the title Le sang du vampire . However, this version has a blurred, dark image and a very narrow image section.
Web links
- The demon with the bloody hands in the online movie database
- Blood of the Vampire in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The demon with the bloody hands. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Criticism on kino.de
- ^ Entry on the DVD from EMS in the online film database
- ↑ Entry on the cut theatrical version in the online film database
- ↑ Entry on the cut pay TV broadcast in the online film database
- ↑ Entry on the cut US version in the online film database
- ^ Entry on the uncut French DVD by Artus Film in the online film database