I DRINK YOUR BLOOD Midnights This Weekend at The Moolah

“Let it be known, sons and daughters, that Satan was an acid head. Drink from his cup; pledge yourselves. And together, we’ll all freak out.”

I DRINK YOUR BLOOD screens Midnights this weekend (September 16^th and 17th) at The Moolah Theater and Lounge (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108) as part of  Destroy the Brain’s monthly Late Night Grindhouse film series.

When I was 12 years old in 1974, Castle of Frankenstein magazine ran some gory photos from a horror movie from 1970 called I DRINK YOUR BLOOD I was captivated by the shots of decapitated heads being carried around by people foaming at the mouth and one of a young woman caressing a severed hand.  I stared at these photos, knowing I somehow just had to see this movie (Famous Monsters never ran gross pics like that!). 4 or 5 years later, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD played at the Holiday Drive-In on Page Avenue as the last feature of a triple horror bill. I was so stoked! Finally, I was going to see this film! When the film unspooled after midnight, my heart sank. The print screening that night was butchered. All the gory scenes that I had seen photos of were cut out! Not just excised, but I could see and hear the sloppy way they were removed. I was devastated. I was unable to see the uncut I DRINK YOUR BLOOD for almost 25 more years until  Grindhouse Releasing finally released the uncensored version on DVD. It was worth the wait.

I DRINK YOUR BLOOD is the tale of a Mansonesque group of hippies (dig the bell-bottoms and macrame belts!) who break down in some almost-abandoned town. When an old man stumbles onto their satanic doings he gets force fed a dose or two of LSD. His grandson retaliates the next day by inserting blood from a rabid dog into some meat pies which he sells to the hippies (coincidentally his sister also operates the abandoned town’s lone bakery, which the hippies have the nerve to visit after all of the misery they’ve caused). The hippies, with the combination of acid and rabies in their blood stream, all freak out and attack each other and the townspeople…the nympho  has sex with a group of construction workers and they become infected as well. As gruesome and unpleasant as it sounds, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD is actually a funny film, though I’m not sure if it was meant to be a black comedy. With great early ’70’s horror atmosphere, they sure don’t make ’em like this anymore. Director David Durston went on to make a film called STIGMA about a venereal disease with Philip Michael Thomas of Miami Vice fame.

Things to look for in I DRINK YOUR BLOOD:

(1) a multi-cultural band of hippies called SADOS (Sons and Daughters of Satan), which include (a) an old Asian woman with Tarot cards and (b) a crazed, pistol-waving Native American who says things like “Remember, children, that Satan was an acidhead.”

(2) an unusually cheesy score (“ooooWEEEEoooo”) that sounds like something off one of those Halloween records they sell to kids.

(3) Lynn Lowry (who’s not in the credits!), future star of David Cronenberg’s SHIVERS and George Romero’s THE CRAZIES who whacks off another woman’s hand with an electric knife.

(4) Lots of fake-Satanic rituals performed by the aforementioned band of hippies. (at least some of the animal-killing scenes seem real, including the let’s-kill-all-the-rats-in-this-deserted-house sequence.)

(5) The coolest band of rabid construction workers ever captured on film.

About ten years ago I attended the Cinema Wasteland Convention in Cleveland and had my original I DRINK YOUR BLOOD/I EAT YOUR SKIN (a popular double-bill in 1970) poster signed by David Durston (who’s since passed away) and Lynn Lowry. And I still have that issue of Castle of Frankenstein.

TICKETS ARE $7 AND YOU CAN BUY THEM ONLINE VIA MOOLAH’S WEBSITE.

THE PSYCHOTRONIC PRE-SHOW STARTS AROUND 11:30P WITH THE FILM STARTING AT MIDNIGHT.

A Facebook invite for Friday’s show can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/294457607582629/

A Facebook invite for Saturday’s show can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/1776185289332819/

The Moolah Theatre & Lounge serves alcohol until 2:30AM! Feel free to show up early and stay late to have some drinks and get friendly with the amazing Moolah staff.

Destroy the Brain’s site can be found HERE

http://www.destroythebrain.com/