20 Exploitation Films You Must See Before You Die

Clearly gunning for Night Of The Living Dead’s closed-in, apocalyptic feel (the protagonists even head into the cellar during the climax) and playing off the then-recent Charles Manson slayings, I Drink Your Blood isn’t always on the money but still delivers a rousing sleazefest with the colour photography and brisk pacing that George Romero’s movie lacked. Critically, though, Romero had better actors, a killer pay-off and, in particular, a more credible set up.

When a local girl is assaulted, blame falls on a group of hippies who call themselves the “sons and daughters of Satan.” After deciding to take the law into his own hands, an old man is doped with “that stuff they call LSD”, beaten and thrown out, which only angers his grandson. Taking blood from a rabid dog’s corpse, the young fella sneaks into the local bakery, injects some fresh-baked pastries and hawks them to the family members, who immediately tool up for a foaming-at-the-mouth rampage.

Among the manifestations of rabies are, of course, the sudden and uncontrollable urge to hack up strangers with an electric carving knife, as well as a pathological fear of water, leading to some amusing scenes of the infected being repelled simply by being splashed. “Do you realize what you’ve done?” asks one horrified character. “Yes,” the grandson replies, “but I hope you won’t tell grandpa.”