If You’re Going to Watch Only One Satanic, Cannibal, Hippie Horror Film, Make It This One

Cannibalistic, satanic, hippie horror films are not easy to come by, especially ones that feature cannibalistic, satanic hippies that also happen to be infected by rabies. But that’s exactly what you get with David E. Durston‘s 1971 film I Drink Your Blood, which focuses on a group of Charles Manson-esque hippies that worship the devil as they terrorize a tiny town after eating rabies-infested meat pies. One of the first films to ever receive an X-rating for violence, this wild movie revels in its own insanity by taking every classic ’70s horror trope and amplifying it with drugs and disease. Plot-related elements like satanic rituals, animal sacrifices, and a rabid dog’s blood being injected into meat pies — as well as the use of practical effects and the actors performing their own stunts — are what make I Drink Your Blood one of the most bonkers horror films out there.

An exploitative, grindhouse classic inspired by both Charles Manson’s crimes and an attack by rabid wolves on a small town in Iran, Durston’s film showcases a cult of hippies led by a man named Horace Bones (Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury). It opens with the group performing a satanic ritual in the woods. When Sylvia (Arlene Farber), a local girl who befriends cult member Andy (Tyde Kierney), witnesses their ritual, Horace orders the group to catch her, leading to her assault. When she exits the woods the next morning, she is found by her brother Pete (Riley Mills) and bakery owner Mildred (Elizabeth Marner-Brooks). After learning about her assault, Sylvia’s grandfather, Doc Banner (Richard Bowler), confronts the hippie cultists, but they drug him with LSD. Pete decides to get revenge on the hippies for harming his family by lacing the meat pies they had been getting from the bakery with blood from a rabid dog he shot that night. The cultists pick up the infected pies the next day, and, after eating them, they begin to feel the effects of the contaminated blood in their bodies. They go on a violent rampage, losing their minds due to the LSD they’ve been taking mixed with the rabies from the pies. Cue violence, gore, insanity, and foaming at the mouth!

I Drink Your Blood

A group of Satan-worshiping hippies terrorizes a small town until they unknowingly consume meat pies injected with rabies. The infection turns them into rabid, bloodthirsty maniacs, leading to a violent and chaotic rampage. This grindhouse horror film is known for its shocking and gruesome content.

Release Date

May 7, 1971

Director

David E. Durston

Cast

Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury , Arlene Farber , Tyde Kierney , Riley Mills , Elizabeth Marner-Brooks , John Damon , Richard Bowler , Jadin Wong

Runtime

83 Minutes

Writers

David E. Durston

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‘I Drink Your Blood’ Turns Up the Violence to a Ridiculous Degree

I Drink Your Blood is a bloody mess, perfect for anyone craving another gorefest horror film. For a brief moment during its release, I Drink Your Blood became the first film to be granted an X-rating for violence alone, rather than nudity. From cutting off the hand of an innocent woman just trying to help to the decapitation of a cult member to using a wooden stake to perform an abortion, there are many moments in the film that showcase its unhinged violent depictions of the rabid characters.

Before the hippies are poisoned by the meat pies, they perform a ritual in the abandoned hotel they’re staying at. Shelley (Alex Mann) is chosen to be sacrificed, though he passes out after the bottoms of his feet are sliced. They take him upstairs and hang him from the ceiling, where they swing him back and forth as his blood drips down onto the cultists’ faces. After being poisoned, cult member Sue-Lin (Jadin Wong) has another member, Rollo (George Patterson), stab Shelley to death, leaving a bloody corpse with multiple stab wounds. Rollo then tries to attack the other cult members, and he chops Shelley’s leg off and uses it to scare the rest of the hippies while sweating profusely and with a wild look in his eye due to the rabies.

People are murdered in extremely gruesome ways in the film. For example, Doc Banner is strung up by a pitchfork through his throat in a barn, blood streaming down his neck. Another example is when a blonde cult member (Iris Brooks) is found dead after being killed by the construction workers she infected. Her whole body is drenched in blood. At the end of the film, when Horace shows up at the bakery to kill Sue-Lin, rather than letting him slay her with his sword, she sets herself on fire and burns in front of him. It’s all violent and gory and just generally bizarre.

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No Storyline Is Too Bizarre in ‘I Drink Your Blood’

Not only are there moments of brutality towards characters in the film, but there are also scenes where animals are violently killed. In the beginning of the film, a chicken’s neck is broken during the cult’s satanic ritual, and its blood is spilled into a cup for them to drink from. When the cultists take up camp in the hotel, they make a game of killing the rats that are about the place. Rats’ heads are blown off, and they are strung up to be roasted. A bit later in the film, a rabid dog is shot, and it’s shown close up and bleeding from its wound. Finally, at the end of the film, the rabid construction workers that were infected by one of the cultists drag around a bloodied, dead goat. While no animals aside from the chicken (unfortunately) were harmed while making the film (at least, according to Durston), the brutal way the animal deaths are depicted onscreen is enough to make any viewer balk at its derangement.

The story itself in I Drink Your Blood is another wild aspect of the film. The film is literally about satanic hippie cannibals who are poisoned by a rabid dog’s blood and go on a murderous rampage, so, even on paper, the film was designed to feel this wacky. As the movie progresses, all sorts of crazy plot lines and characters add to the grotesque story, including a cult leader with Manson-like qualities, a nymphomanic who drugs an elderly man with LSD, and a woman who believes she is pregnant with the Antichrist.

By the time you’ve watched its 83rd and final minute, it’s pretty clear why I Drink Your Blood remains one of the silliest yet most deranged films ever made. A hidden gem of ’70s horror and violence, it’s the perfect film for any horror fan looking for their next onscreen bloodbath.

I Drink Your Blood is available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.

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