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Groovy Vampires from the 1970s
In Dark Shadows, Tim Burton's new goth comedy based on the 1966–1971 horror soap opera, Johnny Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, a 200-year-old vampire who is turned and buried alive in a chained coffinin by a witch in 1752 and accidentally released in 1972.
The timing couldn't be more perfect, not because it's a year after the original ABC series went off air, but because the '70s were arguably the best decade for bloodsuckers. Black vampires, lesbian vampires, X-rated vampires, and even vampires without fangs—the '70s had them all. In honor of this period ode, we present a gallery to sink your teeth into: Groovy Vampires from the 1970s.
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Twins of Evil
Damien Thomas as Count Karnstein and Madeleine Collinson as Frieda Gellhorn in Twins of Evil (1971)
Evil? We think the Count agrees those twins look pretty good.
Daughters of Darkness
Delphine Seyrig as Countess Bathory and Andrea Rau as Ilona Harczy in Daughters of Darkness (1971)
The Countess always keeps a dime she's turned as her lover and servant. As if that wasn't pimp enough, peep her oufit. She's a fish tank platform pump away from being in an Iceberg Slim novel.
The House That Dripped Blood
Ingrid Pitt as Marcilla/Carmilla/Mircalla Karnstein in The Vampire Lovers (1970), Countess Elisabeth Nodosheen in Countess Dracula (1971), and Carla Lind in The House that Dripped Blood (1971)
Fuck milk. Blood does a body good!
Rabid
Marilyn Chambers as Rose in Rabid (1977)
A vampire in a loose sense, Rose (played by porn star Chambers) quenches her thirst for blood using a phallic stinger that shoots out of her armpits. And you thought women with armpit hair were gross.
The Shiver of the Vampires
Dominique as Isolde in The Shiver of the Vampires (1971)
Coffins? So three centuries ago.
Salem's Lot
Reggie Nalder as Kurt Barlow in Salem’s Lot (1979)
Scary down to the blue balls.
Vampyros Lesbos
Soledad Miranda as Countess Nadine Oskudar and Ewa Stromberg as Linda Westinghouse in Vampyros Lesbos (1971)
If there's one thing the '70s are known for it's lesbian vampires, a.k.a. the greatest thing ever to be known for.
Vampyres
Marianne Morris as Fran and Anulka Dziubinska as Miriam in Vampyres (1974)
And again, seductive lesbian vampires. Curating this gallery was clearly hard work.
Ganja & Hess
Duane Jones as Dr. Hess Green and Marleen Clark as Ganja in Ganja & Hess (1973)
This was the 1970s. Somebody had to break out the chest hair.
Count Dracula
Christopher Lee as Count Dracula in Count Dracula (1970), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), One More Time (1970), Scars of Dracula (1970), Dracula AD 1972 (1972), The Satanic Rites Of Dracula (1973), and Dracula and Son (1976)
No offense to Bela Lugosi, but Lee is the GOAT. Kiss the pinky ring, pretenders.
Blacula
William Marshall as Blacula in Blacula (1972)
To all the bigots who pitch a fit whenever a traditionally white character goes black: Suck it.
Martin
John Amplas as Martin Mathias in Martin (1976)
Martin is a dude who's fangless yet convinced he's a vampire. He can't turn into a bat but he certainly has batshit crazy on lock.
Blood for Dracula
Udo Kier as Count Dracula in Blood For Dracula a.k.a. Andy Warhol’s Dracula (1974)
Icy glares like these are how you make plasma popsicles.
Nosferatu the Vampyre
Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula in Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Klaus Kinski—kind of creepy to begin with.
The Night Stalker
Barry Atwater as Janos Skorzeny in The Night Stalker (1972)
To this bloodsucking Las Vegas serial killer, Kolchak is all like: "Talk to the cross!"
Love At First Bite
George Hamilton as Count Vladimir Dracula in Love At First Bite (1979)
Proof that Hamilton's skin wasn't always a leathery shade of orange-brown.
Dracula Sucks
Jamie Gillis as Dracula in Dracula Sucks (1978)
Forget the sexual innuendo of vampires, this porn Drac was straight-up looking for some DSLs.
