Incense for the Damned
1970, UK, Directed by Robert Hartford-Davis
Colour, Running Time: 79 minutes
BBC2 Broadcast, Video: 1.33:1, Audio: Mono
Discovering that a college friend, Richard Fountain, seems to have gotten into some trouble while staying in Greece, a party of Oxford students head off to locate and bring the politically embarrassing toff back to England. After some investigation it appears that Richard has become involved in sex, drugs and black magic (sounds like he didn’t need their help to me) and has developed an infatuation for a Greek babe with a fetish for biting necks to induce orgasm. Following a struggle with his drug influenced state, the Greek babe, and some locals who are quite interested in sex with one of the girls, they manage to get him back on a plane to the UK but the problems don’t seem to be over.
The film had a troubled production, being shelved for several years, censored, and having the director remove his name from the credits. Taking the premise of vampirism and providing a neurological, sexually-deviant explanation while building a chase story over the top and adding a touch of commentary regarding academic (and therefore, state) control over the individual seems reasonable enough, but it’s executed in a sloppy manner at times and it doesn’t seem to be sure which direction it wants to take the vampire concept. The opening discussion is an example of some of the inadequate workmanship, the editing resulting in an amateurish exchange between characters that makes it look like a Z movie (though perhaps sufficiently competent shots weren’t supplied to the editor to work with?). I did love the orgy sequence, kaleidoscopic images of people mating with each other, smoking pot, then murder, scored with psychedelic rock music. I also thought the Oxford dinner rebellious speech and consequential scuffle was memorable, plus the abundant location shooting lends an air of authenticity and visual appeal, but there are not enough pluses to make it a proficient film overall.
Surprisingly Peter Cushing and Edward Woodward were roped in to help, both receiving notable billing in the opening credits, and both similarly being on screen for only a few minutes each. They add a touch of class to something that barely deserved it (Woodward’s turn as a slightly-too-enthusiastic professor explaining the perverse nature of certain sexual behaviour is pretty good). Imogen Hassall also did a suitable job of playing the silent but noticeably mad Greek goddess (unfortunately Hassall committed suicide a few years later). BBC2’s screening was a rough looking cropped print of what I believe is the edited version. Something Weird, the American label, did their best to make this worth picking up on disc by combining it with the 1965 low budget film, Blood Thirst, and quite a few extras, but don’t expect to enjoy it too much.