A small town doctor mistakenly ingests an experimental drug made from the blood of vampire bats which transforms the kindly medic into a bloodthirsty monster.
Acting
John Beal's genuinely tragic descent from healer to predator.
Practical Effects
Grotesque vampire makeup that slaps harder than it should.
Writing
Pill addiction metaphor accidentally decades ahead of its time.
Director
Paul Landres
John Beal
Dr. Paul Beecher
Coleen Gray
Carol Butler
Kenneth Tobey
Buck Donnelly
Lydia Reed
Betsy Beecher
Dabbs Greer
Dr. Will Beaumont
Herb Vigran
Sgt. George Ryan
Paul Brinegar
Willy Warner
James Griffith
Henry Winston
Raymond Greenleaf
Autopsy Surgeon (uncredited)
Brad Morrow
Tommy (uncredited)
Mauritz Hugo
Joe, the Waiter (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during America's amphetamine and barbiturate boom, the film's pill-addiction horror accidentally mirrored real medical anxieties of the era.
John Beal was a respected stage actor who took this role specifically to break his 'gentleman doctor' typecasting—ironic given the plot.
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