I Drink Your Blood is a 1971 American hippie exploitation horror film written and directed by David E. Durston, produced by Jerry Gross, and starring Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, Jadine Wong, and Lynn Lowry.

The film centers on a small town that is overrun by rabies-infected members of a Satanic hippie cult after a revenge plot goes horribly wrong.

The story was inspired by reports of an incident in a mountain village in Iran in which a pack of rabid wolves attacked a schoolhouse, infecting people with rabies.

Principal photography took place in Sharon Springs, New York over eight weeks, with the cast consisting of mostly unknown and amateur actors.

I Drink Your Blood was marketed and released as a double feature with Del Tenney's previously unreleased 1964 film Zombies, which Gross had acquired and retitled I Eat Your Skin.

I Drink Your Blood was one of the first films to receive an X-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America based on violence rather than on nudity.

Mildred seeks help from her boyfriend Roger Davis, leader of a construction crew working on a nearby dam.

Pete takes some of the dead dog's blood, then injects it into meat pies at the bakery and sells them to the cult members.

Banner, Oakes, and Roger soon discover that the entire construction crew is infected with rabies, and are pursued by the mob until they reach a water-filled quarry, which frightens the attackers off.

Durston had previously directed several sexploitation films and American Broadcasting Company's financially successful TV series Tales of Tomorrow (1951-1953).

[7] For three weeks, Durston struggled with writer's block until reading a newspaper article on an incident involving a mountain village in Iran.

According to Durston, the article described an incident where a pack of rabid wolves attacked a schoolhouse occupied by eighteen to nineteen children and two teachers.

[4][9] Using the high publicity generated from the trial, Durston rewrote the script, creating the character Horace Bones,[10] a Manson-like leader of a Satanic cult of hippies that terrorizes the town.

[4][11] According to Durston, the character Horace Bones created a real threat to the town as well as adding scenes that genuinely shocked the audience.

The film was distinctive for its multi-ethnic cast, with members of the Satanic gang portrayed by black, white, Chinese and Indian actors.

For the film's major villain, Horace Bones, actor and Indian dancer Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury was cast.

[15] Lowry would eventually star in such films as George A. Romero's The Crazies, Radley Metzger's Score, David Cronenberg's Shivers and Paul Schrader's remake of Cat People.

[16][17][18] Principal photography for I Drink Your Blood commenced later that year and was shot on location during a period of eight consecutive weeks in Sharon Springs, New York.

[21] I Drink Your Blood was marketed and released as a double feature with Del Tenney's 1964 film Zombies,[Note 1] which had been retitled I Eat Your Skin by Gross after he had acquired it.

[4][26] As a part of his deal with Gross, Durston did not receive a percentage of the film's profits, but was paid double his established directing salary.

[10] I Drink Your Blood was one of the first films to receive an X-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America based on violence rather than nudity.

The release added new audio commentary and interviews with the film's cast and crew, the original theatrical trailer and radio spots.

Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford in their book Sleazoid Express called it "the pinnacle of the blood horror movie", praising Bhaskar's performances as well as the film's direction, violence, and soundtrack.

[36] Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times praised the film, calling it "a tour de force of a caliber not equaled since the similar The Night of the Living Dead".

[38] Scott Weinberg from DVD Talk wrote that the film is "Energetic, sloppy and entirely watchable... [It is] true-blue camp all the way.

However, Guarisco also stated that the film manages to overcome its flaws through the delivery of its premise, summarizing, "In the end, I Drink Your Blood is too demented and rough-edged for the casual viewer, but it will delight horror fans with a sweet tooth for schlock".

[5][6][16] It bears some resemblance to several later films, including David Cronenberg's Rabid (1976) and George Romero's The Crazies (1973),[44] which starred I Drink Your Blood actress Lynn Lowry and the latter was remade in 2010.