Wednesday, January 11, 2012

BLOOD OF THE VINES: DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL


Blood Of The Vines

Wine Goes To The Movies with

If you spend a lot of online time atTrailersFromHell.com, you probably have an affinity for the low-budget horror films of the 1950s.  Off-kilter story lines, scenery chewing, on-screen gaffes - not a problem!  In fact, bring 'em on!  That's what we came here for.

"Daughter of Dr. Jekyll" is right in your wheelhouse.  It's low-budget horror of the highest degree.

Gloria Talbott learns she is Dr. Jekyll's daughter and, not surprisingly, her life takes a downward turn.  Fearing a split personality which mirrors that of the good doctor/bad doctor, she thinks she's a monster who "prowls the night, lusting for blood," as the trailer indicates.  She's fairly distraught about all this.  She's not sleeping well.  Mysterious stains appear on the nightgown, and it's not spilled wine.  People are beginning to ask questions about the gruesome murders that occur at night after she closes the bedroom door.

The film was released in 1957 on a double bill with "The Cyclops," and that's a great way to watch it even today.  Oddly, both films star Gloria Talbott.  It's that split personality thing.

John Agar - who was apprently in between John Wayne movies at the time - wears a striped jacket that makes him look like a cross between a circus barker and a soda jerk.  I can only guess that he must have shown up at the wrong wardrobe department on the first day of shooting.  Make a drinking game out of his appearances in that silly getup and you may end up with a split personality in addition to a splitting headache in the morning.

Pairing wine with this movie might be as easy as grabbing the first thing you see where you keep your booze.  "John Agar's jacket is driving me to drink!"   But we always take a little more care than that when selecting our pairings.  Not much, but a little more.

Let Gloria Talbott play the bad daughter.  Good Daughter Wines has a Chardonnay to balance out the picture.  It's made from what the winery calls "gently farmed grapes" in cool climate North Coast California vineyards.  There's just enough oak from which to fashion a stake in case things get out of hand.  It's low budget, too - about $11 per bottle.

More drinking daughters:

Farmer's Daughter Wine - From Australia's Mudgee region, northwest of Sydney, the Farmer's Daughter line ranges from $18 to $30.

Channing Daughters Winery - These wines hail from the North Fork of New York's Long Island.  $17 - $42.

Seven Daughters Wine - California wines that pair beautifully with their cheesy website.  $14

Rancher's Daughter - A wine store in Montgomery, Texas featuring only Texas wines.  Operated by a pair of rancher's daughters, no less.




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