Blood Of The Vines: Bela Bela Kill A Fella

Pairing wine with movies!  See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell.  What else are you doing while stuck at home?

Bela Lugosi served as the mad scientist in 1940's The Devil Bat.  His Dr. Carruthers was tetched in the head by a previous bad business decision, an even worse decision than opening a restaurant just as the pandemic hit.  He gets his revenge by developing jumbo-sized bats - the mammals - to attack and kill his perceived enemies.  He also devises a special after shave and trains the bats to go after it.  Then, he manages to get his targets to wear the scent.  Jesus, I'm tired already.  Agatha Christie could have called it The Aqua Velva Murders. 

For pairing with a Bela Lugosi movie, you have to be ready for a Bela Lugosi wine.  His family makes vino and sells it under Bela's name - despite Dracula's insistence that "I don’t drink … wine."  I'll bet he'd go for a blood-red Argentine Malbec, though, with Bela Lugosi's name on the label.

In the 1935 talkie Mark of the Vampire, Lugosi plays another bloodsucker - Count Mora.  After extracting the life from Sir Karell Borotyn, the count wants to go after Borotyn's daughter, a girl who apparently has had to fight off vampires like flies at a picnic.  Maybe it's her perfume?  Pardon my spoiler, but Lugosi's Count Mora turns out to be an actor in a charade.  To no one's surprise, Lugosi is thrilled with the job he turned in and plans to make vampire roles his life's work.  Cue Ed Wood.

A vampire movie calls for Vampire Merlot.  The California wine runs about 15 bucks and comes in a regular bottle, cape not included.

Scared to Death, from 1947, has nothing to do with the prison-doc "Scared Straight." However, after watching the Gothic thriller you probably will have nothing to do with death masks, mental hospitals, medical experiments, Nazis, Bela Lugosi or dwarves, ever again. 

Before you die of fright, crack open a bottle of Nevermore Pinot Noir, from Oregon's Gothic Wines.  Personally, I think of Willamette Valley wine country as a bit sunnier than the word "gothic" connotes.  Is the tasting room at 1313 Mockingbird Lane?  The price tag isn’t very scary - just $24.


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