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Film buff finds lost 1968 vampire TV movie that was rumored to be so scary it was ordered destroyed
NY Post ^ | 5/24/26 | Brandon Cruz

Posted on 05/25/2026 1:45:43 AM PDT by Libloather

A film buff found a lost 1968 British TV movie about vampires that sparked a legend it was so terrifying it was marked for destruction, a preservation group announced.

“No Such Thing as a Vampire” — one of six episodes from the short-lived 1960s BBC anthology series “Late Night Horror” — has been missing for more than half a century after it scarred viewers and caused an uproar that prompted the network to not only kill the show.

But what is now believed to be the last surviving copy of the gory movie was recently discovered by English film-buff and cinematic engineer Darren Payne, the film preservation group Film is Fabulous! announced on Saturday.

“I am really passionate about this episode being seen again,” Payne said, according to the group.

The newly re-discovered horror film will screen publicly for the first time since 1969 at Europe’s “Grindfest” horror festival this September, the group said.

From the 1950s through the 1970s, BBC routinely erased old broadcasts to reuse expensive tapes, a cost-cutting policy that wiped out an estimated 70% of its programming throughout those two decades, according to an estimate by the British Film Institute.

But the total disappearance of Late Night Horror’s six episodes, which was canceled by the BBC after numerous viewers called in to the network complain it was far too horrific, fueled a darker theory that the network deliberately destroyed the copies because the content was too disturbing at the time, according to Atlas Obscura.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: History; Music/Entertainment; Science; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: destroyed; movie; movies; scary; vampire

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To: Libloather

Probably considered a comedy now...


21 posted on 05/25/2026 4:05:42 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it! I want lower taxes.)
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To: Libloather

I thought that Jack Palance made a scary vampire in Bram Stoker’s Dracula - 1973 television movie directed by Dan Curtis


22 posted on 05/25/2026 4:45:04 AM PDT by trebb (So many fools - so little time...)
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To: Blennos

they could mean emotionally scarred viewers.

Not “scared viewers”


23 posted on 05/25/2026 4:55:06 AM PDT by Cronos (Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.)
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To: Libloather

I’m sure it’s a hype marketing ploy/LARP like Blair Witch. I hope it does well.


24 posted on 05/25/2026 5:04:29 AM PDT by IllumiNaughtyByNature (Polls are designed to sell more ads & polls only. If it's not a horse race the money dries up.)
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To: jocon307

I knew a guy once who had SATIN tattooed across his forehead. Meant to be SATAN.


25 posted on 05/25/2026 5:18:47 AM PDT by weezel
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To: Blennos

Well, maybe they were scarred! Scarred for life!.................


26 posted on 05/25/2026 5:42:32 AM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: Eccl 10:2

Steered - damn, can’t anyone spell? 😜


27 posted on 05/25/2026 5:58:19 AM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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To: Eccl 10:2

Skeered- damn, can’t anyone spell? 😜


28 posted on 05/25/2026 5:58:39 AM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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To: Cronos

“they could mean emotionally scarred viewers.”

Just let em’ roll man.


29 posted on 05/25/2026 6:37:31 AM PDT by dljordan (Yeah, I'm a BooYou must be able to hit the bullseyemer and it's all my fault you whiny little bitch.)
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To: Blennos

scarred is fine. Now maybe they meant scared. But Plenty of scary things leave people scarred.


30 posted on 05/25/2026 6:46:11 AM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: Libloather

Sounds like it might get a PG today


31 posted on 05/25/2026 6:57:41 AM PDT by fso301
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To: Libloather

32 posted on 05/25/2026 7:15:47 AM PDT by Bratch
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

33 posted on 05/25/2026 7:23:58 AM PDT by Sirius Lee ("Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.)
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To: Blennos
Mebbe the horror was so profound it wounded them deeply and left permanent emotional and existential scars. It scarred viewers?

(Tongue in cheek, of course.)

34 posted on 05/25/2026 7:46:25 AM PDT by LouAvul (Cleaning your home with a dog in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.)
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To: Libloather
so terrifying it was marked for destruction, a preservation group announced.

Sounds like a publicity stunt to me.

35 posted on 05/25/2026 7:56:35 AM PDT by libertylover (The HBM (Has Been Media) is almost all AGENDA-DRIVEN and HATE-DRIVEN, not-truth driven)
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To: Libloather
In 1961, there was a summer replacement series called "Great Ghost Tales" that ran for 13 episodes.

The episode called "The Wendigo" was the scariest thing I have ever seen or could imagine. The show was live, there are no tapes. I was 11, but people who watched that episode still remember it.

36 posted on 05/25/2026 8:14:16 AM PDT by Jim Noble (Assez de mensonges et des phrases)
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To: Jim Noble

“The episode called “The Wendigo” was the scariest thing I have ever seen or could imagine. The show was live, there are no tapes. I was 11, but people who watched that episode still remember it.”

I saw it still remember it. Also one or two other episodes I remember. One I think was called the “Monkey’s Paw”


37 posted on 05/25/2026 8:18:43 AM PDT by nomorelurker
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To: Jim Noble

Careful. You may have a touch of the wendigo psychosis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo

Back in the day, ‘Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things’ was true horror. Watched it again. Too much fluff and overacting. Gotta wait for the end.


38 posted on 05/25/2026 8:26:33 AM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: Blennos

Looks like it scared ‘em too.


39 posted on 05/25/2026 9:04:25 AM PDT by Savage Beast (When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the people are ready, the hero appears.)
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To: Libloather

1977’s “Count Dracula” was the best I’ve seen. I saw it as a kid on PBS and there scenes that still float into my head every once in a while.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075882/


40 posted on 05/25/2026 10:58:56 AM PDT by Retrofitted
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