The film was originally not going to feature Dracula at all, much like Le spose di Dracula (1960), due to Christopher Lee becoming increasingly reluctant to reprise the role and the producers not expecting to be able to convince him to do so. Lee's increasing salary demands were also a factor. Ralph Bates would have played the lead. The script was re-written to include Dracula after the producers were finally able to coax Lee back to the role after "Warner-Seven Arts" refused to back this movie without the actor's participation.
Some writers have claimed that Vincent Price was going to play a fourth member of William Hargood's (Geoffrey Keen's) Thrill Seekers, but budget cuts removed the character, so his part was shared among John Carson, Peter Sallis and Keen.
Madeline Smith's first role in a Hammer film. She talked about it during an interview in 2017. "After a meeting with the producer, a scary woman called Aida Young, I was offered a small part in 'Taste the Blood of Dracula'. At the time, I wasn't a horror person. I enjoyed reading spooky stories, stuff by MR James, but I found the films too scary. Mind you, when I was appearing in them, it was just another job." Although she played a prostitute, Smith insists she didn't have a clue what was going on: "It sounds ridiculous, I know, but at that time I was incredibly innocent. I was 19 years old, and I still didn't know what a bordello was in those days. I just thought I was supposed to be a dancer."
This is one of four films released in 1970 in which Christopher Lee played Count Dracula. The others are Il conte Dracula (1970), Controfigura per un delitto (1970) and Il marchio di Dracula (1970).
One of the few Hammer Dracula films that was R-rated, Taste the Blood of Dracula, was not only able to push the envelope with its depiction of nudity, and violence, but also with its dark themes.