Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)

Dracula conspires with a mad doctor to resurrect the Frankenstein Monster.

Director:

Al Adamson

Writers:

William Pugsley (story), Samuel M. Sherman (story)

Stars:

J. Carrol Naish, Lon Chaney Jr., Zandor Vorkov

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
J. Carrol Naish	...	Dr. Frankenstein, aka Dr. Duryea
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Groton (as Lon Chaney)
Zandor Vorkov	...	Count Dracula
Anthony Eisley	...	Mike Howard
Regina Carrol	...	Judith Fontaine
Russ Tamblyn	...	Rico
Jim Davis	...	Police Sgt. Martin
Angelo Rossitto	...	Grazbo
Greydon Clark	...	Strange
Anne Morrell	...	Samantha
William Bonner	...	Biker
Forrest J Ackerman	...	Dr. Beaumont (as Forest J Ackerman)
Maria Lease	...	Joan
John Bloom	...	Frankenstein's Monster
Shelly Weiss	...	The Creature

Storyline

Judith Fontaine (Regina Carrol) is looking for her sister Joanie, who has disappeared into the hippie community of Venice, California. It turns out Joanie has become the victim of Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.), an axe-wielding homicidal maniac working for Dr. Durray (J. Carrol Naish), who is really the last of the Frankensteins and is now running a house of horrors by the beach and is performing experiments on Gorton's victims. One night Count Dracula (Zandor Vorkov) visits the doctor, showing him the original Frankenstein creation that was buried in a nearby graveyard. The doctor revives it and uses it to take revenge on his professional rivals.

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Plot Keywords:

dracula | frankenstein's monster | monster | bound | trash | 

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Taglines:

Sensational sequel to 'The Curse of Frankenstein', which is smashing records throughout the world.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blood Freaks

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Independent International Pictures (I-I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At this point in his career, J. Carrol Naish was very ill and frail and could no longer remember dialogue, so he read it off cue cards. However, he had only one real eye, so in his dialogue closeups you can see one eye moving back and forth, reading the lines, while the other eye remains fixed in position.

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Goofs

Fang marks on security guards are substantially smaller than Dracula's.

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Quotes

[Referring to some hippies on the beach]
Martin: It seems that living near the water brings out the best and worst in us.

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! Part 2 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Say the Word"
Words and Music by J.D. Lobue

User Reviews

Low Budget Monster Mess - But Fun!

This film gets a bad rap from a lot of people. That's understandable, because it's a low budget paste-up job, combining previously shot footage from a uncompleted biker film with the monster team-up. But Dracula Vs. Frankenstein is really a lot of fun -- particularly if you first saw it on late night TV when you were 13 or 14!

Forry Ackerman has a cameo in the film as one of Dracula's victims, so the movie got promoted in Famous Monsters magazine, with "Zandor Vorkov" gracing the cover in his dime store fangs. It was (I believe) the final film appearance of J. Carroll Naish and one of Lon Chaney Jr.'s last roles. Ken Strickfadden's Frankenstein lab equipment is used, and the music is well chosen. Parts of the film are quite moody and effective, with highly competent photograghy considering the budget and haste of production.

To compare this little film with the Hammer films is a bit unfair. No, it cannot match them on any level -- nor was it intended to -- this was drive-in fodder without the budget or resources of England's Hammer and its American partners and distributors. It's too bad none of the major American studios tried to cash in on the 1960's-70's monster boom. Then there might be some truly interesting American monster films worthy of the comparison.