Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971) User Reviews

Only the most dedicated horror fans need apply. Others beware!

[capkronos · 4/10 · 8 May 2003]

BLOOD SEEKERS was Adamson's unfinished gore epic that was filmed in the late 60s. He decided to shoot framing scenes adding the whole Dracula-Frankenstein angle later on, and the whole package goes as follows...

Mad Dr. Frankenstein (J. Carroll Naish) is busy at work reconstructing dead bodies while retarded manservant Groton (Lon Chaney, Jr.) spends most of the time whimpering and petting a puppy. When the doctor injects Groton with a special serum it transforms him into a lurking, laughing, sweating, beach-bunny-decapitating, axe murderer. The cops are already after them, but even more troubles arise when the echo-voiced Count Dracula (Zandor Vorkov) arrives and blackmails the mad doc into resurrecting the Frankenstein monster and giving him the blood of his victims!

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, a lounge singer (Regina Carroll) performs a lounge act called "She Travels Light." They try to make it look like it's a big production number by filming it in a large auditorium, but we only see an audience of about four people. Miss Carrol gets news of her sister's disappearance and heads off to Venice Beach looking for answers. She goes to a club, is slipped LSD in her coffee, has a substandard 70s trip out scene, then teams up with three hippies (led by Anthony Eisley) to find out what's going on.

Possibly Adamson's most famous film, and even though it's cheap, silly, trashy and completely nonsensical, there's enough going on here (and an interesting enough cast) to qualify it as a must see to die-hard horror fans. The cast is just overloaded with familiar faces! Aside from those already mentioned, Russ Tamblyn, Jim Davis, Forry Ackerman, Angelo Rossitto, Gary Kent and other swell folks appear and future director Greydon Clark (of SATAN'S CHERRLEADERS fame) also has a small role. If none of those names are ringing a bell, then you may not be as amused by what you see here.

Side note--Some nudity and violence seem to have been removed so it could pass with a PG rating.

So bad

[13Funbags · 2/10 · 11 April 2019]

This movie has it all. Bad writing, terrible acting, a middle aged man that knows everything about the local kids, a pointless love story and horribly dubbed sound. At one point the sound of a car door opening is heard over the 3 motorcycles that are 2 feet away. It's got an unrecognizable Russ Tamblyn, a guy I swore was Delbert from Married with Children and a Dracula that looks like a member of Kiss. This time Dr. Frankenstein has a gun but he's not the expert sharp shooter that most doctors in these terrible movies are. There's lots of cleavage and side boob. Even a dead boob. All that being said, it's Lon Cheney's best acting ever. Because he never speaks. I love watching the elderly Cheney easily murder groups of people with the ax he can't even swing. This may be the worst Frankenstein movie and that's saying a lot.

Sad End For Two Fine Actors!

[bsmith5552 · 3/10 · 3 August 2002]

"Dracula vs Frankenstein" has got to rank near the top of the all-time worst films list. A cheap independent quickie obviously meant for the drive-in circuit, its only redeeming grace are the many down on their luck veteran performers in the cast.

J. Carroll Naish, confined to a wheelchair, plays yet another relative of the original Dr. Frankenstein called Dr. Durea. He and his mute assistant Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.) are still at it, murdering unsuspecting young girls for experimentation from their secret location in a House of Horrors located in an amusement park. Into the mix comes Count Dracula (Zandar Vorkov) who promises to revive the famous monster (John Bloom) in return for the evil doctor's help in developing a serum to make Dracula invincible. Heroine Judith Fontaine (Regina Carrol) enters the picture looking for her missing sister. She is aided in her search by hero Anthony Eisley and cop Jim Davis. Along the way she encounters evil biker Russ Tamblyn. Even famed magazine publisher Forest J. Ackerman appears proving that he should have stuck to magazines.

Well you would think with such a cast of seasoned veterans the picture would have been better. I hate to think what it would have been without their participation. The acting other than from Naish, Chaney, Davis and Eisley is just plain dreadful. Carrol who must have been the producer's girlfriend, is just plain awful. Vorkov as Dracula is laughable and the Frankenstein monster's face looks like a roasted marshmallow. The "climatic" battle between Dracula and the monster is a hoot, when you can see it in the poorly lit setting.

The production "values" of this film are non-existent. And it's really sad to see such veteran performers as Naish and Chaney (in the final film for both) involved in such nonsense. Tamblyn, who had once been a rising star at MGM in the 50s is embarrassingly bad. Eisley and Davis both do what they can with weak direction and material.

"Dracula vs Frankenstein" was a sad end for two fine actors. Unfortunately, they ended up much the same way as their contemporaries Karloff and Lugosi, appearing in god-awful Grade Z movies at the end of their careers. They all deserved better.

A Fun Schlocky Horror Film

[Golden_ninja · 14 October 2002]

I first saw this film on the Elvira mistress of the darkness show (sort of like the Joe Bob Briggs thing on TBS). I was about 5 or 6 when I saw it and like many of the movies I saw on that show, it left a permanent imprint in my brain so I had to buy it and watch it again.

Now that I have seen it again, I must say that it is still a lot of fun despite being a really terrible movie. The reason this one works and plays as a fun/bad movie instead of a bad/bad movie is because of it's pacing. It moves from scene to scene very quickly and most scenes have something funny or exciting going on. It never bores or wears out it's welcome.

The story makes almost no sense. something about a descendent of doctor Frankenstein making a blood serum and killing people but not killing them. I could not decipher it at all. There is also count Dracula running around with the Frankenstein monster and using him as sort of a henchmen. I think this all ties together somewhere but I did not see more than a small connection.

One of the funniest things about this movie is the fact that Dracula looks just like Frank Zappa. Another great thing is the way the Frankenstein monster looks. his head is all misshapen and looks like it is about to explode. You have never seen Dracula or Frankenstein look so wacky and the strangeness of the way they look adds to the films originality.

This movie has lots of hilarious sequences.. lots of hippie subculture stuff and a cool psychedelic nightclub dancing scene. The Violence is pretty tame even for the time (nothing like an H.G. Lewis movie for example) so even those with weak stomachs will not be offended by it. It's a fun goofy movie, but not really shocking at all.

The overall production quality of the movie is a mixed bag. Some of the lighting in is truly unforgivable. There are scenes where it is so dark that you can barley make out any shapes. On the other hand, the direction is pretty competent, at least Adamson never slows the pace down long enough to bore anybody and there is nothing amateurish about the way he handles the scenes. He knows all the tricks to keep the budget down and he uses them liberally while still managing to keep them from being overly noticeable. Adamson was not a master of cinema or anything, but (at least in this movie) he was better than many of his contemporary's working in the same genre (take a look at Ted V. Mickles "The Astro Zombies" for a movie that is truly butchered by it's director)

The acting is also slightly better than some of the acting in other low grade American horror movies from the early seventies and late sixties (and much better than I was led to believe). Adamson has a knack for grabbing professional actors with experience to play some of the roles. The guy that plays Dracula is pretty bad, but when you realize that he was actually the filmmakers stock broker, it makes his performance seem a little better. I was even impressed with the sad final performances of Lon Chaney Junior and J. Carrol Naish. They were obviously not in their prime (and no these are not great performances), but both still carry some screen presence and really add to the movies credibility.

Don't get me wrong, it's a bad movie, probably one of the worst ever, but it has a few good qualities here and there. I would definitely recommend this one to somebody looking for a fun schlocky horror movie with lots of unintentional humor.

AN ENJOYABLY BAD FILM

[mord39 · 5/10 · 2 October 2000]

MORD39 RATING: ** (of ****)

Although terribly scripted, ineptly acted, and absolutely senseless, a very good time can be had watching DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN.

Al Adamson has taken bits of different projects and presented a more modern-day follow-up to the old classic monster films from Universal. It's wild to see the participation of HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN vets Lon Chaney and J. Carrol Naish (even if poor Lon looks like he's ready to give up the ghost and Naish's dentures click and clack uncontrollably)

Cheap but colorful, this grade-Z production delivers the goods and is perfect for a Halloween evening's entertainment. Don't take it too seriously, and turn out the lights and have a good time!

So sad to see several stars of the 30s and 40s sink so low

[AlsExGal · 1/10 · 16 September 2018]

This is an abominable C grade horror flick whose greatest claim to fame is the casting of a number of former stars or character actors whose careers were clearly on the decline for them to be willing to appear in such an atrocity.

Cleavage flashing Regina Carroll is a Vegas performer (we briefly see her lounge act) who goes searching for her sister who has disappeared. That search brings her to a town where she meets a beach bum (Anthony Eisley) along with a boardwalk "Freak Emporium" run by a wheelchair bound J. Carol Naish.

Naish is really Dr. Frankenstein, with a mute assistant (Lon Chaney Jr.). Chaney as Lenny likes to hug a baby puppy a lot until he is given a serum by the doctor which turns him into an axe wheeling psychopath ready to lop off the heads of anyone he finds hanging out on a beach. Exactly why Frankenstein wants him to do this and bring back the bodies I can't recall. It is all just so poorly executed. ' Meanwhile Dracula shows up (played by a truly strange dude called Zandor Vorkov, quite possibly the worst actor doing films at the time) and he produces the body of the Frankenstein Monster which he dug up from a grave.

There eventually will be a big fight between the Monster and Dracula and, no surprise, their contest is more comical (shades of Monty Python) than frightening.

This incoherent mess also features Russ Tamblyn as the sleazy head of a drug gang and Jim Davis as the town sheriff. Angelo Rossitto, who had once appeared in Freaks, plays the dwarf barker for the Freak Emporium.

As of the stars who had seen better days, Naish at least has dialogue here but, in playing a mute, Chaney merely has to look frightening with severe overhead lighting playing upon his debauched craggy features and an axe in his hand. It's sad, though hardly surprising, to see him in such a role. While this is mere speculation on my part, I had to wonder if the fact that Chaney was a pretty severe alcoholic at the end of his life played havoc with his ability to handle dialogue, thus the reason for his playing his role as a mute.

It's safe to say that the artwork advertising the film is the best thing about it.

Do the monster mash

[dworldeater · 5/10 · 20 October 2015]

Al Adamson's Dracula Vs. Frankenstein is a monster mash that is more horrible than horror. However, this shoddily made piece of sholock is amusing and memorable. Dracula Vs. Frankenstein is a real bad and cheap exploitation film, but it still is fun and delivers the goods for some extremely campy entertainment. J. Carrol Naish and Lon Cheney Jr. are actually good in this as Dr. Frankenstein and his henchman. This is also their final appearances in film. Zandor Vorkov is hilarious as Count Dracula and brings an ultra cheesy and awesomely bad performance that must be seen to believe. He certainly camps it up big time and is hilarious to watch. The rest of the cast is real bad and very funny as well. This cult classic combines (then contemporary) hippie and biker culture and still tries to sell this as a Gothic horror picture. Dracula AD this is not, or a good a cohesive film it isn't either. Al Adamson was a terrible film maker and like the rest of the films of his I have seen, they are of similar quality. However, this garbage does have an appeal. It has a modern remastered DVD and is more memorable and entertaining than a whole lot of stuff.

Having finally accepted its complete short comings I enjoyed it

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 12 October 2008]

I have no idea what possessed me to watch this turkey again, but it was on Monster HD and I did. Story of Dracula bringing the Frankenstein monster back to his creator so that he can be used to take over the world is amusing garbage. I've seen and hated this film (like most Al Adamson films) over the years any number of times. The film plays like a home movie with big name stars (Lon Chaney, J Carol Naish, Angelo Rosito , okay not big name but name). Amusing in the right frame of mind- giving up any hope of quality helps- which is why I think I kind of liked it this time I knew it was crap and took it on its own low level. this is a film for a bad movie night on the couch.

Is it just me, or does Dracula look like Sacha Baron Cohen?

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 20 May 2017]

Buxom blonde Vegas showgirl Judith (Regina Carrol) goes looking for her missing sister Joanie (Maria Lease), her search leading her to a fairground sideshow run by Dr. Duryea (J. Carrol Naish), the last of the Frankenstein family, who is working on a serum that can revive the dead. Helping Duryea in his work is hulking axe-wielding dope Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.) and midget barker Grazbo (Angelo Rossito). Also joining in with the fun are Count Dracula (Zandor Vorkov), who believes that the scientist's serum will make him invincible, and Frankenstein's monster, who has been exhumed by the vampire.

There's no denying that Dracula vs Frankenstein is a lousy film, shot and acted with zero semblance of skill or talent, but it's also fairly entertaining for that very reason. With a 'make it up as they went along' script, inept special effects, laughable performances, and random guff involving hippies and bikers, this is grade-Z drive-in nonsense that fans of trash cinema will lap up. Among the film's hilarious highlights are Judith's awful musical number (her ample chest barely contained by her outfit), the axe-swinging Groton lopping off Joanie's head, Judith having a bad acid trip, the unexpected death of a major character (zapped by Dracula's deadly laser ring), and the unforgettable sight of Dracula ripping off the monster's arms.

Hey, Dig That Crazy Carnival of Monsters

[Bogmeister · 2/10 · 13 March 2006]

Adamson presents: Vorkov (who?) as Dracula! Bloom as the Monster! (check out "The Dark"/'79 for a similar role); Naish as the mad scientist! Chaney as the, uh, mad axe murderer! Rossitto as...the mad dwarf! When the credits start, this resembles the old-time Universal monster pictures of the 1930's and 40's, mostly due to the old-fashioned musical score, but when I saw the whole movie as a kid, at about 12 years of age, it did creep me out. I think, because of the low budget, it had a reality factor of 'too close to home for comfort' as if it was all taking place in the next town and pretty soon all these creeps were gonna come over to my town and mess with me. There are those lengthy sequences focusing on $50 lab sets with lights flashing meant to impress us and you may laugh, but then you hear the cop (Davis, better known to "Dallas" TV fans) philosophizing about how some victims ask for bad stuff to happen to them based on his 20 years experience and you may think, hm - who wrote that? I also had to laugh when Naish describes the obvious lunatic Chaney as harmless to some guests, then sends him to chop people up in the next scene...but we knew that.

Naish, in a wheelchair, has the lion's share of dialogue in this one, much of which consists of lengthy monologues regarding his mad theories (sure, he speaks to Chaney but Chaney's character is mute and just stands there looking bestial). If I grasped this Dr.Frankenstein's thinking correctly, it involves causing sudden death, such as decapitation, then reviving the dead subject somehow, and creating a rare blood mixture as a result. See, I was paying attention. The mad doctor conducts his little experiments using a carnival horror show as a front. Regina Carrol, fresh from Adamson's "Satan's Sadists," is a Vegas showgirl searching for her sister (one of Chaney's victims). Eisley is the hip older dude who ends up helping her in-between long walks on the beach, where all the murders occur. Tamblyn pops up briefly (also from "Satan's Sadists") as another lowlife biker. As one may guess, the cops appear quite useless and all the hippies in the area are preoccupied with protests rather than some horrific murders.

This nutty pic is a product of its time, capping off the 'with-it' relevant sixties with some irrelevant goofy creatures. So what about Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster? They're here, too. Dracula actually digs up the mashed-potato-monster and then makes some pact with Naish. In this version, the vampire's voice sounds electronically enhanced and he uses a ring to burn things (and people - dig that crazy animation). Also, did you know that the Monster's life cycle was linked to the passing of a comet? Yes, it's true! - according to Dracula (where do they get this stuff?). And the two title characters do indeed fight it out at the end. Famous fan Ackerman shows up as another victim, obligingly walking into the Monster's deadly grasp. With all this going on, one might wonder why this gets only 2 stars from me. Well, getting back to, for example, those long walks on the beach: these are really...long...walks...on...the...beach. Know what I mean?

Al Adamson strikes again!!!

[vampi1960 · 8/10 · 25 July 2006]

Dracula verses Frankenstein is one of those so bad its good movies, a drive in movie.with a great cast;Lon Chaney Jr as a puppy loving murderer,j Carroll Nash as Dr Frankenstein.and Regina Carroll as the busty blonde heroine.and then there's a great extended cameo by Forrest j Ackerman(Dr. acula and to us horror fans uncle forry)OK i know a lot of critics hated this but its really an entertaining tribute to the universal Frankenstein movies,the monster looks like a brute with a face that resembles a raw steak,and Dracula looks like a hippie with fangs.also starring the great Russ tamblyn and Anthony eisley.with music from the universal monster films.troma picked up the DVD rights to this.it really is a scream.notably this was Lon Chaney Jr's last film as well as j Carroll Nash(both were in house of Frankenstein 1945) also in the cast is Jim Davis who later played jock Ewing on TVs Dallas. i remember first hearing about this in the great magazine famous monsters of filmland.8 out of 10,check it out.

Low Budget Monster Mess - But Fun!

[TVPowers · 6/10 · 23 October 2001]

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.

So Bad It's Bad But...

[Rainey-Dawn · 5/10 · 29 March 2016]

I've recently had a chance to see this one again yes this movie is so bad it's bad but it has it's own form of entertainment value for certain audiences (albeit a small audience).

The bad part about it is the fact that this is J. Carrol Naish & Lon Chaney Jr.'s final film - both of them. Fans would have rather seen their last film as something more spectacular but are glad to have this film regardless.

Naish and Chaney could never give bad performances no matter how terrible the directing, script, other actors involved etc... so they are good as always in this bad film and are the real reason to watch it.

The story of this one is lame yet somehow entertaining in a cheesy way.

5/10

Camp classic! So bad it's good!

[tron-12 · 16 July 1999]

Dracula wears those plastic vampire teeth throughout this awful film that goes nowhere. There's an angry scientist who runs a carnival spook house (he's really Dr. F), the creature known as Grodin played by Lon Chaney Jr., and sci-fi guru Forrest J. Ackerman makes a cameo as a rival scientist who discredited Dr. Frankenstein! There's hippies and bad acting and a midget! (the same guy who played Master-blaster in Mad Max 3) This film has it all!

In one scene, Dracula (played cunningly by Zandor) appears suddenly in the car of the rival scientist. The man notices that a vampire is in his car and exclaims, in un-enthused B-movie fashion, "Who are you?" Drac responds, "I have been known as the prince of darkness- turn left here." Incredible how bad they can make 'em. See it soon if you love bad movies.

Classic famous monsters quality trashed into B movie

[angelicseven · 5/10 · 1 November 2014]

Around the time this movie came out I wasn't able to see it. I only got to view black & white pictures of it in a Famous Monster magazine. This doesn't seem like the quality you'd expect from Universal Pictures that is well known for in classic monster movies. This one is rather more like cheap B movies. I couldn't help but notice J. Carrol Naish as Dr. Duryea/ Dr. Frankenstein clicking his false teeth a lot when talking. Lon Chaney Jr. as Groton seem to be like Tor Johnson. They should of picked someone else as Dracula, cause Zandor Vorkov seem weak for the part and not what Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee fans would expect. John Bloom as Frankenstein's Monster was interestingly OK; his face reminded me of an Asian golem. Stupid thing about make-up artists is Dracula's hands weren't as pale as his face and Frankenstein's Monster hands didn't have that greenish hue color of his either. The House of Horrors could of been a lot better than it was. If movie makers are looking for something to remake cause they ran out of ideas for something original, this movie should be redone better than it was.

It had HEART!

[mrveryscaryguy · 5/10 · 8 May 2019]

This movie may have lacked a good script, It may have lacked A list actors, It may have lacked special effects, It may have lacked a competent make-up department , But it had HEART!!!! Made in 1971 and 48 years later it still is play on television 📺

Incredible Bad Al Adamson Masterpiece

[jmike · 1/10 · 29 June 1999]

Bad film seekers rejoice! Rent or buy this film on video and marvel at its sloppy tackiness and sheer badness. There have been a lot of Grade Z horror films made over the years, but few are as enjoyably awful as this one! Its one of my all time favorites! Yes, it's sad to see Lon Chaney, Jr. and J. Carrol Nash in their last roles, but what a way to go out! Director Al Adamson's wife, the busty dim witted bleach blonde Regina Carroll is used to great effect in her best role! We are treated to her incredible bad night club song and dance routine which is mind numbing! She's said to be a star in Las Vegas, but we only see one table of people in the audience, and sitting right in the middle is the director Al Adamson himself! Jim Davis, of Dallas, is a silly police detective who endlessly babbles his philosophy about the "freaks and weirdos." Great Grade Z supporting cast. Lots of tacky circa 1970 fashion, language, and situations (like Regina's acid trip). Zandar Vorkov is certainly filmdom's best-worst afro headed Dracula. His voice is processed through an echo device so cheap it makes Mexican radio sound realistic! Some of the Frankenstein effects are 40 year old original Universal props! Wonderful schlock from master crap film maker Al Adamson. Don't miss it!

Proof that Al Adamson was at least as bad a director as Ed Wood, Jr.!

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 12 October 2008]

This is a very painful movie to watch if you love old horror films. That's because both J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney, Jr. both starred in this film shortly before their deaths. As for Naish, he was so sickly that he acted in a wheelchair. Additionally, he had lost an eye and could not remember his lines, so he read from cue cards--and you could literally watch his one good eye darting back and forth while the glass one remained still. A sad and creepy effect, I must say. As for Chaney, he was killing himself with booze and he naturally looks bloated and a shadow of his former self.

Not surprisingly, these performances reminded me of Bela Lugosi in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Like Naish and Chaney, Lugosi was dying and many rather pointless scenes were dumped into PLAN 9 by director Ed Wood, Jr.. Like Wood, Al Adamson seemed to just dump film randomly into the film, as he took scenes from a planned sequel to SATAN'S SADISTS (a biker film) and dumped them into this horror of a film. Additionally, he hired a lady who looks like a stripper to play lead.

So is there any reason to watch this film? Well, if you want a quality film, then keep looking!! However, if you enjoy laughing at incompetence, then this film has it in spades. There's a Dracula who looks nothing like the familiar Count (perhaps he looks a bit more like a gay porn Dracula--you be the judge). There's also a Frankenstein that looks more like a mushroom man from ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE and his face is just,....well,...impossible to describe, though comparing it to Frankenstein is NOT possible! And, if that's not bad enough, the dialog and acting are horrid and the film just screams "crap" from start to finish! So overall, the film is horrible and it begs the question "was Al Adamson perhaps a worse director than Ed Wood, Jr."? With such great films to Adamson's credit as THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES, LASH OF LUST, BRAIN OF BLOOD, HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS and PSYCHO A GO-GO, if he ain't the worst director ever, he sure is a runner up!!

FYI--Angelo Rossitto is also in the film. While he's not a household name, this midget starred in a heap of old horror films in the 30s and 40s--most notably in FREAKS and some Bela Lugosi films.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein is the ultimate in early '70s horror cheese!

[tavm · 4/10 · 11 September 2012]

Quick trivia question: What B-movie veteran of Republic Pictures westerns subsequently appeared in Z-grade horror films directed by the likes of William "One-Shot" Beaudine and Al Adamson? Answer: Jim Davis, soon to reemerge in quality features helmed by Robert Benton and Alan J. Pakula before reaching his peak of fame as patriarch Jock Ewing in the original "Dallas". I had previously reviewed him in Beaudine's Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter and now I'm doing the same for him in Adamson's Dracula vs. Frankenstein. He manages to keep his dignity intact with authority as the police sergeant responding to a woman named Judith (Regina Carrol, Adamson's wife) who's looking for her missing sister. Oh, and horror veterans Lon Chaney, Jr. and J. Carrol Naish make their last appearances in this film with Chaney looking quite pathetic while Naish still has a way with words even after knowing about his reading cue cards here. And dig all the late '60s/early '70s vibe involving music and fashions mixed in with the '40s/'50s stock film scores of previous classic movies like Creature from the Black Lagoon. Such a mish-mash of the unintentional hilarity in all those uneven tone changes that got me looking with bemusement in just the way things were edited together got me mostly almost laughing much of the time. Oh, and what heaving bosoms courtesy of Ms. Carrol and other women in tow! And let's not forget those motorcycle gangs attempting to rape one of them getting their just desserts! And how about that midget...uh, little person also getting it? Okay, I think I've said enough so on that note, Dracula vs. Frankenstein is worth a look if you're curious enough. P.S. The person who uploaded this on YouTube also provided an alternate ending that I thought was a little better though no less cheesy.

Brief review

[Mattias · 3/10 · 31 July 1998]

A bad script, bad actors and a Dracula in beard are more evidence that the US vampire movies of the 1970s simply cannot match the UK's Hammer productions of the 1950s and 1960s. Plot holes and silly special effects only add to the confusion of a movie that only the most ardent fans could appreciate. Zandor Vorkov as Dracula looks pale compared to Christopher Lee.

Rest In Peace...

[poe426 · 2/10 · 4 January 2009]

Thanks to "Uncle Forry," I was one of those kids who had lined up to see Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN when it first saw theatrical release: the co-stars of this one had turned up on the cover of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND (which had featured an article on the movie without advising those of us who cared about such things that it might be something less than entertaining- on any level). Mr. Ackerman acquited himself well enough, all things considered, but his appearance proved all too brief. And now he's gone. There won't be any more cameos; no more FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. It was Forrest J. Ackerman who helped me get a script I'd written into the hands of filmmaker George A. Romero. (The letter "Uncle Forry" sent me has apparently been lost in the three-decade shuffle since, but it was one of my most prized possessions for years.) I found out that FJA was among the Missing when I happened upon the final minute or so of a year-end Farewell to the Lost on Turner Classic Movies. He Left on December 4th, and I hadn't heard word one about it until I stumbled across that TCM tribute. Ackerman's love of all things Fantastic brought us together (he as editor, myself as reader and fan) and, although I did write back to him and thank him for his help in getting my script to Romero... it just doesn't seem like thanks enough. Not now. (I dedicated THE NIGHT RIDERS, my xlibris book, in part, to FJA.) There weren't a whole lot of things a kid could count on when I was growing up, but there was- and always will be, for as long as life endures- the memories I have of a black and white magazine whose editor shared my love of the Fantastic; an editor who always seemed to me to be a kid at heart. With love, this one's for Forrest J. Ackerman.

A guilty pleasure if there ever was one

[Casey-52 · 10/10 · 18 May 2000]

I don't care what anyone says, Al Adamson's "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" is loads of fun to watch and is very entertaining! Adamson is one of those directors that you either love or hate and I happen to love him!

"Dracula vs. Frankenstein" is a throwback to the Universal age of horror films, with some biker movie/musical/drug movie ingredients thrown in. J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney, Jr. are the classic actors thrown in as a tribute to the golden days of horror. Chaney isn't half-bad as murderous Grotto, given that he's a mute the entire movie, but Naish as Dr. Duray/Dr. Frankenstein is inexcusably wooden. This would be the last role for both of them. Adamson regulars Russ Tamblyn, Regina Carrol, Greydon Clark, and Gary Kent are along for the ride as well! Tamblyn is not used very much, but does strike a presence as Rico, a mean biker who attempts to rape a girl on the boardwalk! I love Regina Carrol dearly and she is fabulous in what could be her best role (that I've seen) as Judith Fontaine, a Vegas showgirl (who sings a great song!) who travels to Venice, California to find her missing sister. Anthony Eisley is her love interest, an aging hipster who is anything BUT hip (check out his tooth necklace!). Clark is Weird, a hippie who spends his time going to protests and venturing into Dr. Duray's Creature Emporium with his girlfriend Samantha. Gary Kent is seen briefly as the boyfriend who gets axed by Grotto on the beach! Now for the monsters: Dracula is played by Zandor Vorkov, an accountant with a white-boy afro, and Frankenstein is played by B-movie big boy John Bloom, whose makeup is...original, to say the least.

The plot is sort of weak, the acting is a bit above average, the scares minimal, if not invisible, and production values are cheap. Lots of people say that this movie should have played on MST3K. But who says this movie can't be entertaining? In my opinion, a bad movie is one that can't entertain you in any possible way (see my review of "Demented"!). "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" is striking in its ineptitude and unforgettable in its cheap presentation.

BEST SO-BAD-ITS-GOOD MOVIE EVER!

[DrSatan · 6/10 · 24 August 1999]

For the IMDb I gave this movie a 5 but that reflects how awful it really is. If I were to rate it as a serious horror flick I'd give it a 2 or 1; but as a comedy its an 8 or 9. I've watched this movie countless times with my crapola lovin' friends, and some of the dialogue has become a part of our everday speech, especially the line, from a man who can animate the dead, no less "When a man enters my laboratory, and bears on his hand the unholy seal of Dracula, there can be no scientific answer to anything" (generally followed by one of us shouting "Even simple force-mass equations?" "No, I said anything!") Basically, this movie should be treated like Rocky Horror is now: it should be shown in every late-night movie theater and heckled. Its horribly incompetent; we get to see the spectacle of Lon Chaney Jr. and J. Carrol Nash's last, horrible movie. See crappy bikers and hippies come into conflict! See the worst dialogue delivery ever! The Drac makeup is so bad that his hands and arms are tanned while his face is clown-white! We've dubbed him "Frank Zappula" due to his resemblance to the famous rocker. The Frankenstein figure, Dr. Duray, is dressed like COLONEL SANDERS! For this reason we feel it should be re-titled "Frank Zappula vs. Colonel Frankenstein" and released in every major market. If you have the slightest love for crap cinema,do yourself a big favor and SEE THIS MOVIE!