Count Dracula's Great Love (1973)
"El gran amor del conde Drácula" (original title)

Four women spend the night in an old deserted sanitarium on a mountain. They each in turn fall into the the evil hands of a doctor who forces them to suck each others blood and to whip ... See full summary »

Director:

Javier Aguirre

Writers:

Javier Aguirre (screenplay), Alberto S. Insúa (screenplay),

Stars:

Paul Naschy, Rosanna Yanni, Haydée Politoff

Cast

Cast overview:
Paul Naschy	...	Count Dracula / Dr. Wendell Marlow
Rosanna Yanni	...	Senta (as Rossana Yanni)
Haydée Politoff	...	Karen (as Haydee Politoff)
Mirta Miller	...	Elke
Ingrid Garbo	...	Marlene
Víctor Alcázar	...	Imre Polvi (as Vic Winner)
José Manuel Martín	...	(as Jose Manuel Martin)
Julia Peña	...	Peasant woman
Álvaro de Luna	...	Porteador (as Alvaro De Luna)
Susana Latour	...	Victim in Karen's dream - Image in Negative (as Susana Latur)
Benito Pavón	...	(as Benito Pavon)
Leandro San José	...	(as Leandro Sanjose)

Storyline

Four women spend the night in an old deserted sanitarium on a mountain. They each in turn fall into the the evil hands of a doctor who forces them to suck each others blood and to whip innocent village virgins so they can lick the oozing cuts clean.

---

Plot Keywords:

falling from height | vampire | axe in the head | pitchfork | torture | 

---

Taglines:

She's the Kind of a Girl You Can Sink Your Teeth Into.

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

March 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cemetery Girls

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 16,521,218 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Janus Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 72 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Reissued in the late 70's under the new title "Cemetery Girls," on a double bill with 1968's "Brides of Blood," now retitled "Grave Desires."

User Reviews

Decent Film, So-So DVD

In this 1972 film from Spanish director Javier Aguirre, four women and a man wreck their stagecoach and must take refuge in a nearby castle. Unfortunately for the travelers, the castle's owner, Dr. Wendell Marlow (Paul Naschy), turns out to be none other than Count Dracula. After Dracula falls in love with one of the women, she must decide whether to live eternally as Dracula's bride or reject him and continue to live as a mortal. Her not-so-surprising choice leads to a strange and surprising ending. Like a lot of '70s European horror movies, the film suffers from slow pacing and a somewhat muddled plot. But there's lots of gothic atmosphere and a few creepy moments here and there to keep things interesting.

Unfortunately, the only version of this film on DVD in the U.S. (from Sinema Diable) is nothing to write home about. It lists for $14.95. For a mid-priced DVD like this, you'd expect to see a reasonably sharp video transfer and decent audio, but both are very marginal here. In fact, the picture and sound quality are comparable to what you typically see in bargain-bin DVDs costing a third as much. There are no extras, either, like a trailer or talent bios, which are almost always included in DVDs in this price range. So I've deducted one full star for the low overall quality of the release. Hopefully, we'll see a little more bang for the buck in Sinema Diable's future products.

Of course, if you're a Naschy fan, or just can't get enough of these low-budget Euro-horror films, these faults probably won't bother you too much. Besides, until Anchor Bay or another company comes along with a better release, this may be your only chance to see this lesser-known, but worthwhile, entry in the Naschy catalog.

Two out of five stars.