Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)

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

Directors:

Al Adamson, Samuel M. Sherman (uncredited)

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
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Groton (as Lon Chaney)
Zandor Vorkov	...	Count Dracula
Anthony Eisley	...	Mike
Regina Carrol	...	Judith
Russ Tamblyn	...	Rico
Jim Davis	...	Sgt. Martin
Angelo Rossitto	...	Grazbo
Greydon Clark	...	Strange
Ann Morell	...	Samantha (as Anne Morrell)
William Bonner	...	Biker
Forrest J. Ackerman	...	Dr. Beaumont (as Forest J Ackerman)
Maria Lease	...	Joan
John Bloom	...	The 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:

poverty row horror | low budget horror | 1970s | venice california | california | 

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Taglines:

The Kings of Horror Battle to the Death!

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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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Telesound)

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music that plays in Chaney's last scene is recycled music from various Universal horrors for which Chaney is best remembered for.

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Goofs

When Judith is tied to a railing, the ropes are so loose that she could've easily escaped.

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Quotes

Strange: C'mon, let's get ready for the big protest tonight!
Samantha: What are we protesting tonight?
Strange: I don't know. But I'll bet it's fun!

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Crazy Credits

For his bit part, Forrest J. Ackerman's first name is listed in the credits as "Forest."

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Alternate Versions

According to Sam Sherman, the TV version removed the brief topless nudity of the girl on the operating table. It also removed a sign saying "Society Sucks".

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Connections

Referenced in Producing Schlock: The Career of Al Adamson (2009)

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Soundtracks

Here and Now
Words and Music by J.D. Lobue
ASCAP
Recorded by Communication Plus

User Reviews

The Good Ole' Days

Ah! The 70's was a great time to be growing up a monster fan. Television stations that had little money would show cheap horror movies again and again. Now and then a few of the horror hosts would be around, or horror related shows like Chiller Theatre with its leprous fingers shooting out of the ground and greedily grasping the letters spelling the show's name. Good Times! I, like many of the reviewers here, saw Dracula Vs. Frankenstein at least a few times. There were scenes etched in my mind, most notably the pier and J. Carrol Naish in a wheelchair barking out orders to a grunting, balloon-faced Lon Chaney Jr. I didn't really remember much about the monster, or for that part Dracula, but I gave that up to youth and decided to watch this "classic" of Al Adamson's. Now, I have seen Adamson's work before and knew what to expect. I saw his Blood on Dracula's Castle and Nurse Sherri. They were both real cheap movies but I liked them a lot. So I figured same for this, especially since this one was a part of my cinematic past. Wow! Was I wrong!(guess you knew this was coming!) Dracula was not the only thing that sucked in this picture! This film is a tangled mass(mess) of various plot strands, corny dialogue, bad, bad, bad acting, cheap, cheap, cheap sets and props, worthless cameos by what would have been a great cast twenty years prior to its production, and a pretty feeble direction even by Al Adamson standards(We're talking LOW!) J. Carrol Naish(Yes, the great hunchback from House of Frankenstein) was in a wheelchair(this was his as well as Chaney's last film) playing a Dr. Durea(AKA Dr. Frankenstein) who runs a freak show on the pier in a carnival in California. Almost everything he says is preposterous, idiotic, and totally wooden. His performance is SO wooden, it is as if he were practicing for his casket. Chaney is almost as bad. He look terrible, and its not from make-up. He plays a mute that mumbles and breathes hard named Groton, who likes to cut the heads off of nubile young women with an ax and pet little puppies(an obvious homage/reminder of his performance as Lenny in Of Mice and Men). But wait! We have more has-beens to come. We have Russ Tamblyn as a biker and Jim Davis(with some of the worst one-liners in film) as a policeman. And of course we have Adamson's muse and love interest and wife Regina Carrol(looking as beautiful as ever) as a sister of one of the missing girls. Ms. Carrol actually gives the best performance of the film, except when she sings some interminable Las Vegas show number. Well it seems I have covered everything...wait, what about the two great monsters...the film is about them isn't it? I'm not really sure that is the case, but they are in the film in all their lack of glory. Dracula looks like he just got through teaching the sweathogs on Welcome Back Kotter, and Frankenstein's monster...well, he has definitely seen better days...and better movies. For me, aside from walking down memory lane and being reminded how bad film-making can be, the one real bright spot was seeing Forrest Ackerman in his cameo. He once told me how he did this film as a favor for Al, and how he broke his glasses during the shoot and was not paid for either the cameo or the glasses. Good times!