Count Dracula's Great Love (1973)

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

Complete credited cast:
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 Barrera	...	Imre Polvi (as Vic Winner)
Álvaro de Luna	...	Porteador (as Alvaro De Luna)
José Manuel Martín	...	Porteador (as Jose Manuel Martin)
Susana Latour	...	Victim in Karen's dream - Image in Negative (as Susana Latur)
Julia Peña	...	Peasant woman
Leandro San José	...	(as Leandro Sanjose)
Benito Pavón	...	(as Benito Pavon)

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.

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Plot Keywords:

woman | psychotronic film | count dracula character | blood | topless female nudity | 

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Taglines:

Sharing his hunger for female flesh was his thirst for human blood...

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

March 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cemetery Girls

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$286,399

Company Credits

Production Co:

Janus Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min (cut) 83 min (DVD) (Code Red)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was slated to be issued as a special edition as part of BCI and Deimos' ongoing and financially ill-fated line of spectacular Spanish horror releases, but those plans cratered when the label wound up going under.

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Alternate Versions

Of the movie there are two version. The international version which has the scenes with the actress naked, the Spanish version with the actress clothed or semi-naked. The American DVD contains the naked version.

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Connections

Edited into FrightMare Theater: Count Dracula's Great Love (2018)

User Reviews

COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE (Javier Aguirre, 1972) **1/2

Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy's take on another traditional monster (making for the blood-sucking Count's beefiest incarnation since Lon Chaney Jr.'s turn in SON OF Dracula [1943]) results in one of his more enjoyable efforts, albeit given the "Euro-Cult" style's trademark languid approach and with a few weird touches all its own. This begins with the shot illustrating a man falling down the cellar steps of Dracula's castle after having his head split open with an axe being repeated ad nauseam all through the credit sequence! As the film opens, Dracula is hiding under the guise of a Dr. Kargos (presumably a play on the meshing of Karloff and Lugosi a' la our very own Joe Karlosi ) at an abandoned nearby sanatorium while also assuming the duties of butler at his own castle! Soon, his quest for peace and solitude is interrupted with a vengeance by the arrival of no less than five strangers – one man and four(!) women; the latter ostensibly serve the function of duplicating the count's three brides featured in Bram Stoker's original novel (and a handful of its myriad screen incarnations), with the remaining girl filling in the requirements of the title. Anyway, following some bed-hopping antics (the nudity being crudely inserted since the Spanish censor's repressive hand would only allow such fare to be released in "clothed" versions!), the cast of characters rapidly starts joining the ranks of the undead – leaving only the heroine (gorgeous, doe-eyed Haydee' Politoff whom I was recently impressed by in the obscure but fairly good erotic giallo INTERRABANG [1969]). Also in the cast are Rosanna Yanni (from Jess Franco's two "Red Lips" films from 1967) and others bearing such dubious names as Vic Winner and Ingrid Garbo (her character is named Marlene to boot)!; on a personal note, it was nice to see character actor Jose' Manuel Martin (who had been one of the beggars in Luis Bunuel's VIRIDIANA [1961]) as Dracula' first victim – subsequently 'residing' in his house, he notches up victims of his own and is even killed by the master (oddly enough, all vampires here contrive to dispose of one another) for daring to attack his beloved! Other unusual ideas, then, include: the fact that Dracula's prowlings occur on full-moon nights (as if he expects to turn into a werewolf?!); his having a dead daughter, which he intends to revive by mixing the blood of a virgin (Politoff, who rather than being vampirized has a knife driven through her throat in the manner of a conjuror's act) and an innocent (a village girl his brides abduct and present before him to be whipped)!; and, perhaps most baffling of all, Politoff's rejection of Dracula's offer to live eternally by his side throws him into such a dejected state (apparently, he has fallen hard for her) that not only is he willing to give up on his daughter's revitalization but actually commits suicide by piercing his own heart with a wooden stake! As I said, the film is certainly among the better of the star's vehicles that I have come across (though still not adding up to a completely successful work) and, in fact, this viewing inspired me to acquire another Spanish variant on the theme i.e. THE Dracula SAGA (1972), directed by frequent Naschy collaborator Leon Klimovsky but not involving the redoubtable Jacinto Molina himself…