Dracula vs. Frankenstein

Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)

Judith Fontaine is looking for her sister Joanie, who has disappeared into the hippie community of Venice, California. It turns out that Joanie has become fallen victim to Groton, an axe-wielding homicidal maniac under the employ of Dr. Durea, the last living descendant of the Frankenstein family and is now both running a house of horrors on the beach's boardwalk and performing experiments on Groton's victims in his basement laboratory.

Date of release
1971-12-01
TMDB
4.5 / 10 (57)
Runtime
1h 31m
Genres
Horror, Science Fiction
Director
Al Adamson

Casting

Interesting facts

Dracula vs. Frankenstein, released in the UK as Blood of Frankenstein, is a 1971 American science fiction horror film directed and co-produced by Al Adamson. The film stars J. Carrol Naish as Dr. Durea, a descendant of Dr. Frankenstein who is working on a blood serum with his assistant Groton. The serum soon becomes sought after by Count Dracula, who hopes that it will grant him the ability to be exposed to sunlight without harm. Other members of the film's cast include Anthony Eisley, Regina Carrol, Angelo Rossitto, Jim Davis and Russ Tamblyn.

Production

The film was developed under the titles The Blood Seekers and Blood Freaks. It was originally conceived as a follow-up to Satan's Sadists, an outlaw biker film also starring Russ Tamblyn that director Al Adamson and producer Sam Sherman had recently completed. The film was supposed to be another biker film, though with a horror angle. Paul Lukas was initially set to play the role that eventually went to J. Carrol Naish.

Principal photography began in March 1969 and ended one month later. To decorate Dr Durea's laboratory, the filmmakers rented props created by Kenneth Strickfaden for the 1931 film Frankenstein. The same props were later used by Mel Brooks for Young Frankenstein.

To accommodate the actor's schedules, shooting began before production elements were in place. Director Al Adamson had hired actors Lon Chaney Jr. and Naish sight unseen. Both actors were ill at the time of filming, with Chaney suffering from throat cancer and Naish from emphysema. It was the last film by both performers. When asked on Chaney's state during the film, Sherman recalled that Chaney had to lie down between takes.

After completing a rough cut of the film, Adamson and Sherman were dissatisfied with the result. Sherman later said that the film lacked "punch". As Lon Chaney Jr., and to a lesser extent J. Carrol Naish, had been involved with the Universal monster films, the filmmakers decided to make the horror aspects more prominent and to downplay the biker plot elements.

To play Dracula, Adamson and Sherman wished to hire John Carradine, who had already worked several times with them, but the actor proved too expensive. Roger Engel, a professional fundraiser with some acting background who had helped Adamson and Sherman meet potential investors, ended up being cast as Dracula under the stage name Zandor Vorkov.

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