Another hastily-assembled horror effort from hack / genius Jess Franco (delete as applicable) in probably the busiest phase of his career - this was filmed pretty much simultaneously with "The Curse of Frankenstein" (aka "The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein") and "Daughter of Dracula", and utilises many of the same cast members and filming locations.
Sadly, this is the least involving and most badly-paced of these three movies. Franco's trademark OTT camera pans and zooms feature prominently, and the editing is even sloppier and choppier than usual.
Dr Frankenstein (played by an ageing and ill-looking Dennis Price) arrives in a Transylvanian village in thrall to Dracula. The vampire Count (Franco regular Howard Vernon, in a sadly dialogue-free role) has been dispatched with the regulation stake through the heart by Dr Seward (Alberto D'Albes), but the deranged Doc revives him with the intention of using the Count as his mind-controlled slave. Also along for the ride are a Boris Karloff-like Frankenstein Monster (Fernando Bibao), a sexy vampire bride (the sultry Britt Nichols), a gypsy witch who befriends Dr Seward, and a rotten-looking Wolfman who turns up in the last reel to battle the Monster. Remarkably, given this free-for-all of horror elements, the film still manages to move at a leaden pace thanks to Franco's stolid direction and listless setups.
Not the greatest monster team-up movie (that remains "Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein") or even the best Jess Franco movie (for my money, that's either "The Bloody Judge", "Eugenie: the Story of Her Journey into Perversion", or "The Demons"), but worth a watch on a Friday night with a few cans of ale - if only for such bizarre elements as a vampire victim (the ever-lovely Anne Libert) being staked through the EYE (?!!?), and some hilariously overblown dialogue: Dennis Price managing to over-act and chew the scenery even with the handicap of atrocious dubbing.
Ahahahaha, that last picture and your comment made me gigglesnort tea through my nose. Curse you!
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