The Dracula Mystique [Eastbay at ease]

 

August 12, 1979

Staff writer Robert Taylor pens a short and sweet examination of the glut of Dracula productions that were unleashed during the summer of 1979. He even reaches back to point out that there had been a 1975 Dracula musical performed at the Berkeley Rep. As well as a production of an original play, which had starred Michael Ansara and Werner Klemperer, that had been performed at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in 1978. 

A local production of The Passion of Dracula, a new play by Bob Hall and David Richmond, takes center stage, as this article serves as something of a soft marketing push for the about to open production. The Passion of Dracula was coming off of a successful 'small-scale' run in New York's Greenwich Village, in the shadow of Edward Gorey's smash hit revival of the 'classic' John L. Balderston revision of the Hamilton Deane play, which had made Frank Langella a star on Broadway.

Taylor quotes, but does name, one (I assume) east coast critic's comparison of the two concurrent productions. "One is played for laughs, the other is played for keeps. One is obvious, the other intelligent. One looks like an Edward Gorey cartoon, the other like an old English thriller."

Jeremy Brett, who would be playing Dracula in the west coast tour venues of the Edward Gorey production, gets quoted, as does Langella. The slapstick rom com Love at First Bite gets a mention, as does the big budget Dracula movie from Universal, which just so happened to star Frank Langella, go figure, and Werner Herzog's remake of Nosferatu is not left out in the cold, either.

What is it that makes Dracula so alluring and popular to audiences, again and again? Is it the aura and mystery of human blood? The soulful yearning for immortality? Or, perhaps, the aching loneliness that has, over time, settled over the perception of the tuxedo and cape clad vampire?

Although the article ends with one potential answer, and sales hook, for The Passion of Dracula. Saying that the play's authors strived to "create a woman that Dracula would spend 400 years searching for." I think that also hints at the primal allure of Dracula stories. They acknowledge the oh-so-human nature of an aching, yearning, and thirsting desire that can never, ever truly be satiated. No matter how much, how hard, one tries.

Count Dracula [il Conte Dracula (1970)] - Soundtrack

Although the film Bruno Nicolai composed this excellent music for was first released in 1970. A soundtrack LP of Nicolai's score would not be released until 1982. Twelve years later, that same album recording would get reissued on compact disc, with an additional 10 previously unpublished tracks. This 2021 disc is a remaster and reissue of the latter and a welcome addition to my collection.

When I checked the IMDB I found that Christopher Lee was in a total of nine films that had 1970 as the registered year of release. Three of those films were Dracula movies. Two of them were Hammer Film productions. The first being Taste the Blood of Dracula, which was the last film, at that time, to have a narrative connection to the entry that preceded it. Seeing that it picked up right where Dracula Has Risen from the Grave had ended. The second Hammer offering was the far inferior, I think, Scars of Dracula.

Count Dracula, an offering from Spanish director Jesús [Jess] Franco, would be the third time Lee would play the legendary vampire on the big screen in the year 1970. The lure here seems to have been an intention stated by the filmmaker(s) to hew closer to the narrative of Bram Stoker's novel than any other film had, up to that point.

While I have seen, and enjoyed, Franco's more Universal Monster mash styled (and almost dialogue free) Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972), which also used this score. Count Dracula remains a vacancy in my viewing history. One that I hope to rectify, sooner rather than later.

In Search of Dracula [Vem var Dracula (1974)] - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - May 5, 1976]

I know this ad is supposed to invoke a Vampire Bat swooping down to attack, but to me it just looks a slightly doctored image of a hanging bat that was inverted. So it could look spooky and threatening. While I am somewhat certain it may have worked in 1976, today it only makes me think of those videos of inverted bat footage set to Bela Lugosi's Dead.

In Search of Dracula is one of a plethora of paranormal-themed documentaries that carpet bombed theaters and drive-ins throughout the 1970s. The big selling point here is Christopher Lee, who was quite vocal with his frustrations at being unable to perform Dracula as written and envisioned by Bram Stoker. This documentary gave him the chance to portray the historical figure, and Dracula inspiration, Vlad III (aka Vlad Țepeș, or Vlad the Impaler).
 

House On Bare Mountain (1962) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - March 13, 1964

I have yet to see this nudie-cutie, and probably won't, but if I were ever to subject myself to one it would be this one. Because... it features a bunch of familiar and beloved monsters.

Dracula's Bride (1980) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - February 12, 1981

Judging by the cast list, I thought this was a re-release of Dracula Sucks (1978) under a different title. However, according to its trivia page at the IMDB, Dracula's Bride is a different movie. One constructed from "separate footage" that was shot by William Margold. An alternate title for this film seems to be Lust At First Bite, although that has also been cited as the alternate title for Dracula Sucks, as well.

My ill-informed guess is that this is the hardcore version, while Dracula Sucks (1978) may have been a soft core version. I think.

I have not seen either version, from beginning to end, but I do know that Reggie Nalder (who played Mr. Barlow in the first Salem's Lot mini-series and was the henchman of Dracula's Dog) was mortified to learn that the scenes he had filmed for what he had been told was a soft core sex comedy were also used in the hardcore version.

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - February 11, 1970

Considering the amount of pre-release tampering that is alleged to have been done on Frankenstein Must De Destroyed, I was surprised to read that, when asked which of his own films were his favorites, Terence Fisher (in an interview in Vol. 4, Issue 3 of Cinefantastique magazine) said this was one of them. That, of all his films, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed was the one he most enjoyed making.

As far as that supposed tampering goes, I heard there was a "last minute" decision it "spice up" the film with a sexual assault that, according to an interview with Veronica Carlson that appeared in (I think) Fangoria magazine, had both Cushing and Fisher apologizing to the actress throughout the filming of the scene.

Another ill-advised "last minute" inclusion was the comedic investigating carried on by Inspector Frisch (Thorley Walters). One could excise both the assault and Frisch scenes from the film and be left with a tighter, leaner, and far better paced movie, I think.

My favorite hammer Frankenstein's remain The Revenge of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Created Woman.

Double-billed with Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed is Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, the middle section of Hammer Film's trilogy of direct sequels to [Horror of] Dracula. While an interesting and entertaining enough follow up to Dracula Prince of Darkness, picking up more or less where that film ended, and leading directly into Taste the Blood of Dracula, I have to say that I prefer and enjoy both Prince and Taste a great deal more than Grave.

It is not bad, I just find it a tad slow and, because of that, it has tested of my patience at times. Other times, not so much.

Dracula - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - December 31, 1978

Full page ad for a special New Year's performance of the Edward Gorey production of Dracula at the Curran Theatre. No idea if lead actor Jeremy Brett's understudy was playing the title role or not, but seeing this production would have been a perfect way for me to ring in the New Year.

Terror (1978) / Dracula's Dog (1977) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - December 12, 1979

Although I had become much more attentive to the movie adverts in our daily newspaper by this time, I do not remember this double-feature release. It happens.

Yet there are things I do remember about both films, from back in the day. One was that the trailer for Terror was shown, along with one for The Dark, on KTVU's Creature Features. The other being when Dracula's Dog aired on television at some point. Although we had seen Salem's Lot, neither my brother nor I recognized Reggie Nalder as the actor who had played Mr. Barlow. We also made fun of the movie and, I am saddened to admit, Nalder's appearance.

This ad also shows how film distributors had begun phasing out Wednesday as a routine opening day in 1979. For some twenty to thirty years movies opened on either Wednesday or Friday. That changed in 1979 and, from 1980 onward, Wednesday openings became infrequent and, for the most part, holiday date dependent.

There is a novelization of Dracula's Dog out there and, maybe, I might part with some coin to acquire and read it. Maybe.

Dracula - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - December 10, 1978

The tour production of Edward Gorey's popular Broadway revival of Dracula arrived just in time for the holiday season, with Jeremy Brett playing the role of Dracula. Brett is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in a long-running series of episodic and feature length television programs for Britain's Granada Television. He died in 1995.

Count Dracula and his Vampire Bride [The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)] - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 26, 1978

Although the poster for this retitling of The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) promises that 'The King of the undead marries the Queen of the Zombies" at some point, it would not be in this movie. Not that anybody would have cared, or noticed, at this point in time.

This would be Christopher Lee's final performance as Dracula for Hammer Film. Lee, when embellishing the reasons for Dracula having no dialogue in Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966), would often cite terrible lines, such as, "I am the Apocalypse!" Silly trash that the character from Stoker's novel would never have uttered, according to Lee.

The thing of it is, this line is from The Satanic Rites of Dracula. The movie that 'convinced' Lee to stop, step away, and distance himself from the role that had grown to define and shackle him.

I do enjoy this movie, though.

Dracula [Blood for Dracula (1974)] - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 17, 1974

Here we have a Dracula (Udo Kier) suffering the ravages of the sexual revolution. Seems that the Count can only drink the blood of virgins and, well, they are in an agonizing short supply. Considering the one-two punches of Herpes and HIV-AIDS were forthcoming, this black comedy of sexual suffering might have aged well.

I think I might revisit this one, maybe...

Old Dracula [Vampira (1974)] - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - October 30, 1975

It might have been Halloween, but this retitled 'comedy' served some of 1975's Thanksgiving turkey early that year. I do remember seeing this on the big screen, at the Alameda Southshore Twin, and finding it a painfully unfunny chore to sit through.

The blistering racial insensitivity (i.e. racism) of the central conceit, having a blood transfusion change Countess Dracula from white to black and thus 'forcing' Count Dracula to try and figure out a way to 'fix' her, went over my head. But I do remember my shocked reaction to seeing David Niven in blackface.

Although director Clive Donner would go on to helm the underrated made-for-television gem Spectre (1977), a failed pilot for Gene Roddenberry, he would also make two more dubious and disastrous big screen comedies. 1980's The Nude Bomb and 1981's Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen. Ouch.

Trog (1970) / Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - September 30, 1970

I know I have seen Trog, but all I remember is the scene involving Trog getting caught pilfering a handful of some fruit or veggie from a display bin by an unfortunate grocer. Nothing else. So it goes.

Yet I do remember the first time I saw Taste the Blood of Dracula. That was when it was aired on the CBS Late Movie - on Friday, September 11, 1981 - as the follow-up to another beloved (by me, at least) rerun of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

The episode was The Sentry, which was the short-lived series final episode and one of the few I managed to see during its original primetime run.

Taste the Blood of Dracula would be the last Hammer Film Dracula with direct continuity to Horror of Dracula (1958). Taste starts where Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) ended, which had picked up where Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966) had ended, which picked up a decade or so after the conclusion of Horror.

Prince, Grave, and Taste, be they intentional or not, are a pretty solid trilogy of Dracula sequels well worth the time and effort to watch.