Customer Reviews

Blood of Dracula's Castle [VHS]

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This film was not intended to be academy-award nominated,so one wonders why those who have reviewed it seem to think it ought to contain high drama or intricate plotting...It is a small scale dracula film,made on a low budget..it has some scares ...the special effects are cornball by today's standards,but that it exactly the point...THIS FILM WAS NOT MADE YESTERDAY,OR BY A MAJOR STUDIO..I would think all of the grousing about this film would make sense if,say,steven speilberg directed,or if Robert DeNiero was the star..
A mom and pop pair of vampires live in a castle ..they employ a few creepy servents who waylay travelers and keep them captive in order to feed the pair's blood habit..a monster type also is involved,probably an offspring of the vampire duo...and,lastly,an escaped criminal with homicidal tendencies shows up and gets a warm welcome from mr and mrs bloodsucker,who see in him a kindred spirit..a pair of travelers figure as both victims and main charecters and are the device through which the whole nocturnal world is brought down...Is this "Ghandi",or"The Maltese Falcon"?OF COURSE NOT !But it is fun,if one is not expecting greatness.

it's wierd, it's freaky, you need this movie. I love old Universal horror, also Hammer, also newer things like "Bones" and "Valentine". We don't need no plot. This is crazy stuff, it's fun, Dracula, The Wolf Man and Frankenstein-what else could you want?

Disclaimer: I watched this film as a part of the The Gorehouse Greats Collection, and as such, I can't comment on the quality of this VHS tape. My review concerns the entertainment value of the picture.

This early effort by director Al Adamson is half camp and half exploitation, and which is actually somewhat unsettling the more I think about it. Regardless, it's not good, no matter how you like your movies: Dracula and his wife, going under the name Count and Countess Townsend, have rented an out of the way castle somewhere in the American south-west for the past 60 years, but the owner has died and willed his property to his nephew, Glen. Glen and his fiancee hop in their car to go disposses the Townsends, not knowing the trouble they're getting themselves into.

Meanwhile, the Townsend's loyal, loony servant George (played by the cadaverous John Carradine), and the groundskeeper Mango keep a bevy of bound beauties in the basement to satisfy the Townsend's need for blood, which Carradine extracts from the women with a hypodermic syringe the size of a rolled-up newspaper. Last, but not least bizarre, is the Townsend's young friend, Johnny, a psychopath who keeps telling everyone that he's oddly affected by the full moon, but we'll have to take his word for it, cause nothing ever happens to distinguish his full moon psychotic behavior from his normal psychotic behavior (evidently, in prints made for TV - which this VHS version may be - there are some additional scenes to imply that Johnny is a werewolf. That doesn't make it any less weird though).

The Count (Alex D'Arcy) and the Countess (Paula Raymond) are about as threatening as Gomez and Morticia from the Addams Family, so it's surprising when the homicidal Johnny (Robert Dix), while escaping from a mental institution, goes on a violent killing spree as he makes his way to the castle. In the interest of concealing spoilers, I'll just add that there is at least one other scene that struck me as out of place considering the campy mood of the first part of the film, and together with Johnny's spree, it makes for that peculiar mix that I mentioned earlier. Those viewers who seek out low budget schlock films like this, hoping for parody or exploitation probably won't get enough of either to be satisfied, and horror fans are likely to disappointed in the utter lack of chills.

Still, if you catch it the right time, and are already pre-disposed to accepting films like this on their own terms, there's a bit of charm to 'Blood of Dracula's Castle'. Very little, but it's there. Director Adamson throws some of everything at the viewer - some of it might stick. Most of this cast (who really did a pretty good job considering what they were given to work with) worked together on the next few Adamson efforts, which came so quickly after 'Blood of Dracula's Castle' that Carradine, Dix, Vicki Volante and some of the others must have literally walked off one set and onto the other. These other films include Satan's Sadists, Hell's Bloody Devils, Five Bloody Graves, and Horror of the Blood Monsters, and it seems like a good bet that if you've seen any of these others and liked them that you have a chance at liking 'Dracula's Castle' too. If, on the other hand, you hated those films, I wouldn't hold out much hope for this one.

Lastly, although I watched this as part of the gorehouse greats collection, which is on DVD, I'll have to say that it is the worst looking film of all the Mill Creek Entertainment pictures I've seen yet. I can't imagine it would pay to clean these films up, so I assume that what we get by way of Mill Creek is the best of what's available as far as film prints go. I'd expect that the VHS version is similar in quality - enough so that I'd warn someone to try and view a copy before buying to make sure it was a transfer that they could live with. Unfortunately, the film isn't in the public domain yet, so no luck previewing there, nor is available to watch at IMDB. 'Horror of the Blood Monsters' is though, so bon appetit!

the problem with home video of any kind is that sometimes a fondly remembered movie is there to see again. that's what's wrong here,i'm older than 8, and this is the worst movie i can remember in some time.
there is no story as such,just two old folks sitting around drinking blood,waiting for johnny,who may or may not be a werewolf(told you this is bad),and as they wait they take young girls and chain them up so they can get their blood fix when they want.theres some nonsence about a photographer and model visting the castle(in the middle of nowhere,by close to the ocean)because they ,well i can't remember why(really thats how messed up the screenplay is).
not even so bad it's good,just so bad it's bad and dull. FORGET IT AND SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!!

Blood Of Dracula is one of My favorite Movies. I love the old horror movies starring John Carradine.The special effects are kind of corny but it still is a great move.If you by the English version, well the one Ive got is the English one and when Dracula is Talking, the words dont move with the mouth. But I still really enjoy watching it. It stars JOHN CARRADINE PAULA RAYMOND ROBERT DIX ALEX D' ARCY BARBERA BISHOP GENE O' SHARE and RAY YOUNG as MANGO. So I advise you to buy it for the great price that AMAZON is selling it for. I HOPE YOUN ENJOY THE MOVE!!

Once again John Carradine, a fine actor, appears in a horrible movie. Also along for the ride is Paula Raymond, who starred in the Ray Harryhausen classic "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms." There she helped track a dinosaur. Here she gets chained to a wall, and menaced by a bozo. You have vampires who never seem to drink blood, a werewolf who doesn't bite anyone, and the usual crew of idiots who don't have enough sense to run when the not-so-scary music starts. This woofer barks at the moon and has ruined every carpet in my house. Give it a pass. Better still, give it a decent burial, preferably with a stake through its heart. So why did Carradine make these movies? Duh! FOR THE MONEY! And he laughed all the way to the graveyard...

This picture is a mixture of horror,blood,chains and sex.