Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)

Simply Perfect

Don't Believe the Hype

An Exercise In Nonsense

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Nobody watches an Al Adamson film in the expectation of seeing a masterpiece, but he occasionally rose above the schlock margin to craft a neat little flick ("Nurse Sherri") or at least a couple of interesting scenes ("Blood of Ghastly Horror"). "Dracula vs. Frankenstein", however, was not one of those occasions. Producer Samuel M. Sherman has noted that this is the most popular of the many horror and exploitation films that he and Adamson made together, and I have no reason to doubt him...but god, it's one jumbled mess of a movie. Mute, sweaty Lon Chaney Jr. and glass-eyed J. Carrol Naish looking as old and sickly as they were, Anthony Eisley in ludicrous hippie garb, a Dracula (Zandor Vorkov) with all the charisma of a garden hose, and the absolute worst-ever makeup job for Frankenstein's Monster (played by two different actors, John Bloom and Shelly Weiss): these are just a few of the tidbits that will delight fans of grade-Z cinema. It has in spades the vibe that permeates all of Adamson's work, but "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" lacks a certain something which the director was able to conjure from time to time.

I've recently had a chance to see this one again yes this movie is so bad it's bad but it has it's own form of entertainment value for certain audiences (albeit a small audience).The bad part about it is the fact that this is J. Carrol Naish & Lon Chaney Jr.'s final film - both of them. Fans would have rather seen their last film as something more spectacular but are glad to have this film regardless.Naish and Chaney could never give bad performances no matter how terrible the directing, script, other actors involved etc... so they are good as always in this bad film and are the real reason to watch it.The story of this one is lame yet somehow entertaining in a cheesy way.5/10

Al Adamson's Dracula Vs. Frankenstein is a monster mash that is more horrible than horror. However, this shoddily made piece of sholock is amusing and memorable. Dracula Vs. Frankenstein is a real bad and cheap exploitation film, but it still is fun and delivers the goods for some extremely campy entertainment. J. Carrol Naish and Lon Cheney Jr. are actually good in this as Dr. Frankenstein and his henchman. This is also their final appearances in film. Zandor Vorkov is hilarious as Count Dracula and brings an ultra cheesy and awesomely bad performance that must be seen to believe. He certainly camps it up big time and is hilarious to watch. The rest of the cast is real bad and very funny as well. This cult classic combines (then contemporary) hippie and biker culture and still tries to sell this as a Gothic horror picture. Dracula AD this is not, or a good a cohesive film it isn't either. Al Adamson was a terrible film maker and like the rest of the films of his I have seen, they are of similar quality. However, this garbage does have an appeal. It has a modern remastered DVD and is more memorable and entertaining than a whole lot of stuff.

I have no idea what possessed me to watch this turkey again, but it was on Monster HD and I did. Story of Dracula bringing the Frankenstein monster back to his creator so that he can be used to take over the world is amusing garbage. I've seen and hated this film (like most Al Adamson films) over the years any number of times. The film plays like a home movie with big name stars (Lon Chaney, J Carol Naish, Angelo Rosito , okay not big name but name). Amusing in the right frame of mind- giving up any hope of quality helps- which is why I think I kind of liked it this time I knew it was crap and took it on its own low level. this is a film for a bad movie night on the couch.