DOCTOR
DRACULA (1981)
Directed By Al Adamson/Paul Aratow
Image Entertainment DVD
Reviewed 04.27.05
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
Should you choose to embark on the
slow motion odyssey that is Doctor
Dracula, I can only offer you
a firm shoulder-pat and a bit of
age-old wisdom: Good luck. You’re
gonna need it.
It’s not that this Al Adamson
semi-patch job is a total howler;
it’s just that the multitude
of subplots and incoherent continuity
make for a film that’s nearly
impossible to warm up to. At it’s
base, the brilliantly titled Doctor
Dracula is a combination of
the spicy Lucifer’s Women
(Paul Aratow, 1975) and newly shot
footage by Al and Sam Sherman in
1981. The resulting slo-core feature
is like a low budget episode of
Dynasty, shaken and stirred
with some serious PG-13 satan worship
antics and a few over-the-hill Dracula
stalk scenes. There’s also
a lot of talk. Let the boom mic
be seen, not heard.
After a five minute, one take Drac-stalk
scene, we meet our cast. And what
a group of mugs it is: magician/hypnotist
Dr. Wainwright aka the reincarnated
Svengali (Larry Hankin, who you’ll
recognize from tons of 80s comedy
cameos), head satan slave John Carradine
(still had his wits, despite a few
stumbles), Dr. Gregorio aka Dracula,
exotic dancer Trilby, torturer/possessed
guy Sir Stevens, a woman struggling
through her best Exorcist impression,
and the Rendez-vous Cocktail lounge,
which gets so many establishing
shots that it easily qualifies as
a character. I’d really love
to tell you what Al and Paul Aratow
decided to do with such a humdinger
cast, but the truth is, I’m
not quite sure. Wainwright has been
possessed by the spirit of Svengali,
there’s a woman that wants
to speak to her deceased mother,
Regina Carrol shows up in a busty
felt body suit, and a devil cult
needs a few sacrifices...which they
get, followed by a quick goat-headed
rape scene (complete with elephant
roars!). All the while, Dracula
engages in a couple of tame kill
scenes. Don’t even ask about
Bobo The Clown or the bizarre feet
kissing scene. Or the most abrupt
ending ever.
All together, Dracula is
a jumbled stew of misplaced script
pages, hammy acting, extremely flat
direction, and a pace which cools
the blood. It’s definitely
weird enough, but a heaping of flair
would have helped.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
The full frame print looks decent
for the most part; it’s a
little worn and very muted. The
original grain of the film stock
is putting in overtime and there’s
the slightest bit of compression
evident during darker scenes. The
mono sound was bathed in thick hiss.
EXTRAS
We’ve got the original trailer
for Lucifer’s Women,
which features a few bits of footage
not utilized in Doctor Dracula.
The film definitely appears to be
more risqué than Adamson’s
finished project. Also included
are trailers for the “Blood
Collection” films, which pop
up on all of Image’s Independent-International
DVDs. Curiously, this disc lacks
a patented knock-out Sam Sherman
commentary, which would surely clear
up some of the confusion involved
with the film. This was also Al
Adamson’s final contribution
to the horror genre, so I’m
sure there are some interesting
nuggets of info to be had.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Unless you’re an absolute
Al Adamson completist, Doctor
Dracula won’t float your
boat. I’m far from a completist,
but I do enjoy Al’s films;
this one just doesn’t have
the magic. |
Meet me there
Live the fear
Still got it
The doctor is in
|
