Severin Films, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a double-feature Blu-ray delight lined up for release on Oct. 25.
Who is getting the special attention this time? None other than legendary filmmaker Al Adamson (a Severin Films favorite), whose death — murder (for details on that, be sure to check out Severin’s Blu-ray release of Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson) — only adds to his cult status.
As mentioned, this is a double-feature showcasing two of his films from 1971, Dracula vs. Frankenstein and Brain of Blood.
Dracula vs. Frankenstein is the more famous of the two in that it starred both Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolfman) and J. Carrol Naish (The Beast with Five Fingers) in their final film roles … they would both pass within months of each other in 1973.
Count Dracula, played by Zandor Vorkov (aka Roger Engel), has hit upon the idea of resurrecting the Frankenstein Monster. Meanwhile, the wheelchair-bound Dr. Duryea (J. Carrol Naish) uses the local carnival show as a front for his secret experiments. He is assisted by the deformed and mute Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.), who is also an attraction on the midway, but is actually just a pussycat … that is until Duryea injects him with a secret formula that turns him into a merciless killer.
It is one of these killings — to get “serum” for Duryea’s mad scientist experiments — that gets Judith Fontaine (Regina Carrol — the doomed wife of Al Adamson, she would succumb to her battle with cancer at the age of 49 … her films included Adamson’s Blood of Ghastly Horror, Satan’s Sadists, Angels’ Wild Women and Doctor Dracula, among others) involved in the local scene. It seems her sister, Joan (Maria Lease) was murdered by a drug-controlled Groton (for her “serum”).
Three seemingly unrelated threads will all come together as Judith attempts to solve the murder of her sister. This leads her to a very seedy bar where a biker by the name of Rico (Russ Tamblyn) drugs her, but before he can traffic her for future “white slavery” fun and games, she is rescued by two random characters that we met earlier on the midway — Samantha (Ann Morell — Boxcar Bertha) and Strange (played by actor-turned-director Greydon Clark — Black Shampoo, Satan’s Cheerleaders, Without Warning, etc.).
She awakes in some strange guy's apartment, Mike (Anthony Eisley), who tells her that he knew her sister and that she was obsessed with the carnival. Oh boy, you can see that everything is leading back to Duryea and the sweet-as-a-pussycat Groton, who have, by now, hooked up with Dracula, who has brought the Frankenstein Monster (John Bloom — The Dark, The Hills Have Eyes Part II) back to life.
What a marvelous concoction … white slavers, Dracula, the Monster, a mad scientist, love on the beach (yes, Mike and Judith become an item), a sweet-as-a-pussycat fiend and an epic battle between the Monster that Frankenstein created and Count Dracula!!!
Bonus goodies include commentary with producer Samuel M. Sherman, outtakes, three featurettes — “Zandor and Friends,” “Feed Your Head! Lose Your Head!” and “Sam Sherman Interviews Forry Ackerman.”
The companion feature is Brain of Blood, which also stars Zandor Vorkov, Regina Carrol and John Bloom.
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