Old Dracula — Old Dracula (Blu Ray)
Old Dracula (aka Vampira) appeared in 1974, and was the 11th film directed by London based director Clive Donner. His career started in the late 1950’s helming British Noir & adventure dramas, moving on in the mid-to-late 60’s to the likes of brit comedy-drama Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, and Peter Sellers staring & Woody Allen written wacky comedy What’s New Pussycat- which of course featured the well known Tom Jones song of the same name. Old Dracula is very skilfully filmed & nicely flowing in its feel, and as a horror parody it’s certainly one of the better & more charming- though it has very British leanings in both its humour & sensibilities.
In the lead role of the Count, we have respected British actor David Niven- and he plays the part very much as a suave- yet-playful British aristocratic- when we first meeting him he’s sat in stately home luxury looking through Playboy, admiring the veins of the models. The Count's castle is in Transylvania, but it’s very much a blend of campy gothic & groovy 70’s sleek-ness, he sleeps in a sliding glass coffin & the castle a mixture of white sleek interiors & comic book/ playful gothic tropes like a huge dining room, vast organ, candlesticks, etc. The Count has opened up his castle as hotel experience- and while guests are there their blood is tested to see if it’s a match for his slumbering wife Vampira(Teresa Graves)- whose been asleep since the 1920s. With the help of his bumbling man servant Maltravers(Peter Bayliss), the pair think they’ve found a match when a group of British Playboy models stay at the castle- so they transfer the blood into Vampira- but something goes amiss, she’s Black. So the Count, Maltravers, and Vampira- make their way to 1970’s London to track down the models, and hopefully turn his love white once more.
The film has a good cast of recognizable British faces- we have Bernard Bresslaw of Carry On fame as the models' manager Pottinger. There’s Nicky Henson as a shambling-yet- sleazed reporter. With smaller roles coming from Linda Hayden (Blood On Satan’s Claw & Confessions of a Window Cleaner), Freddie Jones, and Frank Thornton- of Are You Been Severed fame. The whole thing very much has a farce/ send-up quality to it, Vampira goes from being a bemused flapper, onto a 70’s soul sister- after sampling some blaxploitation films. Niven is great in the more playful take of the Count, but there’s nothing forbid or threatening about him. The sets are great in their mix of old fashion gothic & grooving ’70s. The whole unfolds in an enjoyable-if fairly predictable manner. And the soundtrack is great- moving from old New Orleans jazz, trad jazz, and ethno African rhythmic edged funk-jazz- so if the soundtracks not yet got a reissue, it certainly needs it!. All in all Old Dracula was an enjoyable romp of a film- that I feel will be enjoyed most by those with a penchant for Brit Comedies/Parodies of the 1970s.
Moving onto to this new Vinegar Syndrome Blu Ray, and first,off we get a marvellous bold & bright 2k scan of the film- this brings out the 70’s colouring of the film great, and the grooving soundtrack is equally crisp & punchy too. On the extras side- we only get one thing, aside from promotional gallery, and that’s a nine-minute on-camera interview with Anthony Richmond the film's cinematographer, here he talks about working on the film & that Clive Donner wanted a very classic Hammer Horror vibe, though of course with 70’s campiness- he also talks about his career in general too, as he worked on the likes of Nicolas Roeg films like Don’t Look Now & The Man Who Fell To Earth. It’s a pity there's no commentary track- as it would have been great to find out a bit more about the film production & it’s a parody of gothic horror tropes, someone like columnist/ film historian David Del Valle would have been perfect for job.
With the release of Old Dracula, Vinegar Syndrome has once again tracked down another decidedly quirky 1970’s picture. As mentioned before I’d say you have to like British Comedy of the 1970s, and be familiar with Brit film/ TV from the ’70s to get the most from this- but all in all I found it an enjoyable & campy ride.