Count Yorga, Vampire begins with a coffin being unloaded from a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. It’s then driven to a mansion in the California hills.
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Before talking about Dracula vs Frankenstein itself, I would like to point out that it was the final appearance by two excellent actors: J. Carrol Naish (Sahara, Annie Get Your Gun) and Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man, The Defiant Ones) — and both frankly deserved better. Lon Chaney Jr. was mute in the film, due to the damage done by throat cancer. Although I doubt that it would have improved the film very much if he had been able to speak. Yes, Dracula vs Frankenstein is that bad.
The basic plot for Dracula vs Frankenstein, such as it is, is as follows: the lovely and successful Judith Fontaine (Regina Carrol) is looking for her missing sister, Joan (Maria Lease, St. Elsewhere) who has disappeared into the hippie community of Venice, California. However, Joan has become the victim of Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.), a mute, axe-wielding homicidal maniac who alternates with playing with little puppies. Groton, in turn, is working for Dr. Durea (J. Carrol Naish), a wheelchair-bound mad scientist who is experimenting with re-attaching decapitated heads and resuscitating the victims. Dr. Durea is secretly the last descendant of Dr. Frankenstein and is running a house of horrors by the beach as a cover, assisted by Grazbo the Evil Dwarf (yes, that’s the character’s name, portrayed by Angelo Rossitto).
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The Spell is an NBC made-for-television movie, clearly, a rip-off of Carrie. However, it was actually slightly more than that. The Spell begins with a young teenager named Rita (Susan Myers, Revenge of the Nerds) who is being picked on by her fellow high school students for being “fat” — i.e. not being anorexic like them. As they’re tormenting her, the Phy Ed teacher stands by and watches, doing absolutely nothing. This prompted one of my children to comment, “The teacher’s evil! She’s just standing there!” Actually, she’s more right than she knows, but more on that later.
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In short, The Beast Within is a 1980’s horror film that’s a mixture between The Curse of the Werewolf and any number of Southern Gothic movies. It begins with a newlywed couple (Ronny Cox and Bibi Besch) on their honeymoon. They have car trouble in the middle of nowhere, in the American South. Filmed in Raymond, Missouri, for those who care about such things. While the husband goes to find help, the woman is assaulted and raped by an insect-like monster. She conceives a child from the rape and gives birth to seemingly-normal Michael (Paul Clemens). He appears to be a nice, average, handsome young man. Until he turns 17 …
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The Abominable Dr. Phibes is one of the great horror movies. It has a great cast, beautiful music, wonderful sets putting the Art Deco style to excellent use and some great acting. The audience even feels some sympathy for the murderous Dr. Phibes, played incredibly well by the talented Vincent Price.
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Scared to Death is primarily remembered as the answer to a trivia question. What is the only color film with Bela Lugosi in a starring role? And sadly, that’s all it deserves to be remembered for. It’s a good example of a waste of a perfectly good cast.
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“These Catholic priests sure cuss a lot.”
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Some cheesy monster movies are a delight to watch — and others are a delight to make fun of as you watch them. The Tomb falls firmly into the second category.
Blacula is a blaxploitation film, that rises above its origin. largely because of the quality of the acting, especially the title character, portrayed by William Marshall.
The story begins in 1780, with African Price Manuwalde (William Marshall) seeking the help of a European count to end the slave trade. Unfortunately, he’s chosen to ask the aid of Count Dracula (Charles Macaulay). Dracula is all about enslaving people of all colors and having them join his undead army. And the count is offended by the African prince …
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Halloween movies for family viewing There are actually some excellent, family-oriented movies that you can watch with your family on Halloween, including: