In 1975 Old Dracula (aka Old Drac or Vampira) was double billed with Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. This was a great idea for one of these two films. Care to guess which one? The reason why you haven’t heard of Old Dracula is that it is not terribly funny. It is a comedy and a product of its time. Where as the Young Frankenstein, with the mood, setting, and homage to the source material is a timeless classic.
The premise is an interesting one. Dracula (David Niven) longs to revive his bride Vampira. Apparently, the only other thing besides sunlight and a stake to the heart that can harm a vampire is sucking the blood from an anemic pheasant. She rests in state of hibernation and only the right blood can bring her back. Dracula is a man of the times and smart enough to use science to his benefit. To find the right donor he opens his castle as a tourist trap and poses as the Count Dracula. What makes some of this film so unique is his manservant Maltravers (Peter Bayliss). Maltravers is always ready with a joke, an idea, and yet another way to help Dracula. The man is so tuned with Dracula that he carries a stop watch to let the Count know which state his victims are in upon their biting.
The plot unfolds as Playboy Magazine comes to Castle Dracula for a Playmate Bite of the Month photo shoot. Dracula drugs the Bunnies and samples all of their blood. Now with any film featuring Playboy Bunnies one would expect some sort of nudity. This doesn’t make or break the picture but there is only a brief shot of one of the girls. A quick edit and Old Dracula easily plays on TV. Dracula finds two possible donors among the Bunnies and gives his beloved Vampira a transfusion. The results of which turn this film and the genre on its ear.
Vampira wakens slowly but her skin begins to change. It changes so much that she becomes a black woman. Countess Vampira (Teresa Graves) awakens from her slumber and still believes it to be the roaring 1920’s. Dracula longs to reintroduce her to the world but has reservations about her going outside. After all “it’s a small town and people will talk”. Maltravers believes that with enough blood from “other people” she’ll revert back to her old self. Dracula complies and decides to find that other Bunny who also had the correct blood type. Their destination of course is the London office of Playboy.
Enter the magazine writer, Marc Williams (Nicky Henson), who becomes Dracula’s pawn in obtaining blood samples again from all the Bunnies. Despite Dracula’s influence over him, Marc begins to break Dracula’s control and battles not only for his life but the lives of the Bunnies as well. The film easily plays out the numbers one by one and has the marks of being made for two different audiences. The culture jokes really start to fly after Countess Vampira watches a Blaxploitation film. Her vernacular begins to change and Dracula realizes that he is losing the one he loves to an age he doesn’t understand. Teresa Graves is brilliant in the film and a perfect contrast to Niven’s dry sense of humor. She eats up the screen as a woman who comes to grips with her out look on life.
The comedy of the film is very much like what Mike Myers did with Austin Powers. So much that anyone could easily see Myers in Niven’s role. There are numerous Vampire spoof films that cover the material with a greater panache than what is shown here. George Hamilton’s Love at First Bite is a key example and only four years younger. The opening music is kitschy and the ending is outlandish and even a tad offensive. There is of course a crazy dance number but all that was to be expected in keeping with the time of the film. You never forget the ride that is Old Dracula but you’ll probably regret it.
Robert Trate writes two weekly columns for Mania the DVD Shopping Bag and the Toy Maniac. Robert also participates in a pod cast that reviews movies, comics and celebrates all things geek. Check it out at You’ve Got Geek on You.com.
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Poor David Niven...he must of needed a paycheck badly.