Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)

30% of users liked it
(3,212 ratings)

A slapdash epic of bad filmmaking geared strictly toward drive-in audiences, Dracula vs. Frankenstein has gone on to achieve cult status thanks to its sheer ineptness and impressive cast. At an oceanside amusement park, Dr. Frankenstein (J. Carrol Naish) runs a house of horrors that serves as a… More A slapdash epic of bad filmmaking geared strictly toward drive-in audiences, Dracula vs. Frankenstein has gone on to achieve cult status thanks to its sheer ineptness and impressive cast. At an oceanside amusement park, Dr. Frankenstein (J. Carrol Naish) runs a house of horrors that serves as a cover for his more devious scientific experimentation -- work that requires the murderous deeds of his mute assistant Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.). After stealing the corpse of Frankenstein's monster, Dracula visits the doctor and makes him an offer he can't refuse: resurrect the monster so that Dracula can use the beast to carry out his plan to take over the world. At the same time, lounge singer Judith (Regina Carrol) arrives at the park against the advice of detective Martin (Jim Davis) to search for her missing sister. She is drugged in a bar and winds up in the care of kindly stud Mike (Anthony Eisley), who takes up the investigation with her. Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein and Dracula resurrect the monster and immediately send it to kill the doctor's old enemy (Forrest J. Ackerman). Judith and Mike encounter the monster and, after a narrow escape, they confront Dr. Frankenstein who is beheaded in the ensuing melee. Sgt. Martin arrives in time to kill Groton before he attacks Judith, but not before Dracula kills Mike and takes Judith captive. He ties her up in the lab and prepares to bite her, but the monster goes mad, leading to a ferocious battle. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Al Adamson
Genres: Horror, Art House & International, Classics, Cult Movies

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1971 Wide
On DVD: Feb 27, 2001
Studio: Troma

Critic Reviews

Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Mesmerizing in its sheer awfulness.
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
Pure schlock; an embarrassment for the veterans involved.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
The title is great. The movie is not.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Robert C

LON CHANEY JR & RUSS TAMBLYN in the same film? You might ask yourself; "How can you go wrong?". And you need only watch this little gem, to see all of the ways you / they CAN GO WRONG. To start there is the sad realization that Chaney's role here (one of his… More
LON CHANEY JR & RUSS TAMBLYN in the same film? You might ask yourself; "How can you go wrong?". And you need only watch this little gem, to see all of the ways you / they CAN GO WRONG. To start there is the sad realization that Chaney's role here (one of his last) is one of few words and consists of moans, grunts and overly dramatic close-ups. And Russ Tamblyn is all but a "blip" on the screen before (Chaney himself) "gives him the axe". Once you get past that, there is the fact that "Dracula" for some reason appears to be of middle eastern decent and speaking through a really bad P.A. system and that "Frankenstein's" head appears to have been made of papier-mache...it's all good! The definate "star" of this show is Regina Carrol as Vegas Superstar "Judith Fontaine" forced to take a sabbatical from her big Vegas show (the clips of which are a high point of the film) to go to California to look for her missing sister. To put it kindly, Regina / Judith is a "hot mess" and at the same time a delight to watch. Her film credits on IMDB sound AMAZING and I want to see them ALL. While I wouldn't recomend this film for "horror fans"...I would HIGHLY recomend it for fans of "cheesy 60's & 70's horror". It's painfully bad at times, yet (in this instance) I really appreciated it's badness.
Anthony V

Don't be suckered in.
Leo L

Fantastic!