A photographer, Glen Cannon(Gene Otis Shayne) learns that his recently deceased uncle left him a California desert castle so he and fiancé model, Liz(Jennifer Bishop) take a trip there to check it out. A vampire couple, Count and Countess Townsend(Alexander D'Arcy & Paula Raymond) make their residence there and have a fresh supply of victims in the dungeon of the castle, chained to the walls by their massive dumb brute slave, Mango(Ray Young) and evil butler, George(John Carradine). Soon joining this wicked brood is a psychopath, Johnny(Robert Dix), having escaped from prison, who believes he kills at the urging of the full moon. Sufficed to say, Glen and Liz are in for a rude awakening when they visit, planning to break the news to the current residents that they will be occupying the castle once married..let's just say that the Townsends have other plans.
Well, the story is coherent and the script(..penned by Rex Carlton, who not long after committed suicide)tongue-in-cheek(..and, to the cast's credit, well veterans Carradine, D'Arcy & Raymond, anyway, they quite understand what kind of hokey material they're dealing with). The castle sets(..particularly the walls)are crummy, but the exterior California location is rather attractive. While you will read about how this film was shot by well respected cinematographer László Kovács, there's really nothing much here, except a moody nighttime sequence where the Townsends and George sacrifice a female motorist, whose car broke down, to their moon god, Luna, by burning her alive while tied to a stake. I found most of this movie rather plodding and dull, accompanied by an overbearing score which attempts to ape the classic Universal pictures. B-movie director, John Bud Cardos(Mutant)was production manager and had a brief cameo of a prison guard pummeled to death by Johnny. Dix relishes his part as the nutjob with a devilish grin, with one memorable scene where he sends a stolen car(..containing the driver he knocked unconscious with a large stone)over a mountainous cliff while gleefully laughing as the man trapped inside screams in horror. There's this completely obligatory scene where Dix murders a girl in a bikini, by drowning her near a waterfall, while running from police and their hunting dogs. Hilarious effects mishap at the end where an ax is buried into the back of a villain and it's visible that the weapon is stuck into a plank-board just hidden on the inside of the person's shirt. I'm guessing Dracula's name was merely used to distribute the movie into more drive-ins. My favorite scene is early on as the Townsends and George celebrate "good blood" from a recently kidnapped victim.
Well, the story is coherent and the script(..penned by Rex Carlton, who not long after committed suicide)tongue-in-cheek(..and, to the cast's credit, well veterans Carradine, D'Arcy & Raymond, anyway, they quite understand what kind of hokey material they're dealing with). The castle sets(..particularly the walls)are crummy, but the exterior California location is rather attractive. While you will read about how this film was shot by well respected cinematographer László Kovács, there's really nothing much here, except a moody nighttime sequence where the Townsends and George sacrifice a female motorist, whose car broke down, to their moon god, Luna, by burning her alive while tied to a stake. I found most of this movie rather plodding and dull, accompanied by an overbearing score which attempts to ape the classic Universal pictures. B-movie director, John Bud Cardos(Mutant)was production manager and had a brief cameo of a prison guard pummeled to death by Johnny. Dix relishes his part as the nutjob with a devilish grin, with one memorable scene where he sends a stolen car(..containing the driver he knocked unconscious with a large stone)over a mountainous cliff while gleefully laughing as the man trapped inside screams in horror. There's this completely obligatory scene where Dix murders a girl in a bikini, by drowning her near a waterfall, while running from police and their hunting dogs. Hilarious effects mishap at the end where an ax is buried into the back of a villain and it's visible that the weapon is stuck into a plank-board just hidden on the inside of the person's shirt. I'm guessing Dracula's name was merely used to distribute the movie into more drive-ins. My favorite scene is early on as the Townsends and George celebrate "good blood" from a recently kidnapped victim.