DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN (SUPER VIDEO - 1971)

I first became aware of this film when I was a little kid, and I was at the height of my Universal horror obsession. I would grab virtually any title off the shelf if it had something to do with Frankenstein or Dracula, which lead me to Hammer, and even a lot of weird Japanese shit. I was rarely ever forbade from bringing any title home. I even got away with snagging a lot of erotic vampire shit during that time. However, this was one that did not make it past my mother. I remember seeing the huge Super Video box on the video store shelf as a child. I immediately grabbed it, but when my mom saw it, she told me it was too gory for me. She had apparently seen it as a kid at the old Mayfair theater in Ventura, and remembered it being pretty visceral. In fact, I still remember her describing a scene where Dracula rips the monster's arm off, which apparently traumatized her. Obviously, this was only an exaggeration from her childhood memory, but it only made me want to see it even more.

Years later, I saw this as an Al Adamson fan and loved it. Imagine my joy at finding this copy of the Super Video tape online for only a few measly bucks. The tape is in great shape, too.

HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS (1970)

Holy shit, is that Brother Theodore doing the voice-over for the trailer?

There are a lot of so-called Al Adamson fans who don't really care for this movie. One turkey even said that it's not one of Adamson's prouder moments. I'm having a hard time finding an analogy that defines the sheer idiocy of this statement. What I will say is that it takes an especially damaged person to appreciate a dark alley. To these people, the "quality" of a particular alley way is based around its respective refuse and distinct aroma. A dark alley is bad to begin with, but you love it for all of its repugnance, and you develop a distinct appreciation for every disgusting quality that makes it what it is. There are even some people who get off on having someone take a dump on their chest. I imagine if they're getting shit on it's probably a good day, but I'm also sure that the "shittee" grades the dump according to consistency and the diet of the "shitter." I guess what I am trying to say without insulting Adamson's work is that it's weird when someone refines their shit-loving preferences to a point where they become hyper-critical of it. Not sure where I'm going with this, but I do I think it's silly when people are picky about his work, which is largely considered awful by most mainstream film fans. I dunno, that still sounds insulting toward Adamson, but I really don't mean it to be because he's one of the guys who made me pay attention to actual directors in the first place.

This movie is unintentionally psychedelic and a shit load of fun. Perhaps one of the best party movies ever to exist, alongside "Just For The Hell of It." Adamson's original footage is augmented by a hodge podge of stuff from other movies, including the likes of a 1956 Filipino film called "Tagani," which Adamson owned the rights to. I'm not super knowledgeable about the film, but I think that's where those cool bat pygmy creatures are from. I love those things.

Trailer courtesy of DeadEndDriveIn.