frank_olthoff

Of all bad movies in the world, "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" is one of the worst. Now, certainly that's basically what makes it worth seeing.

To appreciate it fully you ought to get drunk and pretend you're in a seventies' drive-in theater. The (psychedelic?) soundtrack is just lovely.

Al Adamson was the best competitor for the space that Ed Wood left after his death. Old-time horror veterans J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney, Jr. act in their most terrible (well, in a double sense) rôles which unfortunately were their last ones respectively as well. The ridiculous story is completely unimportant, what matters is the cast: next to Naish and Chaney the producers assemblied Angelo Rossitto, Anthony Eisley, Russ Tamblyn, and Jim Davis! Of course, Forry Ackerman isn't missing, and the monster is played by the late John Bloom... Other, er, important parts are carried out (no more than that) by Adamson's ensemble players Bud Cardos, William Bonner, Greydon Clark, and busty Regina Carrol as a Las Vegas singer who is in search of her sister.

None of the crew's jobs were done with the endeavour to fulfil the audience's most unassuming expectations of lower standard horror at least, from camera work to special effects. Only effort seems to have been to put as much sex and gore in it without being x-rated. The (would-be) gross scenes are in strange contrast to the try at distinguished acting by Naish (in a wheelchair). The recall of classic horror topics in the title is simply for money purposes; there are more connections to Adamson's rocker/biker dramas, oddly interwoven with a smart mad scientist storyline.

Among Italian peplums of the period around 1960, there were some concerned with Roman legend, including "Coriolano, eroe senza patria", which was also helmed by Giorgio Ferroni. "Il colosso di Roma" is another example.

After having overthrown their king, Tarquinius Superbus (Massimo Serato), Rome is a young republic. Tarquinius tries to regain his throne with the military assistance of the Etruscan king, Porsenna (Roldano Lupi). Film sets in with Romans suffering from hunger, and top-notch soldier Mucius first securing the arrival of a corn transport, then deciding to kill Porsenna. In the king's camp he kills the wrong man, is captured, but proves his boldness by voluntarily burning his right hand in an open flame. The tiny, but crucial story about Roman bravery, which originally has a noble youngster as the failing killer, is generously embellished and furnished with a muscular experienced military leader as Mucius instead, played by ex-Tarzan Gordon Scott.

As the story progresses, it is interwoven with another heroic character from Latin legend, Cloelia, who is presented as Mucius' fiancée. She is among the hostages produced to secure the peace with Porsenna, but organizes the escape across the River Tiber when they find themselves betrayed. Her rôle is performed by one of the countless second-rate beauties of Italian screens, Gabriella Pallotta.

Although it may be deemed interesting to illustrate a national saga of yore, the film's pathetic hero-worship seems out of date for the mid-sixties. Still, monumental adventures were fashionable, and Italy's writers happy with any adaptable material. It is almost surprising how much of the legend's original idea can be recognized.

Expectations of a grand epic, as nurtured by the heavily orchestrated opening credits of nearly three minutes, are not at all lived up to by the following 82 (in the version I saw) minutes. Achievements are hardly average in all categories, although cinematography (Augusto Tiezzi) and score (Angelo Francesco Lavagnino) come from peplum's most experienced artists. Not even its best-hated villain, Massimo Serato, is really credible as Tarquinius. Fighting scenes are well staged, although some of the material seems to be taken from other films, too.