Dracula contre Frankenstein

I first saw this movie on t.v. almost 20 years ago as Assignment Terror, and was excited when it first came out on video. Unfortunately, the video cut about 9 minutes of total running time from the film, retitled it as Dracula Vs. Frankenstein and left it as a jumbled, incoherent mess. Most fans will also be confused because Dracula and the Monster never fight in the entire film.

I'm not saying this was a great film to begin with, but some of the editing complaints seen in earlier reviews come from the video version, not the original release. In its original form it was a strange yet fun action/horror movie in Paul Naschy's Werewolf Waldemar series. Naschy also plays the Vampire (Count de Mierhoff), Mummy (Tao-Tet) and Franksollen monster whenever possible.

Michael Rennie is one highlight, and gives his best possible attempt at making a profound statement in his last speech in the film. I'm surprised they even left that in, since most of what they took out was the plot. Apparently the video production figured no one pays attention to plot in a movie like this anyway. And yes, that's the same Karin Dor who appeared in Hitchcock's Topaz in the same year.

Hopefully, when this comes out on DVD they'll get it right.

Retitled in America, this horrible sci-fi/horror film features the last performance of aging star Michael Rennie(DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL). I didn't understand if he was supposed to be an alien, or a regular old evil doctor, but he raises several monsters to attack earthlings. One is a wolfman (Spanish horror star Paul Naschy),another is a mummy, and another is the Frankenstein creation. I don't remember Dracula even being in this movie.

Rennie looks embarrassed, and sickly. The music and dubbing are horrendous for this American cut of the film. The most memorable part is the set design and the pastel-colored tints that are used throughout. It is a cheap, but effective, mood enhancer.

The rest of the proceedings are a waste time, though. The make-ups for the creatures are fairly laughable, and the plot is non-exsistent. It's as if the directors involved went to the editing room, and just threw film pieces in the air to see where they might land.

The American video release seems to be aimed at youngsters. This film is mostly violence-free, true, but it doesn't mean that any child should be subjected to this colorful tedium. This is strictly for the initiated into "so-bad-its-good" cinema.

The US print of "Dracula vs Frankenstein" begins by introducing us to an alien species who intend to invade and dominate the human race. At a travelling circus, they encounter the real-life skeleton of a vampire count. Apparently all you need to do to revive this vampire is to remove a flimsy wooden stake from it's heart (I'm surprised it hadn't just fallen out already). The police detective quickly clocks on to what the aliens are trying to do, and launches an investigation. The aliens manage to resurrect Daninsky the werewolf, the mummy Tao-Tet and the monster created by Farank ... Frankstele ... oh, let's just call him Frankenstein. Anyway, the aliens begin to succumb to human emotions and Daninsky turns against them, and thankfully the monsters all turn out to be complete wusses and are easily defeated. Yay! And, of course, it's all rounded off with a nice moral to the story (that doesn't actually make a whole lot of sense in context), and a suitably apocalyptic ending.

Mini-skirts, dancing, cheesy music, flashing lights ... yes, this movie is a product of the swinging sixties alright. Although it was titled "Dracula vs Frankenstein" in the US, the vampire isn't Dracula and there's no sign of Victor Frankenstein -- and at no point do the two of them fight against each other. "The Werewolf vs the Mummy" might have been worked, but I would have gone with something like "The Werewolf vs the Monsters of Terror". Heh. Frankenstein's monster and Waldemar Daninsky are both played by Jacinto Molina, which is impressive but not as much as his multiple roles in the later movie "Howl of the Devil". The lead actor is the brilliant Michael Rennie who famously played Klaatu in "The Day the Earth Stood Still", although here looks like he's at death's door (and unfortunately, he was).

In the innocent, charming style of filmmakers such as Ed Wood, the plot here mixes horror and science fiction elements together in a way that makes absolutely no sense. The aliens are wonderfully B-movieish, with all the obligatory coloured lights and disembodied robotic voices present. In a way it's more conventional than most of the Daninsky movies, adhering to as many B-movie stereotypes as is humanly possible to cram into one film. In a sense, it's the ULTIMATE B-movie, so it should be very popular among that crowd -- it has everything they could ask for. The acting is pretty much what you'd expect and the dubbing is particularly good comparatively. The makeup for the four monsters isn't great, but certainly not the worst I've seen. The mummy inparticular has a great death scene ...

It's a very, very silly movie, but if you're a fan of bad B-movies, look no further. Aliens, vampires, zombies, werewolves ... how could they go wrong?

such is the title of the German videotape of this obscure little trash-horror-science-fiction flick; a title that could not have been more apt nor fitting.

To make things clear at the beginning: this movie isn't for everyone. Most people will call the rose by its name, calling it a cheap, often shoddily produced Euro-B-trash film, and would be quiet correct. More than that, it's "The Avengers" of cheap, shoddily produced Euro-B-trash films. And it stars Paul Naschy in a double-role which, in genre-terms, has always defined the difference between manure and gold-plated manure.

Imagine giving a 10-year old fan of old horror films the chance to write a script, what would you expect? The story about aliens resurrecting dead scientists who in turn resurrect Dracula, the Frankenstein monster, the Wolf man and the mummy, so they can take over the world? Correct, and that's exactly what this movie is about.

No, wait, don't run away yet! I didn't say that this is a good movie – but at least it's an oddity that's well worth looking at. Of course, you have to have a strong love for the Universal monster movies, the cheap Italian and Spanish rip-off movies of the 60's and 70's, perhaps even German Edgar Wallace films. You need to let that inner-child that always wanted to produce a monster-crossover film out, and turn that thought-producing apparatus between your ears off for 90 minutes. Embrace the spirit of Al Adamson and Edward D. Wood Junior and all will be good.

Alternatively, you could go and watch the works of Fassbinder, Eisenstein and Ingmar Bergman and out yourself as a cinematic snob.

7/10 points as a genre-flick; 3/10 compared to "serious" horror-films that aren't B- or C-Grade.

Known by various names such as "The Monsters Of Terror", "Assignment Terror" and "Dracula Jagt Frankenstein", this is a Spanish-German-Italian monster concoction featuring American actor Michael Rennie in his last desperate movie role. Rennie plays the leader of a group of aliens from a planet called Ummo who target Earth as the perfect place to re-populate their dying world. Along with his female assistant (Karin Dor, who starred in Hitchcock's TOPAZ!) he sets out to destroy man by reviving all of the Earth's historic monsters: Waldemar Daninsky, the Werewolf (Paul Naschy), a male vampire, a mummy, and a Frankenstein-like creature (all of whom look ridiculous except for the werewolf). Naschy also scripted this bizarre hodgepodge, influenced by the old Universal monster classics (and, presumably, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN in particular). The highlight is when Naschy's heroic wolfman battles other monsters. If you're a fan of those old films it's worth watching just for the nostalgia, but be forewarned it's a messy ride and will vary depending on what copy of the movie you happen to watch. This review is from a German-dubbed widescreen DVD called "Dracula Jagt Frankenstein" with English subtitles, but there are edited variations under different names (among them: the inferior English "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" copy, which utilizes Michael Rennie's own voice but is missing footage, and is not to be confused by the 1971 Al Adamson movie of the same name). As of this writing there is no acceptable English-dubbed version. Still some offbeat fun for monster lovers, but you have to wonder what Michael (THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL) Rennie was thinking while he had to act in this. *1/2 out of ****