Draculax

Much confusion surrounds this title, not helped by the fact that seemingly there are at least three distinct versions. Others have tried to clarify this so i shall just make my comments on Lust at First Sight. This is not the horror version so although atmospheric and with some gore and much talk of bats, vampires and things that go bump in the night, this is there version where we can appreciate more of Annette Haven than her acting ability. Actually her performance and most of the others is admirable but the most amazing thing about this version is the number of adult stars are performing together here. Haven is the star but Gillis is a marvellous Count Dracula as everyone would expect. There are some limp moments but for the most part this is very well staged and some most rewarding scenes. Its all a bit cut up but then if you are going to get three films from one I guess thats inevitable and the big plus is that no scene goes on and on forever. Excellent - I must get round to watching the horror version!

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. I will never forget the rental shop's name n the incident surrounding the film's title. Growing up in the 80s n 90s was pure fun. I picked up the vhs thinking it to be a horror film but when i sat with my bunch of pals n started the vhs on the player, we all were laughing our guts out. One fella even suggested that the name shud hav been Dracula fucks n not sucks. Revisited the 94 mins version recently on a fast forward mode aft reading Ba_Harrison's review of this one. There is nothing horror bah this film apart from the comedic bite on the dick, tits n pussy. Here prof. Helsing played by Reggie Nalder (later he gets to play the vampire in Salem's Lot) looks more like a great grandpop due to the disfiguring burns on his face.

Recently saw the 74 mins version for the first time known as Lust at First Bite on a fast forward mode. It has more hardcore n lengthier sex scenes n that too with copious amt of close up shots n does gets gross at times. This version is nothing but pure xxx stuff and without the bites of the vampires. This version starts with the sex scene from the original version's ending scene where Dracula is performing cunnilingus n sex in his cave. The endings r different though.

A very entertaining spoof of Tod Browning's Dracula. I'd recommend this low budget porn film over Paul Morrissey's version. Jamie Gillis does an excellent portrayal of Dracula, giving superb homage to Bela Lugosi, "Children of the night, what music they make". Richard Bulik has Renfield's insane laugh down, "My cries at night, they might disturb Miss Mina." Even the fake flapping bat on a string is perfect. Reggie Nalder plays an excellent Dr. Van Helsing, and the music score, largely classical, is well chosen. Periodically an intercom interjects with odd comments, "Dr. Silver report to room 22 for a lobotomy".

Apparently a few scenes involving urination have been cut, but be prepared for incest scenes between John Leslie and 'sister' Kay Parker, as well as a necrophilia scene with Mike Ranger and the 'undead' Serena. These are all played tongue in cheek, and work well within the context of the film. Seka has a brief, but luminous, appearance. John Holmes, whose acting is limited to his impressive endowment, has two scenes. Annette Haven is lovely as always, Serena is superbly sexy, and John Leslie is the suave lead. Apparently filmed at Scotties Castle in Death Valley. Highly recommended.

Bram Stoker's Dracula has long been considered a tale of repressed eroticism, and horror cinema has frequently exploited this aspect of the classic story to get bums on seats. It was only a matter of time before an enterprising porn director took the sexuality of the vampire to its logical conclusion. Dracula Sucks see the infamous Count going hardcore, no longer satisfied with just biting his victims on the neck. Jamie Gillis takes the titular role, the vampire resurrected by the crazed Renfield (Richard Bulik), who has been admitted to the Seward Sanitarium, a castle-like structure in the middle of a desert (Castle Ranch in California, also the location for Al Adamson's Blood of Dracula's Castle) neighbouring the Count's home of Carfax Abbey. One by one, the staff and patients of the sanitarium fall foul of vampirism, but Dracula has his sights set on one particular person: the lovely Mina (Annette Haven).

Director Phillip Marshak's movie is equal parts horror and sex, one of those rare pornos where a proper story drives the bump and grind. Of course, the acting, direction and production design isn't quite up to Hammer standards, but it's not as terrible as it might have been, the visuals reasonably atmospheric and the cast acquitting themselves surprisingly well even when they're not hard at it. Gillis makes for a very effective Dracula (even though the beard is a little off-putting), delivering his dialogue with relish (yes, even the famous "Children of the night..." line), while Bulik tries his utmost to match Dwight Frye (Renfield in the 1931 Universal version of Dracula) in terms of sheer madness. Comedy relief comes in the form of black taxi driver Jarvis (David Lee Bynum), who mercilessly lampoons the black stereotype of the frightened servant, stuttering and rolling his eyes like crazy after seeing a vampire. The unmistakable Reggie Nalder, who so memorably played the vampire Mr. Barlow in Salem's Lot, is on the side of good in this film, as legendary vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing (thankfully, he doesn't indulge in any of the sexy shenanigans).

In terms of horror, the action consists of some biting and a staking -- not particularly gory or nasty. The sex scenes are certainly more graphic, although far shorter than one would expect, and frequently bereft of the customary 'money shot'. Paul Thomas, as Jonathan Harker, receives oral from Lucy Webster (Serena); Dr. John Stoker (the legendary John Holmes) sees to a maid on a billiard table (and gets a bite on his member for his trouble); Stoker rapes a blonde nurse (Seka); a taboo-busting scene sees Dr. Arthur Seward (John Leslie) having sex with his sister Sybil (Kay Parker); and Dr. Peter Bradley indulges in necrophilia, making it with Lucy's body in a coffin. Gillis gets his big scene in the final act, where he finally diddles Mina, before being destroyed by the sun's rays (in what is, rather ironically, something of an anti-climax).

N.B. Not to be confused with vampire comedy Love At First Bite (1979), which had the working title of Dracula Sucks, or XXX horror Dracula Exotica (1980), which also stars Jamie Gillis as Count Dracula.

Lust at First Bite (1978)

Dracula Sucks (1980)

** (out of 4)

Dracula (Jamie Gillis) tries to find fresh bait at a sanitarium while Dr. Van Helsing (Reggie Nalder) tries to find and destroy him.

This porno spoof of Tod Browning's Dracula was originally made in a 108-minute version but apparently none or at the most a couple theaters got this version. The XXX version was edited down to 82-minutes and released as LUST AT FIRST BITE while a softcore/horror version was released a couple years later as Dracula SUCKS and clocking in at 86-minutes. Which of these two versions you choose to watch will be up to your taste in terms of wanting to see hardcore sex or something closer to Bram Stoker's novel done in a more serious tone.

Both versions are clearly the same movie but whereas in the hardcore version we'll get sex in the softcore instead of that we'll cut to scenes of violence. This often means that Dracula attacks his female victims and quite often just bites their breasts. It's funny because in the hardcore version he's usually doing something else to the breasts if you know what I mean. I think both versions contain some good things but most of the credit has to go to Gillis who is actually pretty good spoofing Bela Lugosi. I thought the actor looked quite natural in the role of Dracula but he's also clearly viewed the Lugosi version because of the speech pattern. I was really surprised to see how well the line delivery was and this is especially true for the "Children of the Night" speech. The supporting players are also pretty good in their roles with Richard Bulik doing a memorable turn as Renfield. The horror version features quite a few scenes that you're not going to see in the hardcore one. For starters, the before mentioned scenes of the breasts either bleeding or squirting blood. It appears that these scenes were shot after the original movie because quite often they feature a jump cut to where we get a quick view of the blood and then it's back to the normal scene. There are also a few other horror elements in this version including Dracula's red glowing eyes and another sequence where he "sees" people in a burning red flame. The hardcore version features a few added scenes with John Holmes that I didn't spot in the softcore version.

The film even has the guts to credit Stoker at the start of the film. Both versions feature some humor thrown in but most of the time it's just wacky dialogue featuring a lot of cussing. It sounds as if this too was added to the film after the production. Even in their shorter running times both versions seem to run way too long at both become rather tiresome as they move along. With that said, I think both versions are still pretty fascinating especially to those who would like to compare them. Who knows how the original version would have ran but I'm going to guess that it was cut down for good reasons.